A True Hero: Would A Co-Pilot In The U.S. Ever Do This?

by SharonKurheg

In nearly every article you read about airlines today – be it a blogger, newspaper, social media, you name it – you’ll see headlines about the nightmare air travel has become. Prices are insanely expensive. Queues are super long. Flights are delayed for hours on end, if not canceled entirely, you name it.

It’s not super comforting to know that would-be flyers in the U.K. are having the exact same problems we are. Headlines in just the past few weeks have included:

  • What is causing travel chaos at some UK airports and what are your rights? -TheGuardian
  • British Airways is the latest airline to cut its summer flight schedule as it scrambles to hire enough staff to cope with the rebound in air travel -Insider
  • Holidaymakers face another month of chaos as Heathrow cuts passenger numbers by a third -The Times
  • EasyJet flight cancellations leave families scrambling to find alternative routes home: ‘We’ve been abandoned” -inews
  • ‘World’s longest queue’ hits Birmingham airport as UK flight chaos continues -euronews

Airline employees on the other side of the pond are the same as the ones here – some are awful, some are neutral, some are merely doing their best to trying to keep their heads afloat among the irate passengers yelling at them. But one airline employee – a co-pilot for TUI – turned into a hero not long ago, when he did something I question you’d ever see in the U.S.

Jenny Cook was a passenger on the plane destined for Crete early last week. She took to Twitter to urge TUI to give her plane’s co-pilot, Simon Ainscough, an ‘excellence award’ for going above and beyond his duties.

Jenny tweeted: “Please RT @TUIUK @TUIGroup can we get Simon the co pilot of the TOM2744 flying from Manchester on 30th May an excellence award? He is out on the tarmac in the rain helping to load the bags to try and get us on our way after 30 hours delay so far” (sic).

Video footage shared in response to Jenny’s tweet showed Simon putting on a TUI reflective vest, and assisting the ONE baggage handler, including lifting heavy luggage, in the rain no less, to help get the severely delayed plane off the ground.

Other passengers on the flight, as well as admirers in general, applauded the pilot in replies to cook:

 “Co-pilot loading bags on our flight after 32 hour delay. Ground staff stood watching him. All delays caused by baggage handling issues at Manchester airport” @HelenLeah9

What a top bloke!! Well done!!” @tomwalesuk

“Brilliant job Simon, we’re all looking out the windows of the plane cheering him on” @newrob66

“Go Simon whoop whoop… This legend deserves a payrisr” [sic] @FittonLucas

Cook and everyone else on her plane eventually got to Heraklion airport in Crete. But all agreed that their wait would have been even longer if not for “hero” co-pilot Simon Ainscough.

Could it ever happen in the U.S.?

The first thought that came to mind, in considering if this could or would ever happen in the U.S., was, even if the co-pilot was willing to help, COULD they? I mean, unions in the U.S. are pretty strong. If you’re not in the union, you’re not supposed to do a union job, period (I’ve visited the U.K. on plenty of occasions, but don’t really know how unions work there [I do know they have them], or how strong they are).

If a co-pilot in the United States COULD help get a plane finally get off the ground by loading baggage into the hold, WOULD they? I’d like to think some would.

Whatever the case, kudos to Simon Ainscough for, if nothing else, thinking out of the box to help get a plane moving!

Feature Photo (cropped): Liz West / flickr / CC by 2.0

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3 comments

SMR June 7, 2022 - 6:34 am

Done it countless times. Helped get bags unloaded , stood in the jetway and did t leave until I got all the gate checks out. Sometimes no one ever said thank you. I push wheel chairs up the jetway everyday when we are short handed. Helping passengers isn’t news , it’s our job.

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JohnB June 7, 2022 - 3:44 pm

Bravo, just bravo! I retired from the big overnight company. Prior to their unionization in 1991, flight crews helped quite frequently. Now supposedly they can’t. Also the company is a horrible place to work now. That is why I retired! And, the service is no where close to what it was even 5 years ago!

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JohnB June 7, 2022 - 3:45 pm

Also this pilot Simon, is the Captain. His shirt has 4 stripes!

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