'Have fun waiting for two hours': Crew member reveals that pilot held up flight after telling crew members to stop bugging him

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    HIRE
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    You'll call me when you need me? Have fun waiting for two hours.
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    I work at a small regional airport that mostly caters to chartered flights. This means we have a lot of private jets coming in and out. We cater to the passengers, and when the passengers have everything they need, we make sure the pilots have their aircraft fueled up, have
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    coffee, newspapers, and whatever else they need. Most pilots are very nice and even tip (especially if we have to clean out their lavatory). But one pilot was not so nice. In fact, he was especially mean. We have a term for him in the aviation industry: Sky King. So we'll call him SK from now on.
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    As a bit of background: it was a Tuesday and we were expecting it to be a slow day, so I was working alone. I was responsible for taking care of aircraft/pilots, as well as ringing them up for their charges, running the front desk, and taking care of miscellaneous work around the airport. We keep a cell phone
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    on us, so when someone calls the office while we are out doing other things, they have a direct way of contacting us. We even have a sign that we put up on the front desk that says: "Our line crew is out working on the ramp or in one of the hangars. If you need assistance, please call this number."
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    I park the airplane, ensure the aircraft is chocked and secure, then take care of the passengers by bringing their rental car right next to the aircraft and loading their luggage. They were friendly and appreciative. Once that was settled, I peeked into the airplane to talk to the pilots. I asked how their flight was and what they would be needing. The co-pilot
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    said they were picking up more passengers in about thirty minutes, and knowing that it takes quite a while to fully fuel a large airplane, I asked if they needed fuel for a rather quick turnaround. That's when Sky King comes storming out of the cockpit:
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    SK: "Did you just ask if we need fuel?" Me: "Yes, I--" SK: "Instead of bugging me, how off for five minutes about you and let me figure it out!"
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    Me: "I'm sorry, I'm just trying to--" SK: need you!" off! I'll call you when I
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    I walked away from the aircraft a bit shaken up, but I was so upset, I figured: okay then, call me when you need me! So I proceed to do everything else I had on my list for the day. I swept our maintenance hangar, did an oil change on our aircraft tug, bled the brakes on our jet porter, and detailed our company's private jet. I looked at the clock and realized that SK's passengers probably arrived about an hour and a half ago. So I return to the terminal, and SK is 1.
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    SK: "Where the were you?" Me: "I was doing maintenance, you said you'd call me when you needed me." SK: "How was I supposed to find you in this entire airfield?"
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    I gestured to our sign on the front desk and said, loudly enough for the passengers to hear: "If you needed me, we have our number right here. Have they been waiting on you this whole time?"
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    SK turns absolutely red in the face, seeing his answer right in front of him. "We need 500 gallons of Jet- A."
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    And I put on my most grin and say: "500 gallons coming right up!"
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    I bring the fuel truck around and fuel them up (takes a solid 10 minutes) and start loading the passengers' baggage while SK and his copilot ready the airplane. I apologize profusely to the passengers and to my delight they take my side, saying: "I can't believe he didn't see the sign!" The
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    best part was when he had to come back in and pay for the fuel with his company card, knowing he was hours behind schedule as I took my sweet time ringing him up. "Do you want a newspaper to read on the flight?" I asked, with the same grin on my face. He left without word.
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    adotfree Yikes, being an like that when he could've just said "I don't know, give me a few minutes to check" or something similar. 819 Reply Share SolidFlow OP Exactly! Just please tell me you had a bad flight or literally: "just a sec." And no problem at all! Frankly I feel like if you act like that for no good reason you're a bit off your rocker.
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    spitcool as someone who is quite familiar with your role and industry, good for that guy. i'd ¡for you. only say that it the passengers, but it made me have a _..._ eating grin when you said they took your side.
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    SolidFlow OP I know. They paid good money for that jet, and if you shell out that kind of cash, you deserve good service. I like to think I'm a nice guy (not vindictive or anything) but I had never been treated like that at that airport so that encounter rattled me up and all I could think was: well then, have it your way!

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