An excellent demonstration of how to offend people
I wonder how many CVs he's put out this morning?
American air travellers have become accustomed, in recent years, to taking off their shoes and spreadeagling themselves for security checks, but they have drawn the line at being asked to reveal their religion by a pilot apparently on a mission from God.
The passengers on an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to New York on Friday expected to hear the usual banter about the weather and cruising altitudes when the pilot introduced himself on the public address system.
Instead, he spread anxiety by challenging Christians to put up their hands and urging them to discuss their faith with the other non-believers on the flight.
Karla Austin, one of the passengers, told CNN: "He said if you're Christian, raise your hand. If you're not, you're crazy."
Tim Wagner, an American Airlines spokesman, said yesterday the pilot had not meant to imply that non-Christians were crazy but was referring to "the people who had stuck up their hands at the risk of embarrassing themselves".
Very few, if any, of the passengers did raise their hands, and most looked at each other in alarm, fearing they were being flown to New York by a religious fanatic. The flight crew were bombarded with questions about what was going on and later, the pilot spoke again. Jen Dorsey, another passenger, said that he apologised for putting the flight crew under pressure because of his comments.
Mr Wagner said: "American Airlines policy and our guidelines are to make everyone feel comfortable, and we realise we live in a very diverse world. American does apologise to anyone who was made to feel uncomfortable."
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