Quote Originally Posted by Bill Miller View Post
Sorry, should have said SOM and not CS. However, the CS was the one that suggested that Matt talk to the other driver rather than file a protest. IMHO, it's not the CS's job to editorialize in cases like this.

And while I have seen cases where the CoA has found that the SOM (and other officials) did in fact act in error, unlike driver penalties which are published, in 10+ years of reading CoA decisions in FasTrack I don't ever recall seeing any penalty published for cases where the SOM et. al. were found to have acted in error.

On the first point, I agree with you. It drives me crazy when stewards try to discourage drivers from protesting. This is wrong.

On the second point, sanctions published - no, but sanctions applied - yes. I know several stewards (Chief Stewards and SOM) who suffered "career consequences".

You use the expression "acted in error" to describe something worthy of punishment. We may be arguing over words, but I would disagree.

We all make mistakes - drivers and stewards. The trick is to recognize one's errors, learn from them, and not repeat them.

I distinguish "error" from something you might call "negligent error" - where a driver or steward does something that he should know is not permitted. That is worthy of sanction.