jah718

I am quite amazed by some people defending the pilot in this instance. Fair enough, the pilot might have been in a rush, but as the OP said, an excuse me would have gone a long way. If there is no policy stating that they can cut in line, why should they be allowed?

Also, someone said that the pilot was just trying to get to his place of work and so had the right to cut in line. So that means that next time I am on the subway I can cut in line because I am on my way to work? When a person is representing a company, they should be held to a certain standard of behaviour.

LarryJ

There is such a policy. Uniformed crew members skip the line.

No excuse for being rude but that goes both ways. By his own posts the OP started the confrontation by telling the pilot to wait his turn in line and then followed up by blocking his access.

chix

Lol! Please post the link for the "policy" where uniformed crew members are entitled to skip the line!

I did not start a "confrontation"! I simply felt that his behavior was inappropriate and therefore asked him to wait in line like everyone else.

I was not rude at all.

LarryJ

As I said much earlier in the thread, I do not know where, or if, the policy is posted publicly. Much of the crew member security procedures are not public information. We get the information internally from our employers. You might try some Google searches to see what you can turn up.

Rude is in the eye of the beholder.

Uniformed crew members are entitled to move to the front of the security line. Your telling him to to wait in line like everyone else, no matter how politely you tried to word it, would come across as rude and aggressive. You then apparently physically blocked him from proceeding. I don't know how else that can be interpreted.

How would you perceive a situation where a flight is late in the boarding process and a passenger with elite status goes through the empty priority lane to the head of the line and is confronted by another passenger who tells him to go to the back of the line and blocks his access to the boarding pass scanner?

simmang

Generally I believe that people whose job requires them to clear security on a daily basis (i.e. flight crew) should be able to go straight to the front of the line. One would think (hope) that they are very efficient at clearing security and wouldn't materially delay anyone.

That said, a few months back I was at a particularly slow checkpoint in SAT, going through a "PreCheck-light" type of line. The line was moving very slowly and was beginning to frustrate me, as it was one of those scanner operators who constantly makes the conveyor go backward and forward to get a second look at seemingly every bag.

Right when I finally got to the conveyor belt, as I was lifting my bag, out of nowhere four flight attendants abruptly slammed bins down right in front of me without a word or a glance. Each flight attendant had at least 2 large bags and various other items that took quite a while to make it through the back-and-forth of the x-ray machine. I turned around to the passenger in line behind me, and we shared a commiserating incredulous eye-roll at their presumptuous move.

In that case, a simple acknowledgment or even "excuse me please" would have been appreciated.

theddo

You claim the policy exists, in writing, and it's a real policy not about flight crews just cutting the lines. The onus is on you to show the policy. Which you've been unable to do.

That isn't a policy, it's an opinion.

Badenoch

It doesn't matter if there is a written policy. The air security line isn't self-managed and the TSA agents decide who goes through and when. In a fit of self-importance you assumed the mantle of hall monitor when the TSA let the pilot through when it was none of your business.

Then you come here to pout when the pilot offered an off-handed and humourous response in reply.

theddo

They actually usually have a crew line which bypasses the line past the TSA agent, and then the TSA agent usually just points to the scanners. I have yet to see them say "Cut that line, too".

LarryJ

Feel free to comfirm my "opinion" with a TSA agent the next time you travel.

pinniped

Indeed, courtesy goes a long way.

I have to admit, I would have different reactions to the following different scenarios:

(1) Pilot steps in front of me. No irritation on my part.
(2) Pack of flight attendants step in front of me. Mild to medium irritation on my part, especially if they're snotty and ALL FOUR of them move in front of a single passenger instead of, say, alternating with the people already in line.
(3) Other airport employees not associated with my flight step in front of me. I'd be more irritated about that than anything. I get why the pilot needs to get through as quickly as possible and, generally, why FA's do too. But not so sure I agree that the Sbarro guy needs to cut the line. It sounds like this is done at PHL and perhaps other places...

chix

Opinions are all over the map but after tallying up the results, the pilot seems to be in the wrong. Thank you theddo and everyone else for your very strong support!

LarryJ, look at the original post! The TSA agent told the pilot there is no crew line at DCA. But you can use the pre-check line, NOT jump ahead of everybody else in the pre-check line. You have not been able to substantiate your claim that crew are entitled to jump the line.

Again, thanks everyone for weighing in!

Tchiowa

^^^^

But it wouldn't be FT without these types of threads.

And you finish it off by declaring victory?

theddo

The TSA agent doesn't make policy, and most of the time we are very grateful about that.

MaxBuck

I wish LeBron could just do that.

LarryJ

Since you won't believe an actual airline pilot then why not go to the Travel Safety & Security forum, right here on FlyerTalk, and ask the frequent flyers there?