Ohh yes, we still do walk arounds, and lots of other checks inside the **** as well. You would be amazed at some of the stuff we find that our mx. people over look. And some times we get into "discussions" about what is acceptable and what is not, when it comes to a grey area. Luckily the Captain is always right and we never have to take a plane we are not satisfied with. The same holds true for bad weather, as you can see by my experience last Friday in NYC. This has led to many flight cancellations and many pissed off passengers. You would be amazed at some of the idiots we have to deal with when it comes to cancelling a flight. I always tell them, "We can go with it -as is-, and maybe die, or we can wait a few hours for them to fix it and live, which would you prefer?" That usually shuts them up...usually, but not always.

We did have a Captain who got some backlash from the Chief Pilot for not taking an airplane because of a failed auto-throttle system. My answer to the Chief Pilot would have been, "You fly it, and I'll sit behind your desk, drink coffee, eat doughnuts and yell at pilots on the phone for being "too safe".

And the dog story, yes, I've heard it and seen it! Did you ever see that Jimmy Kimmel show clip where they dress up like pilots, go to the airport and get drunk in the bar, then push each other around on baggage carts? That one kills me!