Southwest Airlines Co. suspended a pilot who broadcast a vulgar rant picked up on an air-traffic control frequency available to many pilots.
The pilot, a captain whose name the airline declined to disclose, had his cockpit microphone switched on to an air-traffic frequency while he complained to his first officer about what he viewed as slim dating pickings among the Chicago-based flight attendants he flew with for four weeks.
The Federal Aviation Administration sent the audio recording picked up by the Houston Air Route Traffic Control Center on March 25 to the Dallas-based airline. Southwest said the captain was suspended without pay for an undisclosed amount of time and sent to "sensitivity training." He is now back on the job, the airline said.
Out of a dozen attendants, the pilot said on the recording, there were "11 [expletive] over-the-top [expletives] homosexuals and a granny. Eleven. I mean, think of the odds of that. I thought I was in Chicago, which was party land."
In the middle of his 2 1/ 2 minute diatribe, a Houston air-traffic controller interjected: "Whoever's transmitting, watch what you're saying."
The pilot then said the Houston crew base is "one of the ugliest" in the airline. "It's all [expletive] old dudes and grannies and maybe a handful of cute chicks."
The controller came on again: "Somebody's got a stuck mike and is telling us all about their endeavors. We don't need to hear that."
A pilot in another plane told the Houston controller: "That was not us…and they wonder why airline pilots have a bad reputation." A pilot from yet another plane chimed in, "And it wasn't us either." The controller replied, "Roger. I didn't think that was you."
It isn't likely that passengers or cabin crew heard the outburst, which occurred on a morning flight from Austin to San Diego.
The incident was first reported Tuesday by KPRC-TV in Houston. The FAA, in a statement, said the conversation "included offensive language and disparaging characterizations of certain groups and individuals." While the incident occurred in a phase of flight when personal conversations are permitted in the cockpit, "the FAA expects a higher level of professionalism from flight crews."
The pilot, a captain whose name the airline declined to disclose, had his cockpit microphone switched on to an air-traffic frequency while he complained to his first officer about what he viewed as slim dating pickings among the Chicago-based flight attendants he flew with for four weeks.
The Federal Aviation Administration sent the audio recording picked up by the Houston Air Route Traffic Control Center on March 25 to the Dallas-based airline. Southwest said the captain was suspended without pay for an undisclosed amount of time and sent to "sensitivity training." He is now back on the job, the airline said.
Out of a dozen attendants, the pilot said on the recording, there were "11 [expletive] over-the-top [expletives] homosexuals and a granny. Eleven. I mean, think of the odds of that. I thought I was in Chicago, which was party land."
In the middle of his 2 1/ 2 minute diatribe, a Houston air-traffic controller interjected: "Whoever's transmitting, watch what you're saying."
The pilot then said the Houston crew base is "one of the ugliest" in the airline. "It's all [expletive] old dudes and grannies and maybe a handful of cute chicks."
The controller came on again: "Somebody's got a stuck mike and is telling us all about their endeavors. We don't need to hear that."
A pilot in another plane told the Houston controller: "That was not us…and they wonder why airline pilots have a bad reputation." A pilot from yet another plane chimed in, "And it wasn't us either." The controller replied, "Roger. I didn't think that was you."
It isn't likely that passengers or cabin crew heard the outburst, which occurred on a morning flight from Austin to San Diego.
The incident was first reported Tuesday by KPRC-TV in Houston. The FAA, in a statement, said the conversation "included offensive language and disparaging characterizations of certain groups and individuals." While the incident occurred in a phase of flight when personal conversations are permitted in the cockpit, "the FAA expects a higher level of professionalism from flight crews."
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