Captain Sherry Walker Reveals the Real Reason for All These Plane Crashes
So you've been flying for a. living since 1991. So that's almost 35 years, which is. amazing. For the rest of us, we're about the. same age. It seems like commercial air travel. in the United States has declined at. a shocking rate. It's just much worse. A lot of things have gotten better. We have the internet and iPhones. Why is commercial air-travel in this. country, and not around the world, but in. this county specifically, like much. worse than it was.
What is that? Well, I think, legitimately, there's been a. corporate change in this country. Um, ESG started to take over.
You've got the Larry Finks of the. world that are driving corporations. or, or, or CEOs toward, um, issues that not necessarily are. customer oriented. So when. OESG doesn't help the customer. Well, not the internal. customer anyway. So as we go through this process, this slow creep, those need. to set an. investment score. People with differing ideas. of customer service and what's. important are able to drive.
forward their message. So we get away from customer. service. Airlines run on three. things, right? They run on fuel, planes, and people. When we start taking. the people out. of the mix, because it's all. about buying more airplanes. It's about driving that score so we. can drive the share prices so that. we can then get the lower financing. rate to get airplanes. We go away from that time when a. Gordon Bethune or a. Herb Kelleher said,
you take care of your internal. people. They'll take care your. customer. So everything's bottom line now, Tucker. And yet ESG is not really, strictly speaking, bottom line, it. pleases Larry Fink, who's probably done more than any. person to really hurt this country, but, sidebar. But for your average customer, you get the. feeling that incompetent people are. in air traffic control, incompetent. are in the cockpit,
I don't know if that's true or not, but it shakes people's faith, scares the crap out of people, and. then planes start and you're like, that's why. That seems like against. the core interests of the business. I would agree, but because. people at the corporate level want. to drive the interest rates down to. be able to grow because it's all. about expanding who is the biggest, right? And so they have. to follow some of those mandates. And so then we start looking. at a particular CEO who said in.
21, 50% of. my incoming pilots will be women. or people of color. First of all, that number is. impossible. They don't exist. But when you take merit out. of it and you start hiring people. based on an attribute that has. nothing to do with flying airplanes. or controlling them, you. start moving down a path. of incompetence and it. breeds itself all the way down. throughout every. department in the airline. Nicely put, I should note, the.
obvious, just, you are a woman, and you started flying, you said. commercially, in 1991, the year I left college, so, like, there can't have been too many. female pilots flying commercially in. 1991. Well, the original 21 female. airline pilots broke the glass. ceiling. I didn't break it, but it. kind of crawled through because of. them. And, you know, on. we go. But in all of my career, I've always. been one of the guys. I'm an airman. I'm proud to be an airmen. You can't call me an air person.
I've earned it because I've done. exactly what everyone else has done. And so when a passenger comes on and. they look in the cockpit now today, They look a little sideways if. there's a woman up here. Definitely! And especially if I. might be sitting next to a Hispanic. or an African-American, they're. wondering how we got our job. Yes, that is absolutely right. So, DEI hurts. those that weren't. a product of it as well. And that's unfair to me and to my. co-workers. Have you noticed this internally? You said a CEO of an airline.
announced four years ago. that we're gonna hire 50%. female or non-white pilots, but do you feel that as a pilot? Do you notice the standards. changing? I don't know that I noticed the. standard changing, but I know what's. expected of me has changed. Quarterly, we have a. computer-based training and it. was kind of insidious the way they. crept it in here. First it's a little, don't discriminate against people. The next thing is a little more.
At my airline last year, I was asked in the. DEI training to certify. that Tom says, who is now Kathy, that he's a woman, therefore, he's always been a. woman. Now, wait a minute. I'm a faithful person. He's a dude in a dress, and. I am not going to agree. that I will believe that. he has always been woman. So I said no. Several people said no, we had to. apply for religious accommodations,
and then we were asked to do what we. always do, which is just treat. people with dignity and respect. I've done that forever. You know, I don't care what, who you love. right, but I do, I will always treat. you with dignity and respect, but. only because of the pushback. Now, this year's training, they've. dialed it back, but they're trying. to creep the things in that don't. matter, Tucker. What matters is how to fly an. approach. Do you know the. regulations? Are you safe? Right? This other stuff is. distracting, and it's distracting at. the FAA as well.
So, has anyone explained why it's. relevant, the color of a pilot? I have no idea. So it started with like, we have, you know, you're probably racist. We have to make you non-racist. And then it goes from there to it's. really important. The skin color of a pilot is really. important somehow, but no one ever. says why. No, or, you know, whether they. wear a dress or pants, in my case, so, you know, in. the U.S., 96.4%.
of all pilots are male, right? So there's like less than 4% female. airline transport pilots. We can do everything and I'm an. advocate for doing everything we can. to get people interested in the job. But Tucker, there are some people. who just don't need to be doing the. job either, and you can't. fit a square peg in a round hole. I can teach anyone to fly, sure. but there's some that I would not. want for my family. Have you seen those people? Oh yeah. Like give me an example. One of my first students, female, I.
tried to teach her how to fly. She could fly, but she just couldn't. put it back together. When you go around, it's pushed the. power up, and it was dainty. It was just some skill sets that. they just don't have, an aggression, a willingness to get out there and. learn it. to manhandle the machine, right? Yeah, you have to be in control, especially in a Cessna, right? You know, it's not like my. autothrottle big 767, autopilot, et cetera. But the bigger problem we're having. today is. because it's a lucrative career,
a lot of people want, they've been. talked into getting involved. And so they see the money, they might not be quite fit for it. I'm also a college professor. I teach human factors for Indiana. Wesleyan. So I deal with a lot of. the undergraduates and the people. coming up. People quit their jobs mid-life? I'm going to chase the money. They don't realize what they're. doing and it's a different. generation and my son is of that. generation so I don't want to speak. badly of them but the priorities are. different. And so to get them to. understand the commitment that.
it takes to succeed in this career. and to get all the way through it. and then to have them, it's kind of entitlement If I can. say that, you know, and. they grow up. And I don't want people to think I'm. saying, you know, I walked a mile in. the snow to school, therefore you're. not qualified, right? But airplane technology has changed. We learned to manhandle those Cessna. 172s. And from that, we learned how to man. handle the next biggest airplane. These kids are growing up in glass. cockpits with computers.
They're learning to fly with their. fingers. When they get to the airlines, it's. not an aviator that's coming there, it's an operator. And so when they take off, put the. autopilot on, Fly the autopilot with. autothrottles to landing. Ask Al Haynes in Sioux City, Iowa, how to fly. an airplane without an autopilot. He saved a lot of lives. That skill is not there. And it takes time to build that. skill. We could even take those. young 1500 hours and we're doing. it.
It takes a long time to mentor. So, we've got pilots now that. are coming in at minimum skills, having learned on glass cockpits, and in a year, upgrading to captain. I had 12 years of watching. the good and the bad of the airline. world, and I took the good from. them, and I left the bad behind, and I think I'm a pretty decent. captain now. But those kids are jumping so. fast, and then they're. running the unions because they're. young and they're eager. And so us old people are saying, hey, you know what, we're at a.
critical moment where we don't have. qualified pilots, we'd like to keep. them a little longer. We'd be willing to work an extra. couple of years, but they vote and. they say, no, get out of my seat, old man or old woman, excuse me. They don't want to raise the pilot. age. So the Airline Pilots. Association is complicit. in the problem. It feels like everything is fine. until there's a problem. So you read about even now, even. now you read about. planes stalling, you know, something.
happens and the plane just falls out. of the sky. And I've read a number. of times of trained pilots. who, you know apply. the throttle and point upwards as. it's stalling. Which I don't think. is the right, I think it's the. opposite of what you're supposed to. do, but they panic under pressure. Hmm? So... That seems like a huge problem. If you're not screening carefully. for temperament, ability to. think clearly under duress, and you're allowing people to. accumulate relevant experience. before turning over the cockpit to.
them, no? I would agree. Describe, if you don't mind, since. you've flown for so long, a scenario where something goes. wrong unexpectedly and you have to. think independently from the. autopilot. Well, the most dangerous part of. your flight, most people don't know. it, is takeoff in a jet. Yep. Why? Why is it most? As we get to the end of the runway. at critical speed, V1. we call it, V 1, lift. off, the airplane is at full power. and you have an engine failure. Now you have asymmetrical.
thrust. And so it's very critical. to lower the nose, do the proper. steps. And a lot of times there's critical. terrain, so we have a path we have. to fly. A lot of things are. happening very quickly. And so doing it by the book, it's. what we train for over and over and. again. Losing an engine on takeoff. it is the most critical point of. your entire flight. And so that's what we train for. That's what they pay me for. They don't pay me for. the simple stuff,
the landings and cruise and altitude. and all that. They pay me that V1. cut. Really, V1 cut. Right at the speed, we call it V1, velocity one. So at that critical speed is. when we V1 rotate the. airplane off the runway, engine. failure, asymmetrical thrust, kicks in a whole bunch of rudder at. a 7.6, it takes a lot. You know, you just stand on it, get. it straight and fly it up to roughly. 800 feet, lower the nose, work the. checklist. And it's a two-man job. That's a critical reason we can't go.
to single pilot. How is it a two man job? Because somebody's got to read the. checklist since somebody's gotta fly. the airplane. I can't fly that airplane looking. down at that checklist. I mean, that does happen, right? and everyone we've had that. I can remember. extremely successful. people survived them all. The last actual death. in the U.S. transport category outside. of the commuters, 2005, Southwest, and it actually wasn't on.
board the plane, it was at the gas. station across the street of Midway. So we have an incredible safety. record, but we have. that safety record because of the. people up front, right? The system's kind of working against. us though. I don't know if. you've seen the preliminary results. of the DCA midair. We have a serious problem. So describe what you think happened. there. It's not what I think happened. So DCA, the plane that. hit the helicopter over the Potomac, DCA being the in-town airport in. Washington. Yeah.
Washington Reagan National. I know what I know from watching the. NTSB press. conference and chairwoman was. speaking. She explained several. things. It's only preliminary. No blame was assigned at this point. I have my personal belief I'm. blamed. The design of the system. failed those passengers. The way that route through there was. designed, they looked back.
for 11 years, 945 plus thousand. potential. incursions. in 11 years. My teeth hit the floor. I mean, I thought we had air traffic. control to prevent that. we do, but the problem she. detailed is the design of. the system. That approach, if the helicopter. is in the right place, the perfect. ideal place, the. clearance between the approaching. aircraft and the helicopter at.
one point is as low as 75. feet. The road on watch. her watch her. debrief. I was astounded. The rotor blades on that helicopter. are like 30 feet radius. Holy cow. And now we know the helicopter was. outside of the ideal place. And obviously, 75. feet Tucker, when I pre-flight. an airplane between my. first officer and myself, the. regulation says they have to be. within 75 feet.
So right there we've taken out the. protection. What in the world was the FAA doing? And this is in the nation's capital. And these are military helicopters. and commercial aircraft. All eyes are on that airport. That airport has all kinds of. restrictions on it. After 9-11, you. know better than anybody, you know, no private aviation, all this stuff. They really pay a lot of attention. It's like 10 seconds from the white. house. So if they're that. sloppy at DCA of. all airports, what the hell are they. doing in Santa Monica or wherever?
know, Wichita or, you know, Boma. Yeah, who knows? Who knows? Where does the data go? The problem is, the FAA. is two-fold. master, right? A regulatory body, a promotion. of the industry. So, What is it? I'm sorry. I don't know. what that means. Promotion of the. industry. The charge to the FAA is. to promote air travel in the United. States and to regulate it. That's been their mandate from the.
beginning, yeah. Really? Yes! So they're the policemen and the PR. agent? I guess, because how did Boeing. get the right to self-certify the. MAX? What does it mean, self-certify the. man? So an inspector didn't have to go. look at the 737 MAX. Boeing had the right to certify. itself. That's been pulled back. Everything that happens in aviation, every regulation happens as the. result of blood. And so nobody's being proactive in. this agency.
Now I love, I love Secretary. Duffy and I love his attitude and it. looks like the new nominee for the. FAA Administrator is great. But the question is the next level. bureaucrats. These are people who have for their. entire careers, be it at, and a lot came from the military. They like sitting behind green. government desks and drinking green. government, or excuse me, drinking. government coffee. And so... you know, to like have to get up and. go over there and look at those. reports or do something with them, that's got to.
change. So last year I get home and there. are all these boxes in the kitchen. I wonder what these are. I open up one and they are tortilla. chips made by a company I'd never. heard of called Masa. Masa chips are not like other. tortilla chips in that they are. all natural. There are only three. ingredients in the chips and. there're no seed oils whatsoever. My wife had ordered these because. she's a healthy person. And so I immediately hit them. hard and they're delicious. Not only they're the delicious, they. don't make you feel bad. You hit any kind of chip on the.
market in the United States, eat a whole bag of them, for. example, and man, you do not feel. good. I'm not gonna get more. specific, but you just, ugh, it's. like a head injury. You eat a bag of masa chips, and I. can confirm this, because I did, and. you feel great, you feel totally. fine, because it's real food. There's nothing weird in there, there are no weird chemicals in. there. Once again, there are not. seed oils, just three simple. ingredients. And so I thought, well, this is a. pretty amazing company making. a snack food that's not. gonna kill you.
And you don't have to feel bad about. it. It's like basically what your. grandparents ate. So we reached out. to Masa and said, hey, if you ever. do advertising, we'd love to. advertise them because we love the. chips. And they said, sure. And so that's what we're doing right. now. We're telling the truth about. something that we eat and love and. we think is great and recommend. it strongly. on the basis of more personal. experience than I want to admit in. public, but they're really, really. good. So you can go to masachips.com. slash discount slash Tucker. to start snacking well. You get 20% off your first order.
We enjoy them. Hope you do too. So here's what we know, just to get. back to the DCA crash for a minute. because it's. And all I know is what she said in. her press conference. It is, it was astounding. Why don't we know who was. flying the helicopter? I'm sure they do, based on... The voices, one was a female, one. was a male, right? So the flying pilot is never the. talking pilot. So just listening to the tapes, you. could tell if it's a female voice, then the male was flying.
If it was a male voice, the female was. flying, so. Why the hesitance to assign. blame? All these people died. Oh no, no, it's not hesitance to. sign blame. This is the initial, right? This is just the fact piece. It takes up to a year to go through. all the flight data. We don't know if she was off her. location because of mechanical. failure. We all want the answers to why, but we in the industry want the. fix. Of course. So, were the altimeters off?
Was it a training issue? Was somebody in the wrong place? Was it air traffic control, et. cetera? So we've got to go through. all of that and they'll recreate. it, superimpose it and fly it in. a simulator and check these, all. these different pieces and. parameters and then they'll start. looking at. But your point is the structure. itself was reckless and crazy. The system was broken, and it. should have never happened. There was a plane in, I know you. saw this in Canada, I think in. Toronto at Pearson, that came in really, really hard on.
landing and flipped over. Remarkably everyone survived. Great job by the flight attendants. I guess that's my point, wherever. you get to the stage where you're. relying on the flight attendance. to save you. And God bless them, of course, but like how do we get to the point. where, like how did it flip over? How do you flip over a plane on a. runway? I don't understand that. given out the preliminary. I have my personal opinion, it's.
only opinion. Of course, and you're obviously-. We know the female was flying, right, because of the radio calls. I'm a human factors expert, part of that involves vision, so. I'm thinking that they were coming. down and you've seen. the snow kind of swirl across the. road a little bit. Yes, for sure. I think she was looking at the point. and she was ready to transition her. eyes and land and she got a swirl. I think, she lost a little bit. of, you know, essay situational. awareness with the runway. That's what I think because she flew. it right into the runway.
So that was the core problem, she. hit too hard. She hit too hard and it collapsed, it broke the gear and one wing went. up. High wing is flying, low wing is. not, and it flipped right over. Remarkable. Some people think it is involving a. gust, a last minute sheer, but I don't see the ailerons. moving on the wings to counteract. that. So I still think. it has something to do with just a. little bit of situational awareness. At the end, we'll know. We'll know in 30 days. Show it. So if you're moving people through.
the process at. accelerated speed, both for. ideological reasons and for. practical reasons, and you're. hiring on the basis of a relevant. criteria, then inevitably. you're going to get a reduced skill. level. Like, how could you not? Especially when the pilots are more. worried about their rock videos, and. they're part of a clique if you've. seen it. The girls at Endeavor embarrassed. me. Who, I missed this. You didn't see the video. No, but I could tell I'll be up all. quiet. Yeah, there was some promo video.
done by a bunch of young ladies, and they were talking. about all female crew, and I. think it was a recruiting video, but. it was embarrassing to those of us. who worked hard. What airline was. this? That was the airline, Endeavor, I think, it was the one. that flipped in Toronto. Seriously? And they put out a TikTok of life? But it was before that. Girl power TikTok. Girl power Tik Tok came out and. of course it broke the internet. after the accident. And so I want to.
fly with professional adults, not children. And that was kind of. embarrassing. Have you personally ever flown with. someone who you thought wasn't quite. up to the job? Yeah. Oh wow. You can tell if they're heads in the. game. I had one young man who had a. broken heart and we solved that. problem. I had him replaced on the. next trip. He was a little distracted. Some guys kind of. all over the place with a stick. It's interesting to watch your. military single seat guys transition. to transport category because they.
want to do this, you know, but they. settle down. Most recently and the most scary. one I've had, I was flying and I was. flying a visual approach into. Houston. And we're at 1,500 feet, runways in sight, we're all set. And he'd watched me fly for a little. bit and he says, can I ask a. question? Of course it's a sterile. cockpit, you're not supposed to, but. I go, yeah. He goes, what are you looking at. when you fly a visual approach? I was astounded. The ground?
What's the answer? I said, when we. get on the ground, we'll talk about. this. No, you're cross-checking your. instruments, you are double checking. the ILS, there's some outside light. indicators, there is all the inside, outside to aviate. an airplane, right? And you're checking your speed. And he really didn't understand. And I said why do you not. understand? He said, because in the simulator, they told me fly. the autopilot to 50 feet, Click. it off, look up and land. almost fell over.
And I've talked to a lot of people. about this, and I don't really think. that that's what they were training. I think what they were trying to. train was how to do a visual. approach in a simulator that doesn't. allow it. They just need to check. the block. So you'll learn this out. on the line. This is how we're going to teach you. to fly the simulator only, but he. understood that to be how you would. operate in an airplane. So the disconnect is there because. the experience level wasn't. there. So if I have a pilot approaching. me... What are you looking at when you. land an airplane?
So I think for non-pilot. civilians like me, the expectation. is that all your pilots. either come from the military or. Embry-Riddle or school-like. What? What's school like? Or a school like Ember Riddle being. the most famous. My alma mater. You don't matter. But that they're all kind of like. aviation nuts and they like bug. their dad for lessons at the local. airport. Wash the airplane for less. Exactly. And that they have a lot of. experience in small incestness and.
that that's really relevant because. the basics of aviation are just so. obvious in a little plane. Do you ever get pilots who, who. don't have that experience? No, most have that experience, or at. least come up through the civilian. world. Military is getting harder to. find, right? The military is short-handed as it. is. People aren't leaving. We haven't had a war recently. So they're not leaving. the military. They've all left the. military, right, because of the. policies. And they're here already. There's no one in the pipeline.
And so that's the problem. Who's out there? You know, and so. people that weren't necessarily... the creme de la creme, now we're stuck with what's left and. we're trying to fill seats. I will say, well, the economic demise of something. like a Spirit is a bad thing for. those people who are now starting. to get them coming to the big. airlines. And so that's good for the. passengers, it's good them, they do. have experience. But that rapid desire to.
grow post. pandemic. We, Meyer Line went. from 10,000 pilots to, as of last week, 18,000. in two and a half, three years. Damn, where'd. those new pilots come from? Mostly the regionals, we'd already drained the military, so they're coming up as fast as they.
can. And they're out of college, restricted ATP at 1,250 hours, flight of 1,500, interview and right. in the door, right in right seat of. a 7557, and two years later, you're captain. And you're talking. about 26, 25? So that slow down judgment. isn't there either. The hardest thing I have to do at. work, Tucker, is explain. to my new first. officers that when you.
see on your papers. that the van leaves at eight. o'clock, that's go, not show. Don't show up and pay your. credit card bill and all these. things. They're young. I don't want to generalize this. and say that whole entire, because. my son's of that generation. and he's responsible, they're just. irresponsible, want to do it their. own way. They're just green at life. Not just at piloting, they are green. at Life. They haven't dealt with. responsibilities and things. And, you know, they.
don't want to fly. They call fatigued half hour. before the flight. And it's like, dude, you had better be where you need to. be. That's what they pay us for. You've had people crap out a half an. hour before? Saturday night in Newark and I was a. passenger. No way, like just too hungover to fly. No, he'd flown from. one airport into Newark, he started. at 9 o'clock at night, flew a. 30-minute flight. They were going to. reassign him to cover the late. flight, and he just.
said, Ninth tig. That becomes a problem too. So, so all of these reasons. that we need to maybe hold on. to our senior pilots, to mentor our. junior pilots a little longer. What happened to the kid who asked. you what you're looking at while. you're landing? We talked about it, he's good, he'll. be just fine. And I've talked to the training. department and explained to them. that we have some questions out. there. So I'll see you again shortly.
on another trip and we'll. talk about it again, but I'm sure. he's. In all these decades of flying, have. you ever been afraid in a plane? Never. Not one time? Don't have time to, Tucker. Instinct takes over, adrenaline. takes over. If your parents are afraid, they. probably shouldn't be there. No, that's right. In fact, everything just slows down. as fast as I go. And I am, you know, most people say, sure, you talk too fast. No, I say, you listen too slow. But you know when it comes down. to the emergency,
everything just stops and. that's what you want. Have you had emergencies? I've been blessed, no. My husband, however, has a black. cloud over his head. Really, what happened to him? I'm looking at him out of the corner. of my eye right now. He looks very calm, I must say. 1998, on St. Paddy's Day. Yesterday was the anniversary of his. almost near death. It was near mid-air at. Newark. Let's see, is that a rapid. decompression, an explosive. decompression? A full hydraulic system failure? And he took one of my flights,
because we were on the same airplane. at the time, and he flew to. Santiago, Chile, and he had a. complete standby power system. failure, which is something that. should have never happened in a. Boeing 767. So what does that mean? It means they. armed the autopilot for the approach. and explosion came out of the dash. Everything goes crazy. The first officer flies. They have no autobrakes. They have no speed brakes. They had no number one radio. Everything is gone.
And he landed the airplane and stuck. his big cowboy boots on those. brakes and slid the. Six trucks, I think, melted the. wheels to the taxiway, and they shot him with water. for two hours, and he called me up. and he goes, you owe me. And I went, don't wake me up for. another hour, bye. I had no idea what had happened. He was on the news. It was crazy. What was the cause of it? Did anyone figure it out?
Some sort of electrical short out in. the system. worry about. while you're flying. That's my biggest fear. Me too. Fire is the one thing you don't want. to deal with, but, uh. Does that ever happen? Haven't seen it in a while. You know, what was it Air Transat or. was it Swiss Air? Up in the North Atlantic going in, uh, they diverted into Gander or. one of them and they didn't quite. make it. So because of fire. We take lithium batteries very. seriously, right?
Because we have containment bags if. your laptop lithium starts to go, because that's kind of an. uncontrollable fire and we want to. get that out. So again, everything that happens, happens in blood and. we change the rules, so. What are the rules now on lithium. batteries? Boy, you, I'm not familiar. It comes with dangerous goods. report, but you can. have whatever you have on the plane. But if you check something with a. lithium battery and you don't. disclose it, it's a big deal.
Because all of that, as long as we. know about it, they package it. properly, like a wheelchair or. something like that. But I just want you to disclose it. Is there any way for them to know if. you don't disclose it? I don't think there's a sense. That's your number one fear. Yeah, fire is it, but you. know, I also worry about. the mental health of the person. flying next to me. There have been a lot of pilot. suicides. Well... I mean, relatively speaking, Turkish air, maybe.
Malaysian air. Yeah, you know, you had German. wings. That was a big one. And that was in 2016 and. the pilot, you know, captain left. the flight deck and the first. officer punched a hole in the Alps. and took everybody with him. And, that's a bad thing. But the worst thing now, or the fear of mine is, as we're moving through this whole, Cathy says she's a man, a woman, but. she's really not, not a CFA. certification process and I'm. concerned. Definition unstable if you castrate.
yourself. We can go back and see what the FAA. says about it. No, I mean, I'm not being-. No, I mean, I'm not being mean. I feel deep sympathy. I feel sad to. that level of hurting yourself is. like, is a tragedy. It's a tragedy, right? And you're the victim of that evil. However, that seems like prima. facie. Like, I don't want to use the. word crazy because I don' want to be. mean, but that you're not a stable. person if you're cutting your. genitals off, right. or taking gender-affirming hormones. Yeah, like it all seems like.
the clearest possible. sign of mental. instability. Like what could be clearer than. that? But you have to look at the FAA. certification process and how we got. here. I still question how those people. with the new executive orders that. says, you know, birth gender. has to be on your medical. certificate. It has to on your. pilot's license. I don't know if. that's been done yet, but I question. how these people got certified to. begin with. So we go back and we do a little. history, 2012, some lobbying and they lightened.
the requirements for psychological. testing if you're transgender from. massive amounts of reports down to. one or two. Seriously? Yeah. Do you know who lobbied for that? There is a particular female. pilot, or excuse me, transgender. pilot, who was able to. get some folks in Congress, but it gets worse. In 16, when the federal air surgeon, Dr. Michael Berry, was distracted. about pilot mental health, dealing. with the outcome of the German. wings, the several transgender.
organizations and another pilot. really put. and they got Barney. Frank and. a congressman out of California to. take up their charge. And the way they did it was pretty. brilliant. The Diagnostics and Statistic Manual. of the American Psychiatric. Association, the DSM, had. changed from revision four to. five the definition from. gender dysphoric disorder to gender. dysphoria. Now they did it for.
a reason. wanted to take the stigma off for. the poor transgender people, right? But they couldn't fully pull it out. because then there wouldn't be a. diagnosis code and they could. not then use. their insurance to cover their. surgeries or their home role. replacements. There's articles all. over the internet about it, right. They were playing the game because. the Psychiatric Association of. course supports all that. So they're absurd. I mean, and I, and I mean this with. the full pejorative connotations.
They're crazy actually. The psychiatrists are nuts. Exactly. The inmates are running the. asylum. So, they. did this move on, and Barry was kind of looking one. way, or maybe he was on on it, but. this was under the Obama. administration. So we're just. starting to see this push, right? And so the FAA changed. the rules and they said, well, you've got to have a little bit of. testing, but if you're five years. transitioned or five years on. hormones, you can just go back to. your regular aviation medical.
examiner and just your six-month. check, no special issuance required. Wait a second. At the time that was going on, there were studies out there that. showed exactly what you indicated. In fact, the statistics. from the National Transgender. or something with their own. statistics, they had surveyed over. 27,000 of their members. And I believe it was 39%. said they had suffered serious. mental health issues in. the month prior to the survey.
40% said, they had attempted. suicide in their lifetime and 7%. in the month prior to the survey. That data was available! 7%? 7%?! I shouldn't laugh, it's tragic, but. 7% tried to kill themselves in the. last month? in the last month of 27,000. people do the math. I mean, somewhere in there, there's. gotta be an airline pilot applicant, right? So why did the federal air. surgeon not, like, look at. some of the data that was available? You don't want suicidal people. flying commercial airplanes.
But even more importantly, studies have been done since then. that are even worse. Now we look at the. medical side of it, in hormone. replacement therapy. Yes. Right? Do you know what it... The number one thing the FAA Aero. Medical Department is piloting. incapacitation, right? That's heart attacks, that's deep vein thrombosis, it's strokes. Everything that we go through as. pilots, aside from our ability to. hear and see, is to ensure. that we will not become.
incapacitated in our seat. Right. I'm not going to fall over. because I have diabetes or something. like that. So I think it was 2020 and it was. updated in 23. conducted a study of. males transitioning to females. on hormone replacement theory. Now they're not just pilots, just in. general. 80 to 90% increase. for DVT, heart attack, and stroke. FAA is a risk averse agency. Seriously.
Seriously. There were physical. threats, not just like. a person. That's one, that's the big one, and. that scares me the most, but if. the FAA is a risk-adverse. but cardiovascular effects. I didn't know that. If you're a risk adverse agency, then you won't even consider a. drug I might be taking because it. might possibly indicate that I might. have a heart attack. Yes. Why are you allowing these people. who have an 80 to 90%. increased chance for that to.
be in an airplane? because they're. taking hormone replacement there. It's so wrong to. do that to the public. There's no research arm that I fund. at FAA because they're enjoying. their coffee in their green desk. Nobody's reading peer-reviewed. studies. Nobody's looking at this. going, you know, we might want to. walk that back. And that's scary. So what drugs are. you not allowed to take as a. commercial airline pilot? There's a bunch of them, right? Yeah, but you know what? They don't publish the list.
So you don't even know. Only your aviation medical examiner. knows. But you could, but I know from. no one entirely. There's many that you can't take. Many. So like you probably think about, you think about your health, you. think about the drugs that you take. I don't take anything. I'm I, you know, I use holistic. stuff from colds and things. Um, I'm with you a hundred percent, but, but you could. take like radical. doses of male hormones and that. would be cool. Well, you have to disclose it on.
your medical, but it appears after. five years of taking radical doses. I mean, you disclose it, but they. don't really care. If you can go five, that was the key. of the 2016 change. If you go five years, welcome to the club. It's like, so you have to report it, you know, and you have have to have. exams for that. But even then, all of that. was just about their mental. health. Nobody is considering. what these hormones do long-term. But it's even more criminal.
That's just a transgender issue. If they air a medical, When it comes to the COVID Vax, the FDA approved commit a. tree at what, six o'clock at night. on December 18th. The next morning, same federal air. surgeon approves of worldwide. use in airline pilots. Who is the federal air sergeant? At that time was Dr. Michael Berry. He retired a week later and went to. work for a pilot insurance company. But the criminal actions happen. That sounds like a crime. I mean, is he supposed to assess its. effects on the millions.
of Americans who fly? at least take a look at, maybe do a longitudinal study on the. transgender issue, but when it comes. to the COVID situation, the effects of altitude, pressurization, and we work in. a very dry humidity, we. don't, this is an EUA product. It's never had an EU A product ever, ever certified for use in pilots, and he'd written many articles on. the Drug Certification Program. Can I just ask, because I'm. interested, what are the effects on.
your health as a pilot. of spending 35 years in a cockpit? A lot of wrinkles. It's dry, right? Yes, it's dry. So, hydration, cosmic radiation, I've had skin. cancer. Coming through the. Well, it's cosmic radiations when. you fly above the tropopause or. up in that area, right? So there's radiation all. the time. It's not just when the. sun's shining, right, it. is exactly what the astronauts. suffer up on the space station.
You know, it it's radiation that's. up there. So a lot of your pilots, high levels of prostate cancer among. male pilots, breast cancer among. female pilots, through the roof. Really? Mm hmm. We're not in a shielded. environment. The higher you fly, the stronger it is. When we look at those sorts of. things, yeah, take care of. yourself folks, but we. don't know what those. drugs were doing to people. And we don' know pressurization, humidity and altitude effects.
on them. Only three things are absolutely. certain in this life, and you know. two of them. First is death, second. is taxes, and the third, unfortunately, is getting ripped off. by your cell phone company. If you're a Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile customer, you know. exactly what we're talking about, but there is an option. You can save a ton every month by. switching to the service that we. use. It's called PureTalk. PureTalk is an earnest friend of the. show, and they. are the answer. If you become a customer of. PureTalk, you get. Unlimited text.
talk and five gigs of data, which. is enough for most people, on the. country's most dependable 5G. network, and here's the punchline, it costs $25 a month. So the average family of four we did. the math saves over $1,000 a. year when they switch to PureTalk. $1000 a years. Plus, it's a great service. Their customer service team is based. in the United States. You can switch. hassle-free in as little as 10. minutes. You even get to keep your. phone and your phone number. To find out more, go to puretalk.com. slash Tucker.
to make a switch and you'll save an. additional 50% off your very first. month. Pure talk, wireless buy. Americans for Americans. Yeah, cause it's a totally different. environment from the one the rest of. us live in day to day. So explain what happened with COVID. So COVID, so just if. you don't mind telling that story. cause I think it's interesting. Um, from, from the. mandate perspective, or? Yeah, from a mandate perspective, not from the Wuhan lab. No! Yeah, no. Fauci funded. Well, I mean, it's interesting, Tucker, because I really never.
thought I'd ever get into any of. this fight. I'm just a mom. I'm cruising along through life. And New Year's Eve of 2018, I looked in the rear view mirror and. the lights were going off and I. pulled over. I got busted for DUI. greatest thing that ever happened to. me. And God, I questioned him and. my darling husband said, he never. gives you more than you can handle. Sherry. And I didn't know at the time, but he was preparing me for the. fight of my life. I had to fight to get my job back.
The FAA was straightforward. Because of my former union work, I. believe, you know, maybe it was a. little more difficult than normal. at my airline, but I. succeeded. And I got all my back pay. and everything I needed, but taught. me how to navigate against. a corporate conglomerate. So I'm back to work and on. August 6th the CEO of my airline. announces that there will. be a vaccine mandate or. you'll be fired in a month.
And I'm sorry I'm-. 2021. August 6th, craziest day of my life, called my best friend, she's also a. captain and. she's known around the airline as. kind of the mom type and she had. a vaccine-injured family member. So, Laura Cox and myself, along with the wife of. one of the pilots who's an attorney, Danielle, the three of us. got our heads together and we said, how are we going to. get through this because I'm not.
gonna violate my faith and take a. product that derives from. aborted fetal tissue cells, et. cetera, et cetera. I think that's just a conspiracy. theory. That's not true. Shall I throw the glass of water. now? For that whole period, I tried to. think about COVID and that whole. chapter in our country's history and. in my life, but you would hear. people say, well, I'm getting a. religious exemption. And then no one ever asked why. And if you ask why, they'd be like, well, there's some connection.
between the vaccines, the COVID vaccines and abortion. And then you'd hear some in the. background say, that's a lie. And then just sort of move on and no. one never talked about it. But those vaccines were derived from. aborted babies. afforded fecal tissue cells were. used in either the development or. the manufacture of all three. of the U.S. approved drugs. So I think I haven't checked because. I'm trying to read Wikipedia because. it's just CIA controlled lies, but which it is, but um, I bet you to this day they deny. that, but that's just a fact.
And it's a fact. Ask the Secretary of Health and. Human Services, he'll tell you the. facts. So that was a no-go for you, right? That was a no-go for me. It was no- go for my husband. It was also a no go for Laura and. about eight, well, at the beginning, there's probably 20,000 people at. United. It was no go. And so as. it progressed, 8,000, the pressure got put on. us. They sent postcards to. our house so that our, in our case. where Mary didn't matter, but they.
would send a postcard to your house. and it would say, you know, you only. have 22 days left to get the vaccine. or be terminated. Well, the wife won't open your mail, but you'll read your postcard. So she reads it, she goes, honey, we're going to lose everything. People would acquiesce. They told people that you would lose. your 401k if you didn't leave. the company or get. the shot. I mean, the mid-level. managers. Did you lose your 401k? Yeah, I have a recording of. a pilot being told that.
You can't have your retirement. You can't have your own money, all right? It gets better. But these pressure was just intense, right? And so people would fall off. And the whole reasonable. accommodation process was onerous. and corrupt in itself. And there's thousands of pages of. discovery documents on our. organization's website, say, if anybody wants to read about. But they wanted to put like... Scarlet letters on our ID badges. for the unvaccinated. So the other people would point and.
pick on us. It was crazy. But the three of us got together, put our heads together. We hired the best law firm we could. find, Sharjah Fee out of. DC, and we. filed for an injunction and. we still didn't. quite get there. In November of 21, every one of us were put on unpaid. indefinite leave, basically I'm. sorry. What did they say to you? They didn't. They just said you're. done. And how long had you worked at the. airline at that point?
I got hired in 1998. It was 2021. That's crazy town. So you spent your, like most of your. adult life there. Never had a problem. Well, I was a union rep. I've had my share, but yeah, in general, no, I've never had an. accident. Oh gosh, no. Never failed a check or I'd never. have done anything like that, you. know. and they just can. you without. Sayonara. But we kept moving.
I want to attack your CEO. I used to work there, so I don't. want to make your life even harder. Well, I mean, it's in the press. We all know there were three. airlines that mandated the vaccine, Hawaiian, Coletta Air Cargo and. United. So that's it. That was it. The rest were mandated eventually. because nobody would follow along, right? They knew better. The United was the only domestic. Well, Hawaiian's domestic. technically not. friends. Let's be honest. Contiguous United States. Continental United States, you know, the big carriers, Delta American.
Nobody followed, then the. president, Joe Biden, instituted the OSHA mandate, right, for contract. If you have more than. 100 employees, you have to mandate. this. Or the government contractor. mandate. If you do work and. everybody flies the mail, right? $4.6 billion business every. year to the airlines and flying the. US mail. So it was a contract. you had to mandate it. The guys at SW Freedom Flyers. north me up in Dallas,
they did a little pushback, the. American boys, the Delta folks. And so the exemption. process for them was just kind of a. paper mill. Their bosses were cool about it. They were just like, whatever. And eventually both those mandates. were returned in court. That was the way to play it, by the. way. Yeah, be kind to your employees. A hundred percent, firing. long-time employees because they. don't want a vaccine. I mean, it's like so cruel.
It played into. a marketing campaign. Who? Who did that? Who made that decision? Well, it was made by the CEO. I mean, it's in the court testimony. And the judge ruled that it was. a pretextual situation. whereby there was a marketing. campaign at the bottom line. So there was the desire for. that CEO to be able to come out. publicly and say, in my opinion at. least, that they were the first. fully vaccinated airline. If they could do it by the holidays. of December, maybe people. would come back.
fly on the first fully vaccinated. airline. I don't, yeah. I don' want to fly in an airline. with vaccinated pilots because it's. dangerous. So that's my view, but I guess a lot of people disagree. So this was a-. To his credit, his argument has. always been, it's been about safety. Safety for my employees. Look, I'm an adult. I can make my own medical decisions. So I don't need my CEO deciding my. safety situation, but that was his. argument. I want to just get that on. the record. Because if you get the experimental. COVID vax, you can't get or. transmit COVID, like we know that, right? Did that turn out to be true?
I've never had COVID. Does this CEO, you'll have to name. him if you don't want, but is he. still running the airline? He doesn't have a board, I guess, the company. I'm sorry? There's no board. Oh, yes, we're board of directors, but, you know. This is all so crazy no one's. But everybody, after the pandemic, remember, after this went away and. then we got, we won in court and we. get called back, oh, we're on to the next big thing, which is, you know, pilots, male pilots, you are, excuse me, male flight attendants with beards. wearing lipstick or whatever the. issue of the day is.
So you know that's, that's. over. That's over, don't worry. so. So what, I keep stepping on your. story. Tell me, okay, so this comes. down, you go to. court, try to get an injunction. We don't get the injunction. And then you're. Your husband too? Everybody. No, but in your case, you're. married. And my house too, yes, two of us, and my son, God bless him, you know, he was going to school and dealing. with two pilots being home, which is. unusual for him.
So your whole family is unemployed. in one day because of this. instantly overnight. Well, that's kind of heavy, actually. How did you, I mean. It was very heavy. You know what happened? 2000 people came together. Rampers, mechanics, flight. attendants, pilots. We became a family overnight. I mean, over the last three years, I. consider them my dearest, most. wonderful friends, and I want to say. thank you to every one of them for. the support. Oh, what a blessing. I mean to me, servant leadership, it's the real. deal. I agree. I led them.
They blessed me to the ability. to lead them, right? with my friend Laura and Danielle. These people are incredible, but we've been to births together. We've been through marriages, we've. been through deaths, and I will tell. you, those 2,000 people are more. important to me than anything in. this world, and they're. there for each other. We had battle buddies. Somebody was feeling bad, you'd call. a friend. We kept chat groups, and most of the time, they're pretty. prayerful. We've debated books of. the Bible.
We are just like this. amazing. So how many. was 2,000 people in the end got. fired, and that was. down from the initial number of. people who said, I'm not taking it. Eh, 20,000 down to 8,000, down to this, you know. But in the end, it was 2,000. people who stood strong. Plus or minus, yeah, 2000. Did anyone fake getting a vaccine? I have no knowledge of that. I know a lot of people who have, in. my community, not at my. company, my. husband's PA says, her.
mom and dad walked in and they, somebody said it on the counter and. there's the trash when you're done. I mean, you know, we have doctor. friends that are saying that's so-. Oh, and everyone had-. Oh, and everyone had faked, I had a. fake vax card proudly and I would do. it again the next time there's. tyranny. I'm not obeying. except for there's only one way to. get fired from my airline, is to. lie. Other than that, you can go. Well, but you also make it but it's. also wrong to lie and I and I. lied in using a fake fax card. Nah, it's okay. You were able to live your life and. good for you. Yeah, but no, you're right. That's a moral compromise and I and.
I probably should have done that I. don't know trying to think about it. too much But um, no, but you're I think you're taking a. really principled position and. saying I'm gonna say clearly what I. believe I don' think I should be. punished for it when I am punished. for I'm going to take my lumps and. fight back So I admire what. Yeah, we went through the EEOC. process and then on through the. courts and right now we sit in. the Fifth Circuit on appeals. And I couldn't be rooting for. you more fervently, but thank you. So what okay? So what happened then. so 2,000 are.
Fired with no support like. you don't know or not. In fact... should have been able to tap your. 401k in an emergency situation, right, they locked us out. Like you're a criminal? I could not access my 401k. They said, well, you can apply for. another job in the company. I'm 57 years old. I'm going to go throw bags. Well, OK, if you want to pay me my. salary. Oh, no, no. You're going to. do it for a baggage rate. I'm gonna have to drive to the. airport every day.
Your CEO sounds like a pig actually, sorry, that's my view, you're not. saying that. You're welcome to this. Right. That's my opinion. I just want to be clear. But he sounds like a pig. If you know Michael Barry in. Houston, he has some, he's. a radio man and he's. which just sounds like an awful man. And I hope he's punished. He will be. Anyway, so. But we get called back because we. won in the 5th Circuit. And how long was that? Hmm, I think it was around February. 17th that so we. were out November, December, January. four months and.
Did you get into money trouble? No. You got no income coming yet. Yeah, but, you know, we're old. enough to have had some savings. You're burning reserves for. the world. Yeah, we are burning reserves. I mean, but you know, we don't live. a grandiose lifestyle. So, you know cars were paid for and. things like that. You know, we were able to be okay. People. Oh, there were people that were. selling everything. Laura, her husband sold his dream, which is a small fishing boat. I mean, it was not like anything. big, but that was his dream. Cause they needed to pay their. bills.
You know, people were selling, everything and some. were taking over the job. You're making me emotional. Mental health side of it was. was scary. You don't understand the. number of people Brett or myself. talked out of suicide and. It was tough, but we made it. So of those 2,000, can. you just roughly break it down what. they did? How many pilots? 360 plus or minus pilots, okay, there's about seven, let's see, so that's 350, there was about 50 to 100, what we call agents, you know, ticket agents, and the balance.
would have been flight attendants, the mechanics, the. stores people, the majority of the agents that. worked in larger cities, avionics technicians, management, they were able to work with massing. and testing regime. But it was punitive. It wasn't masking. It was N95 respirators from. the moment you pulled on property to. the moment left. You ate outside. Didn't matter if it was snowing, raining, cold. You put it back between every bite. and sip.
Wearing a yellow star the whole time. that mask was the yellow star. And then you had to be. tested on a rolling every seven. days and it didn't matter if you. were out on family medical leave, if you got hurt at work or were on. vacation, you missed one test, you. were terminated. And this is the one where they stick. the stuff up here now. And that's a whole nother issue. I never did that. I would never do it. No. So it was all punitive. And it was a punishment. But they justified it in that. those people didn't work on board. the airplane. So for safety reasons,
they were waifu. Of those 2,000, of course, you. can't really know, but what's your. sense of the percentage of. Christians among? Well, in our organization, I know. I have seven Jewish members, I. have a handful. Religious? Very much so. the the the seven jewish people. religious people. yet very much. Very faithful. Good for them. One is actually fighting. a battle to get an. accommodation for wearing a very. tight beard. So we have those seven. or so. We have at.
least one or two. Muslims that I know of. One of our lead plaintiffs was a. Buddhist, the majority Christians. But I mean, observe it like every. one of the. Oh, every one of these people are. observant. So all 2,000 were religious people. very well, I take that back. We had a handful of people who are. very observant, but that. had a medical issue and their doctor. told them don't get it. And so they applied for a medical. accommodation backed up with a. religious because of their faith. But I would say 99.9%.
are. So what you're saying is that when. you bring down a vaccine mandate. like this, like, hey, let me inject. you with some onboarded baby cells. you really are getting rid of the. religious people. Cause I mean, this was done at a. national scale. So I think it's fair to, you know, if the outcome is the. point of the exercise, it seems like they drove religious. people out of government service. That's what it looks like to me. The military, the airlines kind.
of crypto since you fly the mail, but it's not really government, But yes, you know, anywhere. where the real. But they're punishing religious. people. Anywhere there's a large group. of employees, places, yes, I would agree, but it's also religious people also. happen to believe in the. Constitution, they also happen to be. free thinkers. Oh, I've noticed. And, you know, I think there's. even more insidious things. than they were after the religious. people. Sure, but they were also. after anybody who would not stand. and would comply.
Right. I think to them, it was a. test to see how they could trample. people's rights. Absolutely no question about it, but I do think we've spent too. little time Celebrating. the people who are willing to. really have their lives. Reordered willing to be punished and. suffer for what they believed like. those people are heroes. I think. I know 2,000 heroes. Well, that's my... Totally, they're not, yeah. So then what happens, you go back.
to work. And we're, we're invited back to. work eventually because of the court. ruling, but then we're told, but you. can't fly anywhere. You have to be careful. You can't fly anywhere? They wouldn't let us. We had. restricted cities, right? Because countries might require. a vaccine. Well, of those restricted cities. there weren't any countries that. wouldn't let pilots in, but. it was a big battle. We had to, we had to fight through. this until Canada. dropped the mandate for passengers. And so there were just.
things that were done. The constant retaliation. pieces, getting called in the office. because of a Facebook avatar or. just dumb things. Called it the office because of. Facebook avatar? So Laura and I had changed our. Facebook, you know, symbol to the star of David. It said unvaxxed on it, right? Cause we felt like we were being. abused. You know, I didn't want to make any. light of previous situations, but you know, it was out there.
And some pilot who disagreed. with us anonymously reported us. to the corporation. And we had to. go to the office and do the carpet. dance and explain why that. wasn't discrimination. Why would it be discrimination? We offended the Jewish people. because we co-opted. their star. So the first thing I did is call my. seven Jewish members and say, does. this offend you? They're like, no, we stand with you. But it wouldn't, I mean, it's not mocking Jews,
isn't it? Standing in solidarity. with anyone who's been singled out. and oppressed. Exactly. So it was like about as positive an. identification as you could have. But it was. one more reason. Four times, five. times in one year, I had to go. sit in there and. explain myself. It just goes on. I got one coming up. What is that? What did you do wrong this time? This time two years ago, I was. trying to be kind to. a very famous elderly person. We were going to do an engine run. and I couldn't leave them on the.
jetway with the engines running and. doors open. And so we got the. person up to the top and. unfortunately, then she. wrote a nasty letter so I have to go. do the carpet dance and explain why. you can't sit unattended on. a jetway, with the door open and the. engine running and mechanic with an. arm in an engine. So we'll get through it. And it just. One of the greatest changes of the. past six months is you can finally. say loud and proud without the. threat of going to jail for it that. you're for babies. You're for the unborn.
And that's great news for Preborn, our partner which operates a clinic. network across the United States. Preborn is the single greatest. threat to the abortion industry. It's rescued over 67,000. babies last year alone. These abortions still claim. thousands of lives every year. It's one of the great tragedies. unspoken most of the time. It's not a right, it is a tragedy. So the goal is to rescue all of. these babies. They need your help to. do that. Assisting and providing. ultrasounds is a great place to. start more knowledge, more.
information for expecting mothers. It really makes a huge difference. Once a mother realizes that. the lump in her belly is a baby, is a child, she becomes twice. as likely to choose life, to let. that child live. One ultrasound costs only. 28 bucks, meaning that five. are just $140. So $5,000 is good for. enough devices to cover preborn's. entire network for a full day. It really, really helps. We hope you'll join this cause. Dial pound 250, say the keyword.
baby. That's pound 250 the. word baby, or you can visit. preborn.com slash Tucker to. make a secure donation, preborn dot. com slash Tucker. How did the other pilots who. like Obedient sheep. took the the needle. How did they treat you? I've never had anyone come up and. say, you guys are causing a problem. Now there's keyboard warriors on. certain, you know, social. media sites. But at work,
nine out of 10 have said, I wish. I could have stood with you. Yeah. I'm sick. My friend is sick or something. I will never do it again. Ever, ever, ever. And I'm sorry. I didn't stand with. you. Those poor people, I know a million. vaccinated people. I've never heard anybody say, I'm. glad I got the vaccine, not a single. one. No. And I feel so sad for a lot of them. I love. So I feel, so sad that I'm. sorry to make fun of them. I shouldn't, they were the victims. too. There are victims too. Some are just stronger than others. But the COVID vaccines turned out to. be so dangerous, it killed so.
many people. It's a fact. I mean, it's in the. Figures program. These are not. conspiracy theories. It's like, that's a, that it. does make you wonder, like, what would you want? I don't want to fly in a plane with. vaccinated pilots because I think. it's too dangerous. But are there numbers on this? Oh, yeah. So tell me what they are. So I had a lot of free time there. while I was off of work and I'd been. working on my. doctoral dissertation and when this. started to go down, I shifted. gears. So my organization, Airline. Employees for Health Freedom, we. started getting phone calls.
I know somebody that's sick or. I know this or I don't know that. So we just put a data collection. link up and it got so. intense that I said, you know what? I'm going to stop everything. I'm gonna write my dissertation and. I'm to study the. vaccine injury amongst commercial. airline pilots. Um, I was about seven. months of data collection, uh, 1600 plus respondents across the. industry, um, and, and understand the population. is about 80, 20 vaxxed, right?
My study actually came out about 50, 50, because a whole bunch of my. unvaccinated friends wanted to help, which watered down my numbers, but. actually makes them that much more. powerful because at 50, 50, if. I found this, what would I have. found at 80, 20 and what I found is. Commercial airline pies in the. United States are suffering. pericarditis and myocarditis at. rates exceeding the CDC's national. average. And I proved it to a 98%. plus or minus four in that regards. What are the implications for. myocarditis in an airline pilot?
goes back to that incapacitation. thing, right? Pilots gotta have a healthy heart. But what it really means for. the short term, we're losing. pilots. It's anecdotal, it's in my. dissertation, but I have the charts. from American Southwest. and from the Union at United, the disability rates post. December of 21. shoot through the ceiling. Right. They're off the. charts and they're getting worse by.
the day. So pilots are going on. long-term disability. It's one more way to get rid of. those high dollar workers, I guess. I don't know. And when we just that way, we have. to have more young people come in. And so where it goes, I don' know, but I found. things from kidney stones. to serious, you know, mental, excuse me, neurological problems, cardiac. It's really scary and. nobody wants to know about it. And the room, the- Problem is. I went to the union and I said to. the national president in an email.
and I have it in my dissertation. It's published online. I found this. We need to address this. and he says oh no. No, you know what? That's in the past We don't. that might be disruptive to unity. Wait, what is the point of unions. again? I totally forgot. Is it to take care of their members? I have a former rep I've seen in the. sausage making from the inside. We were quote, a professional. organization that focuses on. safety.
That's their number one point. Secondly is collective bargaining. I pay a lot of money for them to. abuse me. But if your job is to take. care of your people, that's what a. union is, right? It's we collectively bargain, we're. in this together and we're. looking out for people who have. not enough power, which is. the workers against management. and they're not interested in. people dying or being disabled. for like, I don't- They weren't-. You weren't interested in them. putting us on the street. They stepped back and said, company.
can do what they want. What? No, it's not in the collective. bargaining agreement. That is. a term and condition. That is an EEOC problem. between you and the airline. What's the name of this union? the Airline Pilots Association, ALPA, and ALPA is working. against helping the. pilot shortage by upping the age. ALPA worked against all of us. in any of the airlines.
I can't say that because actually, the ALPA people at Delta, they. worked with Ed Bastion and they. actually came up with a pretty good. system during this mandate piece, but ours washed our hands. of us. Are you required to be a member of. this union? Unfortunately, yes. So they take your money and they do. nothing for you, and they. collaborate with your creepy. CEO to. oppress the workers there in. the union cycle on board. Oh, and it even gets better.
They take my money and they. have a DEI committee. It's staffed by a transgender pilot. who then sends me emails explaining. what my language should be. I'm trying not to use the F word. This is my, this is my Lenten. challenge, but. it's almost sneaking out. The union sends you that? So your union exists. to lecture and torment you and steal. your money? Let's just say we.
have people in the union in the. legal department who are not the. best and brightest. You'd obviously work at somewhere. other than a union, but the rumor is I've been told. that I'm the fifth rail. They don't even know the saying it's. the third rail, right? So trust me, the union and. I don't get along really well, Tucker. And you-. And you were Union Wrap. I was. So it's not like you have some. ideological problem with unions as a. theory. No, I had a. desire to go in there and help. people and clean up the mess that.
was. Yeah, I mean, I speak for myself. I'm totally in favor of unions. I have a friend who's a labor leader. and I like the idea of unions, I do. I like solidarity and someone. needs to push back against power. I'm all for that. It's just that in practice in. this specific case, but it also in. others, it seems like they're. collaborating against their members. Unions are, in this case, at least. I use the phrase, unions are like. the tick on the dog. They suck from the dog, but they.
can't kill it because that's. the way they live. So in the case of the airline pilots. association, they collaborate. a lot with management. They get what they need. They get the dos from it and they'll. do a little bit, but they, can't do. too much, right? Because they need the company to. stay profitable or they'll. be gone. Okay. Well, that's, I mean, I don't. think that's unreasonable. But they shouldn't be the. disciplinary arm. Well, that's insane. In a lot of. cases, they are. Everyone hates the teachers unions,
and I, of course I do too. I think they've helped direct. education, however, at least in New York City, like they. stick up for their members. Sure. In a very unreasonable way. Even when their members are like. child molesters, they'll defend. them. Wish us back! But the idea that you stand. up for the people in your charge, that leadership means laying down. your life for the people beneath. you, I believe. in that. And there's nothing worse. than a collaborator. Wow, that's really disgusting. washed their hands of all of us.
And it didn't happen just at the. airline pod association, it happened. at the AFA association. of flight attendants, right? It happened, the Teamsters, no, it wasn't the Teamster, the. dispatch union leader was the only. one that fought back against the. mandates, right. All the rest of them just rolled. over. So what, I mean, are airline people. political and how does the, how. does it break down? Airline people, okay, so we have a. few of the hardcore union people, of. course, that are going to lean left, right? Airline People are.
of the ilk of where they. live, okay? Houston base is very conservative, very Texas, very red. I see in the San Francisco base. a much more liberal opinion. So I think they're just people. I don't think it's, we're not in the. days of fighting Lorenzo, right, so. I. with the airline people. I think they're just part of their. community. But there's something about aviation. because it's, I mean, science-based, it's engineering,
that every airline pilot, I've known. a million airline pilots and they're. all, they have the same kind of. logical, coolly. analytical temperament, and they. believe in like the facts because. they have to or the plane crashes. Bernoulli is a fact, right? We can't change that. Exactly and like a thunderstorm will. pull your wings off. So don't fly. into it. Like these are just facts. We're not in control. We acknowledge them and we. And we're risk-averse, right? So we're going to be conservative. and take the most conservative. way.
There still are some liberal ones. Are there really? Oh yeah, they're usually the big. union dogs, you know, the high power. ones. I can't get my head. around someone whose. job it is to obey the laws of. physics unflinchingly. That's a fact we have to obey that. law because we can't change it. That person believing that. you can change your sex, which is the most irrational thing. you could say it's. I think most of them are not. faithful at all, too.
To what? As well. I mean, they're not. faithful, as well. They're not religious people, either. Oh, I am of course not. Oh, I'm of course not. Well, of course, the whole idea is. to give a finger to God and proclaim. yourself master of the universe. I can change my sex. Can you control the weather now too, like John Kerry? But no, it's not even that, which I do have a problem with, to. be clear. That's irrational. That's what freaks me out. That's. your rational. So if you believe in. something that irrational, I. don't want you flying my airplane.
No. I mean. I don't want you flying next to me. in that airplane because I have to. get up on a 10-hour flight and go. take a break or go into the. bathroom. How are you going to behave when I'm. not here? You know, we got pilots that are. asking those questions right now. They're saying, you know, I'm not. comfortable leaving the flight deck. when we're flying with somebody of. that nature. Can you go to the company and say... Nah, no. I'm on a 10-hour flight, so you're. a veteran, obviously, a veteran.
pilot, you've got to be one of the, have some of the most hours of. I'm in the top 10%. probably. So that means, traditionally, you're flying the longer, better, more fun routes to the prettier. capitals. Like, that's what I have. noticed. So, but you're fighting long. flights, so. you have to get up at some point. Well, I'm required legally to go. take a break. I mean, I have to go. to bed for over eight. hours. You have to take a nap. We rotate. We have three pilots and. we rotate three. But can you call the company and.
say, Hey, I'm not comfortable. leaving my copilot. unattended. Like that seems like a. big thing. For me, for me it's, you know, it's anecdotal. because I haven't flown with one. yet back except for when I was. on the 737 years ago and there. was a captain, who by the way was a terrible pilot. A transgender captain. Now it's terrible, violent, it's. more focused on other things. What kind of things? wouldn't be funny, but making sure.
his voice sounded right, or, you. know, there was a lot of. distraction. He was just known as not a very. great pilot. And so, you know, I did a lot of flying, but that was. years ago when I was really young, former airline before. the merger. So, but so I haven't, in my world, there. hasn't really been any in the. 67, but a lot of dear friends in. the more junior airplane. 737 and Airbus were just like... I'm not comfortable,
you know, they don't fly the long. haul, so they can usually get to. where they're going. They can hold. it. Yeah. Thank you. But yeah, they just they don t want. to leave. What could happen? They've read the same studies as I. have. Damn! And it's not just here. It's across the industry. Meaning in Europe as well. No, I'm meaning in. domestic airlines. It's not just my carrier, it's. pilots from a lot of different. carriers.
That's like, and what would. happen if you called up. airline HQ and said, this is just. too nuts. I think it's a threat to. safety. What would they say to you? Come into the office, let's have. another carpet dance. For real? Yeah. Now, so the thing is you have. to observe a safety. concern and you must report. it as a whistleblower. Then it might get changed. But I haven't actually officially. observed it, but I can. understand where we're going.
I mean, it might not be as. dramatic as somebody not wanting. to fly with somebody. One very real piece is. you can be called in the office and. get in trouble for say, misgendering. somebody using the wrong pronoun. Actually, yes. Unfortunately, I work in a safety. sensitive world. I have a common safety language, right? If we're in the middle of. a massive emergency at altitude. and I pick up that and I. call the back and I say, hey guys,
prepare the cabin. Oh, wait a minute, was I supposed to. remember was a guy or a girl or. what? It's just a word I use in. the heat of battle. I don't want to have an Abbott and. Costello who's on first discussion. with the person at the other end of. the phone. No, I'm a he. No, she's. at door one. No. He's at the door three. We have something to do and deal. with, and I don' want to have to. stop and think in my job before I. react the way I've been trained. Oh, did I say the wrong thing? Am I going to, if we survive this, have to go answer for it? And that's a very real piece.
That one is one that pilots. worry about probably more. and actually flying with a trainer. So, I think, big picture, it's very obvious that safety. standards have fallen dramatically, maybe not literally, they're not. rewriting the safety manual, but. safety is not... We're distracted, that's what I would say. It's not. the top concern. Clearly, it is not the concern. Clearly. How long before hundreds. of people die? I hope never again in my lifetime, because the people at the front of.
the airplane, me and. my partner, we're going to. do what we know how to do, and. it doesn't matter to me if I get. called in because I misgendered. somebody. There are still good people out. there, but we're. getting to that critical mass point. We need a little time. We need to pause. We need this new incoming FAA. administrator whom I've read a lot. about. I really like him. He looks like a very faithful person. and he's going to fit in the. administration and be.
confirmed rather quickly. We need get the pilot. age up. The standards do not need to be. lowered for the incoming. And then we're going to need to take. some time and mentor. And I think we can get there. But the clock is ticking. The Trump administration, I think, is on the right track to fix. four years of. complete dismantling of the. U.S. aviation industry. I hope, I pray they can get there, but I think they've got the right.
people in place. Are you, you said you've never been. nervous flying? Have you ever been nervous as a. passenger? I'm sure I have. I'm more nervous when I stand on. like the edge of a tall building. or... I'm scared of heights, Tucker. Absolutely, I'm scary. I refuse to go to the Grand Canyon. I won't do it. What's your cruising altitude in 767. Long Hall Flight? Depends, 28 to. 38, somewhere in there. You know, we climb as we burn fuel,
we get lighter, so we climb. But you know, 36, 37, 38, what is that? Almost seven miles high in the. air, and passengers, think about it, you're sitting in a chair, doing. eight to nine tenths the speed of. sound. That's a pretty awesome. thought. What's incredible? I think the whole thing is. absolutely wonderful. What do you think of the new planes? Well, I fly the old planes. I'm a Boeing girl. My husband flies the 787 and. he likes it. I mean, you know,
technology is wonderful. It just goes further faster and. higher. I'm more worried about the. coming technology with regards to. single pilot or autonomous. flight. I don't know about you, I'm not. getting in an airplane without a. pilot. Autonomous flight? It's coming. You're making me feel uninformed. So there are, this will. solve the union problem. I just can't really... Get rid of the people. Get rid of the people, there's no-. So there are planes planned with no.
pilot? Well, we have them now. I mean... I guess they're called drones. Right. They're called drones. I mean, in Houston, we have pilots that are in the. Garden Reserve. They get in their car in the morning, they drive down to Ellington, they. walk into a trailer, they're flying. a drone over in Afghanistan, bombing. the bad guys, and they drive home. I mean it happens all the time. It's not coming this generation. We have cars, autonomous. taxi cabs in Austin, Texas, right? They drive around and you. just jump in one and it charges your. credit card. First time I saw it, it was crazy,
but they have it. So what's coming is, first. of all, is the move to reduce one. pilot in the cockpit. on a commercial airline. It's a way it'll work, most likely. They said, Aviation and Space. Magazine had this about four or five. years ago. They'll have a control room, drone operators, me, when I retire, all these people will be sitting in. a controlroom and you'll take off. Remember that old V1 rotate engine. failure we talked about? You'll just push the bowing button. And I'll come on and say,
hey, captain, I've got the airplane. You get the checklist. So a room of eight people can work. the whole thing. Wouldn't it be easier to just put. someone in the cockpit? Wouldn't it be? You know the old joke, we have a dog. in the cockpit, right? You know why the dog is there? To keep the pilot from touching. anything. Bite him if he comes. So yeah, that's the first step. They're going to start, a little. start in cargo carriers and trying. to push to eliminate one body. And then- For cost reasons. Cost reasons. Because you can only control the. price of the airplanes, the price to.
the people, or the price a fuel, right. Fuel's pretty set. Airplanes, You can get the better. financing if you play the game, but we cost money. That's just absolutely crazy. I will pay a premium to fly in a. airline with two pilots. Well, but it gets better. The next generation to it might go. there, but at the same time, the drone world and I think they. call it VTOL, vertical takeoff and. landing, whereby you, Tucker Carlson, can have your own. VTol and you can fly yourself to.
the airport and then you can get on. the big airplane. This stuff is all in the crazy works. behind the scenes at the FAA. You can read about it. It's there. They're establishing corridors and. plans. It'll start with pilots. operating, but eventually they're. looking for an autonomous. situation where you just, the. Jetsons, you walk out, get in your. little hovercraft, go to the. airport, get the big hovercraft. It's coming! Yeah, I hope I'm gone when this all. happens.
I surely will be. Sure, that was really wonderful. to get the benefit of your decades. of experience and your honesty. Thank you. for the opportunity and. I really pray. for the President, Secretary Duffy, the incoming FAA. Administrator that we can. get ahead of this before it gets. out of control. Yeah. Before people die. I hope so. Thank you. Thank you very much.
