
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, February 4, 1991                   TAG: 9102040363
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SEATTLE                                LENGTH: Short

PASSENGER REFUSES TO FLY WITH WOMAN FLIGHT CAPTAIN

A passenger got off a plane and took a later Phoenix-to-Seattle flight rather than fly with a woman pilot, an Alaska Airlines official said.

Lou Cancelmi, assistant vice president for corporate communications, said Alaska Airlines Flight 603 had gone a few feet from the gate Sunday when a male passenger discovered there was a female pilot and asked to be let off.

"They dropped the stairs, let him out on the tarmac, and unloaded his baggage," Cancelmi said.

The man took a later Alaska Airlines flight, and Flight 603 arrived on time in Seattle, Cancelmi said. He did not identify the passenger.

Bob Rondeau, a sportscaster from KOMO Radio in Seattle who was on the flight, said other passengers booed when the reason for the delay was announced.

The name of the pilot was not disclosed.

by CNB