For a great laugh

iPhone pilot ad causing trouble for passengers:

One of Apple’s second round of iPhone ads has apparently been raising hackles from a somewhat unexpected source: professional airline dispatchers. The spot in question deals with an airline pilot who reputedly used his iPhone to check the weather during a flight delay.

One apocryphal tale deals with a passenger who, annoyed at a delay, supposedly checked the weather at their destination and, finding it clear, notified a flight attendant.

“Some guy with an iPhone says the weather is good,” the flight attendant says, “and wants to know what the real reason is for the delay. Is something wrong with the plane?” 

[…]

Reportedly, the captain responded with a public address announcement that was sharp enough to elicit audible laughter from the cabin.

“If the passenger with the iPhone would be kind enough,” he began, “to use it to check the weather at our alternate airport, then calculate our revised fuel burn due to being rerouted, then call our dispatcher to arrange our amended release, then make a call to the nearest traffic control center to arrange a new slot time (among all the other aircraft carrying passengers with iPhones), we’ll then be more than happy to depart. Please ring your call button to advise the flight attendant and your fellow passengers when you deem it ready and responsible for this multimillion-dollar aircraft and its 84 passengers to safely leave.”While the story may not be true, let’s face it: we’ve all been on flights with people annoying passengers like this, right? Of course the situation is a lot more complicated than the ad suggests it is, and I’d hope that most iPhone users realize that fact. Also, remember that airline dispatchers and flight crews are probably the last people you want to tick off. Well, right after your health care professional.

[via The Consumerist]