Video: UA Captain Appeals for Calm Following Pre-flight Scuffle

The United Airlines pilot implored passengers to let “cooler heads prevail” following a charged post-election dustup between flyers on opposite sides of the political spectrum.

The captain of a United Airlines flight from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport (PVR) was simply trying to maintain order in the cabin after passengers were separated following a feud over the results of the US Presidential election, but when the pilot took to the public address system, his plea to passengers amounted to good advice for more than just the Mexico-bound travelers on the plane. Rather than choosing sides, the pilot made an impassioned argument for empathy and a little bit of sage advice about knowing when to keep one’s mouth shut.

A short video capturing the pilot’s lecture was posted on Youtube.

“[It’s not a good time to choose when] we’re gonna be in a metal tube at 30,000 feet to bring up politics,” the peacemaking captain began. “I understand everybody has their opinions; that’s fine. If you support him, great. If you don’t, I understand. However, we’re up here to go to Puerto Vallarta, supposed to be having a good time, and what I do ask is that as people we have the common decency to respect each other’s decisions and to get along. Nobody wants to argue, nobody’s gonna change their minds by arguing and let’s keep our opinions to ourselves on this particular matter at this particular time.”

The pilot went on to offer some ideas about how a productive and civil public discourse might look, but admonished everyone onboard that the cabin of an international flight might not be the best place to hash out political differences.

“When cooler heads prevail and we can talk and realize we’re all human beings and we all can stick together and we can all pull for this country in our own way, then that’s what we should do,” the captain concluded. “If there’s anybody that has a problem with this, that needs to vent or rant or rave, there’s another flight tomorrow. You’re not gonna be on this one. I hope that’s clear.”

Airline officials insisted that the captain wasn’t so much attempting to heal the country’s political divide as he was attempting to ensure a pleasant flight for everyone onboard. “Our pilot was trying to defuse an argument between passengers to get everyone to their destination safely,” United Airlines spokesperson Maddie King told the SF Gate.

[Photo: United Airlines]