Considered His Emotions Too High To Be Safe, Reportedly Caused By Argument On Union Action

A United pilot in Salt Lake City may have taken a page from the flight instructors playbook Thursday as he took the I.M. S.A.F.E. checklist and determined his E for emotion was too high to fly his flight that day.

Or at least that’s how he explained it to passengers on the cabin intercom according to one passenger.

According to USA Today, the pilot, who may have been involved in a labor-related dispute with colleagues, said that he didn't feel he could fly safely, said Paul Jacobson, an energy company executive who was aboard United Flight 416 from Salt Lake City to Denver.

The airline re-routed its customers on other flights and will give them "goodwill gestures," which may include miles and travel certificates for the inconvienince according to United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski. She added in the emailed statement the flight was canceled according to company procedures designed to ensure flight crews are prepared to fly.

Urbanski did not dispute the passengers account but declined to identify the pilot or provide further details of the incident.

"We will conduct a full investigation of the events leading up to the cancellation and take appropriate, necessary action," she wrote in the e-mail.

David Kelly, a spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association, which represents United pilots, said the union won't comment on the incident.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Alison Duquette says it's up to the airlines to determine when and how pilots can walk away from the cockpit if they feel unfit to fly.

"But we'd expect that if the pilots aren't fit to fly, they would not fly," she said.

Jacobson said he witnessed the pilot in a heated cellphone conversation at the gate before he boarded, and overheard the pilot stating that "he was going to complain to the union."

It wasn’t until the passengers were seated when the pilot made the announcement.

"I'm roughly paraphrasing here, but the pilot came on the PA and said, 'some of you may have witnessed an incident I was involved in at the gate. I'm not going to go into the details, but it was an interpersonal confrontation that upset me significantly to the point where I'm not focused enough to fly you to Denver. I feel like I may not be calmed and focused enough to fly to Denver for another hour,' " Jacobson said.

"I'm going to give him credit for standing in front of people and saying that," Jacobson added. "Still it was a very unusual situation."

Passengers were allowed to get off the plane until it was ready to leave, and most people did so after the announcement, Jacobson said.

According to Jacobson who quoted another passenger who spoke directly to the crew, the incident reportedly stemmed from the crew of another United flight observing the pilot wearing his hat contradicting the pilots union request urging pilots to remove their hats. The request asks pilots to do so when they "are likely to be viewed by management," as a form of protest, according to a notice on ALPA's website.

"In the concourse, on the jetway, wherever. Show solidarity with your fellow pilots, show management our solidarity. Don't wear your hat," the notice stated.

The January 15 statement instructed members to adopt the practice because "now is the time to show management that this pilot group is serious about regaining what was stripped from us during bankruptcy."

As reported by ANN, the battle between United’s workers and management continues to get more heated with recent announcements of cutbacks and unpopular executive incentive plans. Just last week hundreds of United employees, including pilots, flight attendants and machinists, rallied in Southern California to protest the airlines decision to set aside about $130 million worth of stock to fund the new incentive plan for executives while the company moves forward cutting routes and laying off up to 1,600 employees.

FMI: www.united.com, www.alpa.org