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United Airlines goes there: vows affirmative action for pilots
American Thinker ^ | 8 Apr, 2021 | Thomas Lifson

Posted on 04/08/2021 5:04:20 AM PDT by MtnClimber

Airline pilot is one of those jobs, along with brain surgeon, that used to be used as an example of the type of position for which affirmative action was obviously unsuited.

Airline pilot is one of those jobs, along with brain surgeon, that used to be used as an example of the type of position for which affirmative action was obviously unsuited. Who wants to board an aircraft or go under the knife with someone in charge chosen for factors other than ability? Lives are at stake, after all. Anything less than the absolute best should be unacceptable.

Yet, in this age of identity politics madness, United Airlines proudly proclaimed its intention to choose half of its pilot training recruits based on skin color and X-chromosomes:

Our flight deck should reflect the diverse group of people on board our planes every day. That’s why we plan for 50% of the 5,000 pilots we train in the next decade to be women or people of color. Learn more and apply.

— United Airlines (@united) April 6, 2021 Uh, no. I won’t fly on an airline that prioritizes anything over pure ability when it comes to pilots. And, because United’s hub at San Francisco has been my primary airport for more than 3 decades (many of which were years of heavy travel), I’ve generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue for UAL. I was a Premier Executive-level frequent traveler with them for many years. I just flew across an ocean on one of their 777s less than 2 weeks ago.

But piloting is a seriously demanding job, and the consequences of even small errors can be deadly. In the hands a skilled pilot, a landing of a big airplane like a 777 can be a thing of beauty that looks easy.

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Society
KEYWORDS: affirmativeaction; communism; woke
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1 posted on 04/08/2021 5:04:20 AM PDT by MtnClimber
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To: SkyPilot

I predict 777s colliding on the taxi ways. Just like agile Navy ships getting hit by freighters.


2 posted on 04/08/2021 5:04:49 AM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber
Well, they might not be graduates of the Top Gun school, but let me assure you, they matriculated Affirmative Action Gun.

"Can you land this thing?"

"Maybe."

3 posted on 04/08/2021 5:08:44 AM PDT by Sirius Lee (They intend to murder us. Prep if you want to live and live like you are prepping for eternal life)
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To: MtnClimber

So we are going to sacrifice planes full of people to check some boxes..

Kara S. Hultgreen All over again, except this time they will take another 100 plus people with them.


4 posted on 04/08/2021 5:10:41 AM PDT by HamiltonJay
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To: MtnClimber

5 posted on 04/08/2021 5:11:01 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: MtnClimber

Just ask people of color it they would fly on a plane with a most competent pilot, or with a person of color or female gender.


6 posted on 04/08/2021 5:11:58 AM PDT by kenmcg (tHE WHOLE )
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To: MtnClimber

Watch the planes start falling from the sky.


7 posted on 04/08/2021 5:12:11 AM PDT by sport
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To: MtnClimber

It is going to be a Grade A Cluster with candidates not making the grade. Or, unqualified pilots being put in charge of planes and people’s lives.


8 posted on 04/08/2021 5:12:33 AM PDT by MattMusson (Sometimes the wind blows too much)
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To: MtnClimber

To quote Sheldon on Big Bang Theory, “Oh gravity, thou art a heartless bitch.”


9 posted on 04/08/2021 5:13:00 AM PDT by Flick Lives (“Today we celebrate the first glorious anniversary of the Information Purification Directives.”)
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To: MtnClimber

Leftists ruin everything they touch. Wait until United can’t find enough minorities capable of passing their pilots program. They will lower their standards just to meet a quota.


10 posted on 04/08/2021 5:13:29 AM PDT by ConservativeInPA (“When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.” ― Thomas Jefferson)
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To: sport
I suppose there is a bright side...

"This is WZAZ in Chicago, where disco lives forever!"

11 posted on 04/08/2021 5:13:29 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: MtnClimber

12 posted on 04/08/2021 5:17:13 AM PDT by JonPreston (Q: Never have so many, been so wrong, so often)
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To: MtnClimber

I saw this in action in Nigeria back in the 90s.

Nigeria passed a law mandating whites make up only 10 percent of all technical jobs. An oil rig, for example, generally had the top 3 jobs as whites, with the rest being black.

Rigs started having some major issues, a couple caught fire.

I was landing in Warri one day in a small Bombardier jet. The flight deck door was open.

As we approached, you could hear the English pilot screaming at the black pilot as we came in to land. We hit so hard my back hurt for a week.

We ended up and the end of the runway with the front wheels in a pile of sand. We walked, with our luggage, back to the terminal.

I remember thinking in my head, “I can’t believe I’m going to die in Warri, Nigeria!”


13 posted on 04/08/2021 5:17:47 AM PDT by RinaseaofDs
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To: ConservativeInPA

Can’t the FAA ground them if they are considered unsafe to fly? The FAA is the organization which issues flight certificates and ratings. I believe the FAA will not let foreign (or domestic) carriers who don’t meet standards land in the USA.


14 posted on 04/08/2021 5:18:00 AM PDT by Cecily
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To: JonPreston

15 posted on 04/08/2021 5:18:59 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: MtnClimber

I went for knee surgery some time back, and in choosing a surgeon, I knew of one who was extremely competent, but had a bad reputation as someone who had no bedside manner, was rude to staff, a cold fish, and so on. I had several run-ins with him personally, so I knew he could be an a-hole. But he did a great job with his surgeries and his patients did great.

I chose him.

I didn’t care about any of that other stuff, I love a good bedside manner in a physician and value that highly, but when it comes to cutting...I want someone who can cut and do it right.

Same for flying a plane. I don’t give a hoot about age, sex, or race. I want someone who knows how to fly. I admit, given my past, to always feeling better when I find out my pilot has a military background, but I care more about merit and competence than ANYTHING else.

I think the injection of “affirmative action” or any other BS that has anything to do with sex or race is utter and complete craven stupidity.

I have heard all the arguments that having a “diverse” workforce helps in some way, but I don’t believe it for one second. Forcing diversity for the sake of diversity because some Leftist douchebags “think” it contributes positively in some way is the absolute height of idiocy.

I ADMIRE AND RESPECT A MERITOCRACY OF COMPETENCE IN ALL ASPECTS REGARDLESS OF RACE, SEX, COLOR, OR CREED. THAT IS THE ONLY THING THAT SHOULD COUNT.


16 posted on 04/08/2021 5:21:26 AM PDT by rlmorel (Leftists are The Droplet of Sewage in a gallon of ultra-pure clean water.)
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To: dfwgator

Hahahahahaha...that gave me a laugh today! I just purchased a copy of that and watched again a few weeks back...:)


17 posted on 04/08/2021 5:22:29 AM PDT by rlmorel (Leftists are The Droplet of Sewage in a gallon of ultra-pure clean water.)
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To: Cecily

“Can’t the FAA ground them”.....

Someone musta for got what the “F” in FAA stands for ?

Theres your answer


18 posted on 04/08/2021 5:23:28 AM PDT by Bell Bouy II
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To: MattMusson

I suspect what you will really see is this:

1. Lots of washouts
2. The subpar candidates (who make it through flight school but are still not great) will end up doing the commuter flights for many (many) years. I have a friend who is a pilot with Delta; he is a very good pilot and still had to do that. It was pretty rough and the pay was low, but eventually he got tapped to fly the bigger jets. People who don’t have their eyes-on-the-prize can get frustrated and eventually quit.
3. Many years spent as a co-pilot before being in command.
4. Another factor is the increasing level of automation and AI in the cockpit. The trend is that it will only get more sophisticated and reliale. It has also been suggested that, in another 20 years, these planes will be totally automated with the pilot just being there for backup. For the bigger planes, its pretty close to that right now.
5. The real trouble with be if the tech fails and the SHTF. Then, yes, people will die because the pilot won’t effectively react. But the tech is pushing us in that direction anyway, even for competent pilots. I suspect if there is an accident where the planes crashes & burns, they will blame the tech, not the pilot.


19 posted on 04/08/2021 5:24:25 AM PDT by rbg81 (Truth is stranger than fiction)
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To: dfwgator

They say, “Every dark cloud has a silver lining”, don’t they?


20 posted on 04/08/2021 5:25:45 AM PDT by sport
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