Saying goodbye to passengers

Kingairer

Kingairer

'Tiger Team' Member
Does anyone else get annoyed when the pilot saying goodbye to the passengers is overly self deprecating ie "Hey Nice landing".... "Oh, even I get lucky sometimes", "Even a blind squirell finds a nut once in awhile"....All when in reality its obvious they think they are Chuck Yeager Jr....Just an obersavtion and topic for discussion.
 
Can't remember the last time I saw a captain even be up bidding adieu to the pax... Always a quick turn these days it seems. (and I sit in the back at least 4 times a week)
 
Yeager had incredible eyesight and was extremely aggressive. Great attributes for going to War, but not the same skillset as a guy like Hoover...

As for being self-deprecating, it's a hedge against seeming like a jerk. In a perfect world everyone would be comfortable enough to accept or give a compliment, but that's not the world we're in.
 
Tram said:
What if they don't think they are Yeager Jr? I've used similar phrases because I don't think it's cool to be a braggart and sometimes I get tired of pointing at the CA and saying "It was allll him!" ;)

I'd much rather be Hoover Jr. anyday, he'd fly Yeager under the table. I think Chuck was a slightly better than average pilot with a huge ego. There is a reason Yeager went to war and Hoover was there very shortly.

Chucks an arrogant piece of work as well. He'd probably tell you "D&$n right I slicked it on!!"
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I'm confused. Wasn't Hoover shot down over the Med off the coast of Italy and taken to a camp in Germany where he stole a 190 to escape? He also spent the beggining of the war test flying re-assembled aircraft that had been shipped in pieces to North Africa. So he was in the war and it was short because he was shot down in his first engagement wth the enemy.
 
Yeah Hoover was flying a Spitfire, weirdly, and wound up in a Luft camp after getting shot down whilst suffering mechanical trouble. He did steal an FW and get to the Netherlands. From what I can deduce, he is by any rational accounting a vastly superior pilot to Yeager, but perhaps not so much of a "warrior". Yeager was more in the mold of Frank Luke...aggressive and utterly fearless...perhaps to the point hubris, because of course Yeager got shot down in pretty short order himself.

The interesting thing to me is that guys with such vastly different natures were both (in their own particular ways) legends.
 
All I know is they got to do a hell of a lot more cooler crap in an airplane than I will ever get a chance to do.
 
They didn't want Hoover in the war at all. But he eventually got over there and like you said, got shot down. Came back and they were not letting him go a second time.

Anyone who can get a 51 iced up, melt a hole the "size of his thumb" to see through and get a P-51 down without breaking it, was a pilot. Not to mention doing double loops over and under a bridge in a P-38.
 
Hoover's talents strike as much better utilized in a training role, anyway. Guys who are fire and vinegar (and, yes, ok, talent, too) are a dime a dozen. Guys who can fly like Hoover are rare.

Reminds me of St.-Exupery getting waxed over the Med in a recon P-38. He'd flown by signal fires in South America when just getting in a plane was considered an act of heroism. Crashed in the Sahara. Pretty much anything incredible in an airplane, he'd done it. Famous author, very much the voice of France (and aviation). He could have sat the War out in New York, but noooooooo. He had to get back in the saddle. What a waste. To this day, "Flight Arras" remains one of my favorite books.
 
I dont know, just something you kinda roll your eyes at after hearing it numerous times. How bout just "Thank You, thanks for flying" then back to the chris farley "buh bye's".
 
Maybe what you hear in it is a reflection upon your own self loathing as a regional pilot?(playing shrink here and 100% kidding)
 
Kingairer said:
I dont know, just something you kinda roll your eyes at after hearing it numerous times. How bout just "Thank You, thanks for flying" then back to the chris farley "buh bye's".
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Honestly, I think you care a little bit too much. To some people, to downplay an accomplishment is the right thing to do. I do think there are extremes on both ends though.
 
Eh, from a passenger perspective if we say something about the landing it's usually an honest effort to try to let you know we appreciate the tough job you guys do and maybe make your day suck a little less. A simple "thanks" is a fine response. But I think the self-deprecation is a deeply ingrained thing in the pilot community-Gann even devotes a few paragraphs to it in a chapter in Fate is the Hunter. So whatever.
 
I was always trapped trying to get out to do the post flight.
If it was my good landing, I'd say it was the Captains, if it sucked, I said it was mine. I really don't care enough to lose sleep over a frequent flyer's opinion on my aviating skills. I've formed my opinion/ego at this point in my career.

Although I do miss the smart-ass's from New York.
 
At my airline, traditionally, the flying pilot is supposed to be at the door thanking passengers.

I just say "thank you" without any editorial comment. But the difference between a "greaser" and a "pranger" is some mystery factor "X" so I'm largely neutral abotu my performance.
 
Its become so rare for me to see a crew member standing at the door during deplaning these days, its become a pleasant surprise. But like beagle said, most flights are quick-turns.

If I ever got a smart-ass remark from a passenger about a landing, I'd just tell them the same thing I've told friends in the past. "Sorry the last 2 seconds of the flight were horrible enough to undermine me flying you around for 2 hours". Because sometimes a middle finger isn't classly, or so I've been told.
 
The snide comments don't bother me. I generally think some people feel compelled to say "something" and when I'm in work mode, it takes a lot for me to get butt-hurt.
 
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