I would love to hear from airline employees here, particularly pilots. There seems to be this omerta on FT from airline staff when one of their own messes up, in this case by imposing collective punishment without getting all of the facts and using taxpayer funded police to do the job.

I have respect for flight crews, have never refused an order from the flight crew and know not to ask a crew member for assistance when they are performing other duties. Nonetheless others in the profession should not be afraid to denounce those who go on power trips, causing inconvenience to passengers who pay their salaries and embarrassment to their employer, along with potential compensation payments, knowing that they will not personally have to apologize or compensate their employer for any money paid out.