‘Flight’ was a truly remarkable movie portraying an alcoholic airline pilot named Whip Whitaker, played by Denzel Washington. The movie mainly focuses on character development, which is why Denzel Washington was the shining star for this movie. However, the cast also included impressive actors like Don Cheadle, who plays Whip’s attorney, as well as John Goodman, whose purpose is to act as the comic relief. Whip is obviously the main focus in this movie, but Cheadle and Goodman serve as spectacular supporting actors who help make the movie such a success.

What made the movie a success was Denzel Washington’s emotional portrayal of Whip. He clearly portrayed Whip’s aggression, charisma, flaws, and extreme alcoholism; he causes the audience to develop a love/hate relationship with Whip. The fact that the audience could not make up their mind about whether to like Whip was also an added element that made the movie interesting; most times, the protagonists in movies are either loved or hated, but Whip was both. Whip was definitely a hero, but he was also an intense alcoholic whose illness put others in danger several times and should really be in jail. However, despite Whip’s poor choices and obvious flaws, the audience cannot help connecting to him and ultimately rooting for him to succeed.

The main mystery behind ‘Flight’ was how Whip was able to land a plan and save nearly all of its passengers. The truth is that nobody should have been able to save them. After the crash, simulators were developed for other airline pilots to try to “save” the plane like Whip did, but everybody failed the simulator test. As the investigations unravel, Whip’s alcoholic tendency emerges to the surface and investigators suspect he was under the influence when he landed the plane. Interestingly enough, even though this definitely has some adrenaline pumping moments, mystery, and intrigue, it is not an action movie. The action and suspenseful moments take a sideline to the true purpose of the movie: to portray the life of an alcoholic hero.

Despite the fact that Denzel Washington did a superb job at playing Whip, it was disappointing that the movie was based more on following the life of an alcoholic rather than having more pulse-pounding action sequences. The audience was definitely able to connect with Whip, but it would have been nice to see more action throughout the movie. The movie was also a bit too long when it did not need to be. Despite these minor complaints about the movie, it is still worth seeing because of Denzel Washington’s brilliant performance.

4/5

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Low-budget airlines are becoming increasingly popular across the world, and in Australia Jetstar and VirginBlue are the widest used budget airlines.

But a new Senate inquiry has brought to light a disturbing case of a pilot for Jetstar feeling bullied and harassed when expressing concerns about current flight routes. The route in question is the Singapore-Denpassar-Perth-Melbourne-Perth route.

A pilot emailed a fellow pilot complaining of extreme fatigue and expressing concerns about decreased abilities after flying the long route. His email in response instructed he, and all other pilots flying the route, to ‘toughen up, princess’.

The Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA) has spoken out in condemnation of Jetstar’s handling of the pilots complaint. AIPA Vice President Captain Richard Woodward said that he found the response to the email by Jetstar Boss Bruce Buchanan worrying and showing no real concern for the public.

“I would strongly urge Mr Buchanan and his management team to start playing the ball and not the man. Fatigue is a very serious issue which deserves to be treated seriously,

The public’s concern here is about a culture in which those who speak out about safety are treated with hostility,” Captain Woodward said.

Mr Buchanan has been giving evidence at the Senate inquiry looking into Jetstar’s practices. He said that Jetstar is extremely passionate about safety and they fully support the senate inquiry.

When speaking directly about the email in question Mr Buchanan said “It was an email from one line pilot – a pilot actually employed under the EBA, not a part of the senior management team, or a pilot on a management contract. And this was a comment from one pilot to another pilot.

“It doesn’t represent the views of Jetstar…I think (this) is another example of misinformation and misrepresentation of the very good safety culture and practices in place at Jetstar.”

He went on to state that there are a variety of formal processes in place, both internal and external, that are set up to investigate any reports of fatigue in pilots

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