Bill Sykes' Newsletter
from America.
(October 2002)
An ex-Brit gives his views-(without fear
or favor)---of the American Scene
Cowboys in the cockpit and cowgirls in the cabin.
!!!
 The
administration recently passed a bill allowing pilots, (for
a limited test period), to carry guns in the cockpit of
commercial aircraft to protect themselves from terrorist
actions as were witnessed on September 11th, 2001.
Not all pilots wish to carry guns, and many passengers are
against the arming of the pilots, who the passengers believe
are tasked with the duties of flying the aircraft and not
being sky marshals.
What next, female flight attendants dressed in Annie Oakley
type uniforms complete with cowboy hats and cowboy boots
with low slung guns in holsters around their waist.
Sorry ladies, only kidding—you do a great job, sometimes
under very difficult circumstances and have shown great
heroism under adverse circumstances.
Please don’t misinterpret my comments as they are
not meant to be derogative, just a sign of the times. I
have great admiration for the pilots and crews of commercial
aircraft with whom my wife and I have flown in the region
of a millions miles in the last decade.
Even I, myself, flew the friendly skies as a private pilot
for a number of years in much smaller aircraft of course.
 Oh
for the days of yesteryear when my wife and I, with our
family, flew as passengers on a Pan American Airways international
flight between UK and the west coast of America and where
the stewardess’s , (That’s what they were called
in those days—not flight attendants), didn’t
have to deal with cases of drunken, aggressive, and sometimes
angry and abusive behavior of their passengers.
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