Commercial Pilots: Would you find this pleasant/offensive

[calippl]

So, a while back I was flying into DFW. The weather was pretty wild (very windy) and I was expecting a rough landing.

My carry-on bag was stowed toward the rear of the aircraft and I was seated around the middle, so had to wait until most of the passengers had cleared to go back and retrieve my bag. Anyway, I was one of the last people to disembark and as I was leaving the pilots were stood at the front of the aircraft.

On passing I said someting along the lines of: "I though that would be a really rough landing but it was very smooth. Thank you". The pilot didn't seem to pleased by my comment so I'm wondering, would you find it strange/offensive for a passenger to make this sort of comment or would it normally be accepted as a compliment?

[Hotel Tango]

His mind may have been pre-occupied with which F/A to spend the evening with and may have not heard you. Perhaps he misheard, or misunderstood what you said. At the end of the day it's what they are trained and paid to do. Windy weather is for them just another day at the office. Nevertheless, I have on occasions said "nice one" on leaving the a/c and always got a "thanks" or "thank you Sir" in response.

[calippl]

"His mind may have been pre-occupied with which F/A to spend the evening with and may have not heard you."

Hahahaha, well after landing so smooth in that weather I think he deserved the good looking one :ok: :D

[redsnail]

Either distracted about having to go flying again in that weather or misheard you.
He probably just heard "rough landing"...

[Laarbruch72]

I don't know any pilot who seeks or appreciates feedback on their landings from customers. I think most of ours are ambivalent about it.

In poor conditions, quite often they're aiming for a good, firm (i.e. you'll feel it) landing and of course that's absolutely the right thing to do, whereas of course most passengers think that a greaser is the ultimate sign of a talented pilot, which it's not necessarily. Add in that you're judging the pilot's whole performance on 2 seconds of a (possibly very busy) 2, 6, 8, or 11 hour sector, and you can see why they're not really bothered what you thought of their landing, whether you were full of praise for that greaser, or full of vitriol for a big bump. They got you there safely in possibly challenging conditions, job done as far as they're concerned.

A "thank you" is always appreciated of course, because good manners rarely offend.

[mixture]

On passing I said someting along the lines of: "I though that would be a really rough landing but it was very smooth. Thank you". The pilot didn't seem to pleased by my comment so I'm wondering, would you find it strange/offensive for a passenger to make this sort of comment or would it normally be accepted as a compliment?

Do you expect passengers in your car to compliment you on a successful parking manoeuvre ? Do you compliment train drivers for successfully stopping at stations?

I've never really understood the obsession with commenting on a crew's ability to land an aircraft. Its their job, they've been trained for it, they've done it a million times in both CAVOK as well as cross-wind and other adverse weather conditions. Did you incur damage ? No. Did the airframe incur damage during landing ? No. Did they carry out a safe landing after in-flight airframe damage ? No. Then its just another landing.....

[Basil]

Do you expect passengers in your car to compliment you on a successful parking manoeuvre ?
I do, esp to wife, suffixed with " . . for a bird!" :ouch: :}

[TightSlot]

The point about courtesy is that it is not something done for your benefit, but for the benefit of others. If you made a social remark that was intended to be pleasant, then that is how it should be treated, and responded to, whether or not the pilot has heard it a thousand times before.

Passengers comment on landings because, to them, it is a bigger deal than to those flying - of course, if it goes badly wrong, then it's a big deal to everybody on board.

calippl - keep right on being pleasant to people because it is a nice thing to do. If others choose to reply with something less than a courteous response, that reflects on them rather than you.

[mad_jock]

The pilot didn't seem to pleased by my comment so I'm wondering

You don't have a clue what went on during the approach. The whole thing could have been a script for a text book disaster with constant interjections from the LHS to keep things safe.

Then the FO lucks out on the touchdown and your comment was just before the debrief was about to start.

Or they had just got word that due to weather and another aircraft being late they were off for another couple of sectors.

But in general there is no problem saying "thanks for the flight" if you see the crew. If you get a smile and some sort of reply you can say nice landing if you like but if you get stonewalled there will be other things going on which to be honest are no concern of yours :p

[mad_jock]

They're customers for crying out loud

Yes they are

But when your coming down off an adrenaline high it can be quite a kick in the :mad:. Your basically in shock, its a good 10-15mins until your body sorts itself and your blood sugar levels sort themselves out. You put the handbrake on and the engines wind down and then your body goes into recovery mode for a bit.

I can quite understand if its been a ruff approach why the pilots might need a few minutes to themselves before engaging normal human interaction mode. You might say sit in your seat until everyone is gone but your arms and legs can be bouncing and you need to move because you can feel them stiffening up.

Its just the same as if a child had run out into the road in front of you in a car and you had to take emergency action. Except they will have been at that level for 60-70 seconds during landing not the couple of seconds the car driver gets. It burns a lot of instant calories and it takes a few mins for the body to replenish from stores right afterwards.

[cavortingcheetah]

Pilots often prefer to be complimented on the approach rather than the landing for the approach is the more difficult flight path profile at which to smoothly succeed.
The witty boy who makes the comment similar to, 'nice landing, I bet you didn't leave that one to the First Officer,' usually merits a retort along the lines of, 'Oh but I did and I shall be replaying it later with her after dinner.'
Sexual jealousy is a great reminder as to the equality of the sexes. Or so it has been said.

[MerchantVenturer]

Whenever I travel by bus I always thank the driver when I get off as do most passengers in my experience. In Bristol, where the accepted form of appreciation is 'cheers drive' all buses have entry and exit at the front so passengers have to walk past the driver to get off. Reactions vary: some drivers thank me for thanking them; others grunt or mumble; still others ignore the thanks altogether. Perhaps pilots differ like this as well depending on personality, mood or something more pressing on their mind.

On the rare occasion that the captain or first officer has been standing at the front of the cabin as I've left an aircraft I always say 'thank you' as I pass. I say the same to the cabin crew member standing by the exit door every time I leave a flight.

I believe it's just common courtesy.

I do accept though that there might be a difference in commenting on the way the aircraft was flown/landed or the way the bus was driven.

[calippl]

Thank you all for the responses.

From the perspective or a trainee ppl, I really appreciate the skill and ability involved in flying those big birds. I understand its just BAU to you guys but I respect your ability to keep us passengers safe :)

Claubird, you sound like a real gentlemen, something that is rare these days. If you ever fly me back to San Diego and the F/As aren't to your liking, I'll shout you a beer :)

[calippl]

TightSlot, I will continue to be pleasant for sure. Thankfully it's kind of hard wired in my personality :cool:

Claybird, ironically I used to fly Internationally via Chicago frequently. Originally from UK so lots of trips back and fourth between the States and Heathrow/Glasgow. Can be identified as the Scottish woman racing toward the gate like Shergar, trying to make tight connections after long lines at immigration!

You're so lucky to have access to a Caravan. I flew on one a few months back, as a passenger, between Bethel, AK and Chevak, AK. I strikes me as a very versitile aircraft. There isn't a whole lot to do up there so we'd meet the aircraft on the airstrip each afternoon and help unload cargo and mail. Kinda of a fun thing to do for an aviation enthusiast! More often than not they the aircraft was a Caravan.

[Davef68]

Pilots often prefer to be complimented on the approach rather than the landing for the approach is the more difficult flight path profile at which to smoothly succeed.


Which illustrates the difference between the professional/ those with knowledge and Joe Public - most of the latter would regard the 'landing' as including the approach, and not just the 'wheels on the ground' moment.

[Laarbruch72]

I disagree, in fact I'd venture so far as to say that the passengers have absolutely no idea whatsoever as to what's happening on the approach. Contact of main gear / runway and softness thereof is their only really definable reference point.

A few of the more knowledgeable passengers (if seated at windows) may know the wings have been far from level all the way down thanks to a breezy day, but that's a long way from being able to determine whether it was an unstable approach. Only the flight deck crew really know what the approach was like.