ryan182

Its not just aspiring journalists...frankly I cannot recall the last time I saw a "journalist" or "travel expert" on any news show that was talking about air travel that had accurate factual information. My favorite is when their photos or animations show different airframes than what the story is about (most people cannot tell the difference between a Boeing aircraft and an Airbus let alone the different types of aircraft). The thing is their audiences for the most part have no clue, the person asking them questions have even less of a clue but the "experts" speak with confidence so people think...yeah that must be true because they were introduced as an "expert", it says so in the bar on the screen with their name so they must be! I'm off now to call every airline I have tickets on to drop the term "revenue management" since I've heard recently that will ensure I get an upgrade 100% of the time! I mean someone who flies a whopping "nearly 100K miles" says so and its on the Internet so it must be true!

dsquared37

More likely PBRs.

deeruck

You'd also be fine with "ramp" in the US/Canada. Not official but acceptable.

JDiver

Yes. My introduction to the ramp as an aspiring pilot was when I was asked to fetch a bucket of prop wash...

CPRich

It's an OMNI joke. You obviously didn't get it.

But an apron can consist of Tarmac.

But unlikely at this major airport. I suspect he ran around a concrete apron not a Tarmac apron.

Be careful not to spill the prop wash on your apron.

mvoight

I would guess apron strings are to tie planes to the apron

deeruck

That can be tough to clean up.

ashill

I disagree that it's "wrong". Irrespective of the jargon used in the airline industry, "tarmac" is the most commonly used term in everyday English to describe the paved area where airplanes taxi and park at an airport. Therefore, it's "correct" to the extent that anything is ever correct in language. Even those who know the jargon and "know" that apron or ramp is "correct" know what anyone who says "tarmac" means, and in everyday contexts (such as this story) the distinction doesn't matter. There are some aviation contexts in which the jargon does matter, but the people for whom the jargon matters know the jargon!

[/marginally on-topic rant]

HofstraJet

So is this the equivalent of calling all photocopiers "Xerox machines", all tissues "Kleenex", and all bandages "Band-Aids"?

deeruck

Does your logic permit the continued use of "air pocket," as in "the airplane hit an air pocket," even though that is incorrect?

diaspora04

Back to the original topic -- is it possible that the shirtless passenger was not promptly recognized as Executive Platinum? Some people take that pretty seriously. After all, 100,000 miles is a fair amount.

N830MH

Yup, sure is. They have to clean it up the mess.

turkeyRIOO

I wonder if he was upset about the FLL, JAX and ZRH fares?

sdsearch

Does CLT do a lot of stairs+buses instead of gates? He did this running around after being asked to leave the plane, and if there were stairs it's easy to see how he got there, but if they was a proper gate, how did he get out onto the "tarmac" or whatever you want to call it?

DCP2016

CLT's E gates are for AA's CRJ-200, CRJ-700, CRJ-900, E145, and Dash 8's. All E gates you go outside and board via stairs or ramp.