Today was the day...(The Michael Roberts/ExpressJet Story)
Nov 15, 2010, 5:28 pm
#571
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: IAD 19L
Programs: IHG; DL, JB, SW, UA, US, Ch, Crl, HzG, EmC, AmtGR regular; TSA Disp Tinfoil
Posts: 292
Sorry! I had no idea this would take so long, folks. We decided to handle our own communications on this 'cause you and everyone else have a right to know, and people need to know.
You can read about the other pilot I mentioned above here.
Please send this out to the rest of the world.
You can read about the other pilot I mentioned above here.
Please send this out to the rest of the world.
Nov 17, 2010, 1:58 pm
#572
In Memoriam, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Benicia CA
Programs: Alaska MVP Gold 75K, AA 3.8MM, UA 1.1MM, enjoying the retired life
Posts: 31,849
Two commercial airline pilots filed suit against the federal government Tuesday claiming new airport screening procedures violate their constitutional rights.
Michael S. Roberts of Memphis, a pilot with ExpressJet, and Ann Poe of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., a Continental pilot, sued the Department of Homeland Security and Transportation Security Administration in federal court in Washington.
Roberts and Poe have been grounded since separate incidents in which they refused to submit to full body scans or the alternative, enhanced pat-downs by TSA officers.
Michael S. Roberts of Memphis, a pilot with ExpressJet, and Ann Poe of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., a Continental pilot, sued the Department of Homeland Security and Transportation Security Administration in federal court in Washington.
Roberts and Poe have been grounded since separate incidents in which they refused to submit to full body scans or the alternative, enhanced pat-downs by TSA officers.
Nov 17, 2010, 6:44 pm
#573
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 39
If you can talk to your IT dept. or somehow figure out what the problem is let me know and I'll see if I can make it more workplace friendly.
Anybody else having this problem?
Nov 18, 2010, 6:34 pm
#574
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Northeast Kansas | Colorado Native
Programs: Amex Gold/Plat, UA *G, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Gold, NEXUS, TSA Disparager Unobtanium
Posts: 21,603
Works fine for me.. Glad to see info about you and the CO pilot in the paper yesterday!
Nov 19, 2010, 1:03 am
#576
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: DTW
Posts: 234
Hmm. Sorry - I can't imagine what, though, unless you work for TSA. In that case, I'm sure the entire domain is blocked!
If you can talk to your IT dept. or somehow figure out what the problem is let me know and I'll see if I can make it more workplace friendly.
Anybody else having this problem?
If you can talk to your IT dept. or somehow figure out what the problem is let me know and I'll see if I can make it more workplace friendly.
Anybody else having this problem?
Nov 19, 2010, 10:29 pm
#577
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 39
Sorry folks. The link in the post above this one does work - I changed the format a bit and messed the old links up.
There are other reports on the site, too, and I'd like to get some more. Check them out and keep sending them. I've been super busy so everything is stacked up, but I still want to publish everything and keep the pressure on until this is 100% contained and resolved, so I need all the quality info I can get. Just bear with me on the slow pace of communication right now.
There are other reports on the site, too, and I'd like to get some more. Check them out and keep sending them. I've been super busy so everything is stacked up, but I still want to publish everything and keep the pressure on until this is 100% contained and resolved, so I need all the quality info I can get. Just bear with me on the slow pace of communication right now.
Nov 24, 2010, 8:44 am
#578
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2005
Programs: ua mm, aa plat, starriott LTPP, ihg plat, hh gold.
Posts: 13,017
hey, michael--heard your terrific interview on ktrh am in houston this morning and wanted to say thanks for being so eloquent and for not just being an advocate for the pilots but also the rest of us travelers. thank you. ^
Nov 24, 2010, 8:26 pm
#579
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: MEM
Programs: DL Plat, HH Diamond
Posts: 177
Michael Roberts -- Unpaid Leave
Folks,
I just wanted to bump this one back to the top.
Michael Roberts is on UNPAID leave until this is resolved.
In light of everything the TSA has been doing this week, I just wanted all flyertalk members to be aware of the burden that Mr. Roberts has taken on for all of us flyers.
There is a post on on the airline pilots forum where other pilots have made donations to Mr. Roberts to make Thanksgiving a little brighter for his wife and six children.
If you would like to donate (like I did) there is a very small donate button on his website that will direct you to paypal. http://fedupflyers.org
A safe and happy holidays to all the frequent flyers out there.
I just wanted to bump this one back to the top.
Michael Roberts is on UNPAID leave until this is resolved.
In light of everything the TSA has been doing this week, I just wanted all flyertalk members to be aware of the burden that Mr. Roberts has taken on for all of us flyers.
There is a post on on the airline pilots forum where other pilots have made donations to Mr. Roberts to make Thanksgiving a little brighter for his wife and six children.
If you would like to donate (like I did) there is a very small donate button on his website that will direct you to paypal. http://fedupflyers.org
A safe and happy holidays to all the frequent flyers out there.
Last edited by fschmidt; Nov 24, 2010 at 8:29 pm Reason: spelling
Nov 25, 2010, 1:03 am
#580
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 35
God bless you, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart, OP. A PILOT, that most certainly earns more than a $14/hr TSA goon, with a lot more to lose career-wise, stands up for his American rights, even with so much to lose.
Why aren't more TSA goons opting out of their disgusting jobs?
Why aren't more TSA goons opting out of their disgusting jobs?
Nov 28, 2010, 11:18 pm
#581
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 39
Thanks, everyone. You've all been very kind. I've been in the media so much lately and got worn out with all the hype so I haven't paid too much attention to the reports, but it looks like a lot of people didn't even show up to the airports last Wednesday. It may be pretty difficult to get meaningful numbers for a while, but everything I've heard seems to indicate that people got the message and did what they had to do to protect themselves and their families. No doubt that also sent a strong message to the industry and the out of control regulators. How strange that they just shut the scanners down in so many places - is that the best they could do? You'd think they'd hire actors to go through the scanners and look all sexy and cool and talk about how safe they felt so everyone would think it was just the greatest thing going. Instead, they just turned them off. How funny!
Anyway, we can't afford to drop the ball on this one. The holidays are a great time to turn the spotlight on all this, but it's also a time when everyone can get distracted and really busy. Stay the course and let's keep helping less frequent travelers understand what it's all about. Then we'll reconvene afterwards, when TSA ramps things up again and everyone has moved on to the next crisis 'cause all this is still going to be with us by then, I'm afraid.
Also, thanks to those who've been sending donations. My family and I have been truly blessed both by the generosity and just knowing that there are so many others with us in this. You're a great bunch of people on this board and so much of what has actually happened and the media buzz has come from right here with you. Well done!
I just published a pretty comprehensive update on the web site (see here) and there's more to come in the near future, so please check it out, share, and subscribe to get the latest updates as they're posted.
Anyway, we can't afford to drop the ball on this one. The holidays are a great time to turn the spotlight on all this, but it's also a time when everyone can get distracted and really busy. Stay the course and let's keep helping less frequent travelers understand what it's all about. Then we'll reconvene afterwards, when TSA ramps things up again and everyone has moved on to the next crisis 'cause all this is still going to be with us by then, I'm afraid.
Also, thanks to those who've been sending donations. My family and I have been truly blessed both by the generosity and just knowing that there are so many others with us in this. You're a great bunch of people on this board and so much of what has actually happened and the media buzz has come from right here with you. Well done!
I just published a pretty comprehensive update on the web site (see here) and there's more to come in the near future, so please check it out, share, and subscribe to get the latest updates as they're posted.
Nov 29, 2010, 12:00 am
#582
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: IAH/HOU
Programs: CO/DL
Posts: 349
it looks like a lot of people didn't even show up to the airports last Wednesday. It may be pretty difficult to get meaningful numbers for a while, but everything I've heard seems to indicate that people got the message and did what they had to do to protect themselves and their families. No doubt that also sent a strong message to the industry and the out of control regulators.
The frequent flyers I have talked with and came in contact with since the latest TSA atrocities basicly are as follows.
While a large number of them disagree with the WBI's and say they should be used for secondary screenings only, almost everyone, virtually 100 percent are blood boiling mad beyond anything you could possibly imagine about the enhanced pat downs
I truly hope the reports you are getting are accurate, various posts on this thread seem to support that^
Take care, hope you get back to flying soon
Nov 29, 2010, 9:30 pm
#583
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 39
So do I, and the truth is I don't actually know if they are or not. But, even if they are, it still isn't entirely clear what will happen. The discussions between airline execs and the state are disturbingly quiet. No doubt such discussions are taking place, but what are they saying?
The scenario to watch for is the complete nationalization of the airline industry. They'll call it something like a bail out, or re-regulation like the way it was before the '70s, but it'll be something different altogether - more along the lines of a national soviet socialist public transportation system. Only they'll dress it up real nice and it'll be very hard to see why this isn't the perfect solution for everyone.
So far they've taken over the banking industry, the automobile manufacturers, and health care. I've often wondered - if they can assimilate all those sectors just because of their failure to balance their books, why have they left the airlines alone? We can't balance our books AND we kill people (ref. the Colgan crash in Buffalo, Comair in Lexington, etc.) Seems like the state would have jumped all over that by now.
If we bring the industry to its knees this holiday season, in typical fashion I'm afraid the state's solution will be more regulation and invasive, bureaucratic meddling, not less. And, if I'm right, I expect they're already in negotiations with the airline execs as I write to buy them off and make it happen. That doesn't mean it's a foregone conclusion - only that we must be vigilant and recognize it for what it is if/when it appears and oppose it with all our collective might. Otherwise, the state will be in control and possession of yet another of the nations biggest economic engines and the productivity generated by all those who work within that sector. They get stronger, we get weaker, and on it goes...
We gotta wake up soon because there's a lot more going on here than just these idiotic TSA/airport security shenanigans.
FedUpFlyers.org
The scenario to watch for is the complete nationalization of the airline industry. They'll call it something like a bail out, or re-regulation like the way it was before the '70s, but it'll be something different altogether - more along the lines of a national soviet socialist public transportation system. Only they'll dress it up real nice and it'll be very hard to see why this isn't the perfect solution for everyone.
So far they've taken over the banking industry, the automobile manufacturers, and health care. I've often wondered - if they can assimilate all those sectors just because of their failure to balance their books, why have they left the airlines alone? We can't balance our books AND we kill people (ref. the Colgan crash in Buffalo, Comair in Lexington, etc.) Seems like the state would have jumped all over that by now.
If we bring the industry to its knees this holiday season, in typical fashion I'm afraid the state's solution will be more regulation and invasive, bureaucratic meddling, not less. And, if I'm right, I expect they're already in negotiations with the airline execs as I write to buy them off and make it happen. That doesn't mean it's a foregone conclusion - only that we must be vigilant and recognize it for what it is if/when it appears and oppose it with all our collective might. Otherwise, the state will be in control and possession of yet another of the nations biggest economic engines and the productivity generated by all those who work within that sector. They get stronger, we get weaker, and on it goes...
We gotta wake up soon because there's a lot more going on here than just these idiotic TSA/airport security shenanigans.
FedUpFlyers.org