Why You Need to Read “Cockpit Confidential” (Sponsored)
Sourcebooks February 04, 2014
Have you ever wondered which airline seats will ensure the smoothest ride? Which airports have the trickiest runways? The reasons behind the upright tray tables and seat backs? The truth behind airplane-related conspiracy theories?
If you’re one of the billions of people who travel the globe via commercial airlines each year, there’s a good chance you’ve asked yourself these questions while waiting in security lines or taxiing along the runway.
For ten years, pilot Patrick Smith answered these and other airline-travel-related questions in his popular Ask the Pilot column on Salon.com. Since then, he’s appeared on over 200 radio and television outlets, including the Discovery Channel, CNN, and NPR, to debunk travel myths and provide the real—and sometimes wacky—stories behind the bustling industry.
He shares his almost 25 years of firsthand experience as a pilot in Cockpit Confidential: Everything You Need to Know about Air Travel: Questions, Answers, and Reflections. The provocative, thoughtful, often humorous book offers insight into the world of air travel, as well as discussions on a wide variety of newsworthy topics, such as airfare, pilot training, the dysfunction of the modern airport, and of course, security.
Smith discussed the latter topic in a July interview with the New York Times, where he stressed that air travel today is astonishingly safe. “We’ve engineered away what used to be the most common causes of catastrophic crashes,” he said. “There’s better crew training…everyone’s working together to ensure safety.”
With the fear and jargon surrounding modern air travel—as well as the stories perpetuated by today’s 24/7 news cycle—Smith’s book is an accessible, entertaining resource for fact-seeking travelers, and a celebration of the grand, exciting aviation business.
