In August 2020, Ingram, 64, became trapped in a nightmarish scenario involving a botched attempt by an employee of a ground services company. Im not saying he is guilty of anything but not being Diligent. But, assuming it transpired exactly as reported by the pilot (and memory is rarely precisely correct) the pilot should have asked to see the test paperwork to ensure there wasn't a mix-up. Reasons include: * Flying or attempting to fly under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Id rather the airlines take a hard stance to eliminate ANY chance my pilots are loaded!! Major airlines expected to hire record number of pilots in 2022, Aviation Industry to Face Post-Pandemic Pilot Shortage, In North America, a Shortage of 12,000 Commercial Pilots Is Expected by 2023. Odds are the person pronounced Dewitt as David (we have no info on that person, may or may not have an accent) and the guy took advantage of the situation. If this were reddit, it'd be an ETA from me. It opened up by new ownership who bought the name. Planning classes of 30 new hires bi-weekly, starting in April. All Rights Reserved. In a TikTok video widely shared by. An additional identifying detail usually asked from a person who is asked to submit to a blood test is the date of birth. 2016 www.independentsentinel.com. This man has not been treated fairly by a company he worked for 32 years. Twitter user @ClapBackKyle claims to be an American Airlines pilot (and in his Twitter bio he refers to himself first and foremost as a "professional pilot"), and he has threatened to kick me off his flight if I'm ever flying with him. Being a Dimwit in a cockpit doesn't make passengers feel safer. In recent months, pilots have said that the airline was ill-equipped to put so many flights on schedules this summer, even though demand from passengers was heavy. Alaska Airlines Business Card Review: 70K Miles & Lufthansas Boeing 787 Business Class: Exactly As Expected. Also, reinstating him is out of the question as he is now over 65. March 2021 - Endeavor is hiring pilots again - join our growing team! Several others offered their input. I know of a pilot who worked for an airline and was selected for drug testing after an aborted take-off due to flaps not being set correctly. This is a disastrous and sad story.No matter what kind of a settlement he gets it isnt going to compensate him for what they did to him . He was combative with other crew, passengers and airline staff and ultimately failed the drug test and was fired by the airline. He may not be totally in the right and easy to second guess, but to claim he spent all his money and thus must be guilty ignores the real cost of litigation. This site uses different types of cookies. Smart money says the contractor had an accident, pronounced the W as a V, and this pilot, unless we are to believe he has never heard someone with an accent attempt to pronounce his name, figured he could just move on by saying it wasnt his name. Three Sun Country fleet employees have claimed the airline fired them in retaliation for their support of a union approved in January. April 2021 - United Airlines on Thursday told staff it will soon begin hiring hundreds of pilots a process the airline was forced to halt when coronavirus pandemic devastated travel demand last year, according to an internal email reviewed by CNBC. My last name is frequently garbled, despite being pronounced exactly as written, and it takes only a few seconds to ask, "did you mean XYZ?" Exactly, I find it highly unusual that he did not stop to confirm via employee I.D that it was not him . Easier to break someone financially than to be right in the first place. Delta CEO Ed . Alleged negative voice mails are nothing more than harassment. Pilots at American Airlines are pushing back against the Biden Administration vaccine mandate, demanding exemptions and warning the vaccine mandate will lead to travel disruptions. I was reading and kept wondering ok wheres are his Union reps. As a commercial truck driver I am subject to random drug and alcohol tests as well, so I understand the implications of refusal to test. Caffeine and Sugar. They had to know who the pilot was that was to be tested. There is no mistaking the patient. I would give my name and have them check the paperwork. My FAA incident was long before I went there. To that extent, the airline will be opening up positions for roughly 120 pilots. American Airlines and its flight attendants union on Friday jointly applied for federal mediation in contract negotiations. American Airlines to Hire 440 Pilots by the End of 2021. Wrong in all the way this was handled. Its a massive sickout. The airline said at the time that weather created a domino effect of pilots and flight attendants reaching federal limits on hours worked, and it took days to work through the shortage of crew members. They dont just go to a gate and hope they get the right person. How is it possible that a pilot not only gets fired but has his license revoked by the FAA over what amounts to a miscommunication? I a civil Court I would go for the Euling employee who surrender the refusal report as well. Stay connected with the latest travel, aviation, and credit card news. The pilot should have stuck around and confirmed the true name of the tested, and the testing company should not have jumped to conclusions and deemed it as a refusal to test. As for the pilot's situation, if not employed in ground services, most of these barely educated individuals would be flipping burgers at a Scottish restaurant. How do you know he wasn't recently divorced, and lost everything? Now this is Miami, and I can tell you for most of the Eulen workers English is not their primary language. Botched a drug test for Dimwit, picked a wrong time to be @Mike According to their union, 4,200 of American's 14,000 pilots are not vaccinated. For all other types of cookies we need your permission. Very worrying to think that people don't realize the financial implications of their late years. There are only 2 pilots ..9 sometimes 11 flight attendants. People can just about do what they want to another person. Cumulative raises will amount to . They have no CBA with the FAA, government, Eulen or airport. Specifically, first officer Libertad Salmeron was fired by Volaris for not following the sterile cockpit procedure, whereby pilots are only supposed to be performing essential tasks while at below 10,000 feet. * A felony conviction. Good luck, Although I agree with the testing asking for a person and it was the wrong person should have been noted somewhere in the testing company notes all the things that happened to cthis pilot was an avoidable situation Im happy he took it to court and the ones who blessed up are held liable, I wouldve thought the pilot wouldve stay there and try and find out who this David was or if it was him with a typo mistake. All trademarks, trade names, service marks, product names, company names, logos, and brands used or mentioned herein are property of their respective owners in the United States and other countries. The FAA never contacted My CFI, never did a background check or contacted the flight MD who issued my medical license. Hard to believe this actually happened at the time they asked for David, couldnt he just say, Im Dewitt, is that the name your looking for? That's how people's lives get ruined by people not doing their job right. As a student pilot my ground school instructor wouldn't have endorsed my flight log book nor would my CFI risk his safety or license had he suspected drug use after 50 hours of flight time. Armored Bridges To Ukraine: Last Pieces For A Counter-Attack Coming Into Place, Leidos Approach To Armys Athena Recon Aircraft Stresses Integration Skills, Networking Experience, Analytic Objectivity, After Covid, The Global Commercial Aviation Fleet Starts To Grow Again, New Marine Corps Prototype Ship Signals Interesting Times For South China Sea. The Allied Pilots Association representing Americans pilots is already planning to start informational picketing campaigns next month at Miami International Airport, with more to come later at DFW International Airport and Charlotte. I would have tried to clear it up on site. I believe he should be granted, by the judge and jury, three times what his retirement should have been. You can't tell me that someone who had lived 62 years with the name "DeWitt" wasn't used to people mispronouncing it. Please view our advertising policy page for additional details about our partners. 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Travel restrictions across the Atlantic should ease in the second half of the year, he said, building on recent market openings in Spain, France, Italy and Greece. Cookies are small text files that can be used by websites to make a user's experience more efficient. I hope the pilot gets a nice settlement. If the contractor went to that flight for a reason. It seems big,RICH corporations like to save $ by firing ppl illegally so they dont have to pay them their pension! PSA Airlines Is Now Offering Pilots Up to $187,500 in Bonuses and Guaranteed Flow to American. While we do try to list all the best miles and points deals, the site does not include all card companies or credit card offers available in the marketplace. First off, his savings and how quickly he blew through it, not for me to comment. Random testing is way out of controll. Living in America these days is such crap, too too much freedom. Pilots who start training and building their hours now will be among the most competitive. This is why the contractor should always check their badge just incase they pronounce the name wrong, even if they say they are not the person. Admittedly alcohol might have been out of his system at that point, but we have no reason to believe that was an issue, since the test was random (and not due to any suspicion). The only difference is the lifestyle and monthly bills. Be careful what you eat! August 2021 - Pilots who choose to join Piedmont Airlines exceptional aviation team can earn over $180,000 in bonuses as part of an unprecedented recruitment and retention package and have a guaranteed job at American Airlines under a company flow program. Well see how the employees take to it. He was terminated without cause. The drug testing people are on the jetbridge they Visually confirm your Company issued I.D & employee number.. Dewitt can sound like David easily. DeWitt Ingram, I stand in solidarity with you. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. I had to explain that these Bagels contain poppy seeds. Had I spent a dime on this matter would have played into this narcissistic individual vindictiveness. Never in my worst nightmare could I have dreamed my happy world of personal and professional achievement and pride could end so disastrously as it did. At American Airlines, for example, more than 7,200 of the airlines more than 15,000 pilots are set to turn 65 over the next decade. If the company doing the random drug testing for the airline can't get a pilot's name correct, why would you trust them to be able to get the chain of custody correct with your testing sample. The unions board of directors representing 14,000 pilots at American Airlines pinned some of the periods of heavy cancellations and flight delays this summer on the operations team that helps run the companys day-to-day flight schedule. A pilot with a social media following for his anti-vaccine views has gone viral for attacking his airline's mandate on employees getting the coronavirus shot. It's really hard to tell what happened at the jet bridge. But i wonder if these calls happened immediately or within 15-20 minutes of this refusal situation. Eulen did not respond to emails. The contractor is at fault!! As a DOT has not truck driver I can tell you whatever presented with a drug test request the employee requesting the test is giving a form with a typewritten name of the testy and other information which is there to verify their ID if you didn't have the form or the pilot didn't stop to look at the form and say this is not me then it can create a gray area in the As a DOT has not truck driver I can tell you whatever presented with a drug test request the employee requesting the test is giving a form with a typewritten name of the testy and other information which is there to verify their ID if you didn't have the form or the pilot didn't stop to look at the form and say this is not me then it can create a gray area in the matter of the lawsuit the pilot should have stopped ask to see the form verified it wasn't him and then moved on would have saved him a whole lot of trouble. The airline contractor clearly asked for a specify person. Ingram, upset by the call, scheduled tests, including a blood test, that showed no alcohol or drugs were in his system, Mager wrote. (Photo: Al Drago) O n a Friday-morning flight from Houston to Albuquerque, a Southwest Airlines pilot . The fleet additions, which also include another 24 MAX aircraft for 2023, will enable the carrier to manage the surge in travel demand it expects to see over the next two years. January 19, 2021 - U.S. ultra low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines, which is owned by private equity firm Indigo Partners, is planning to resume new pilot hiring this year, a Frontier spokeswoman said on Tuesday.