Passenger Changes Flights to Avoid Woman as Pilot

SEATTLE — 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 today.

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 that 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 or the pilot.

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.