I feel badly -- and puzzled -- that some of you (AAL Silverbird, most obviously) seem so negative toward Lomcevak's post. I'm just pax, and somewhat white-knuckled at that -- and I've been considerably reassured re my safety in the air by reading pprune. I've learned that I really can't judge from my humble little coach seat how deeply the plane has banked, etc. And now I know that should I ever need to fly into ABQ, I may well experience an approach that seems a little scary but just to me, not to the Captain. And that's fine. It's whether he (or she) knows what (s)he's doing that matters. I think that one of the reasons we pax sometimes get scared is that when we encounter something that feels different from the smooth, gradual descents and relatively soft landings with which we've usually been spoiled, we make the mistake of thinking that something's wrong -- and that the Captain might have been unprepared or erred in some way. Knowing that the approach to ABQ is often a little "complex" makes quite a difference -- because I'll know that the Captain is quite ready for and in fact expecting that "complexity." (probably not a very good word to describe it, I know)
AAL Silverbird: I certainly am not knocking you in any way. I fly AA and have never had any qualms about the expertise of the crew, flight or cabin.