Cockpit Confidential: Everything You Need to Know About Air Travel: Questions, Answers, and Reflections

Patrick Smith

May 2013 · Sourcebooks, Inc.

About this ebook

A New York Times bestseller

For millions of people, travel by air is a confounding, uncomfortable, and even fearful experience. Patrick Smith, airline pilot and author of the web's popular Ask the Pilot feature, separates the fact from fallacy and tells you everything you need to know...

•How planes fly, and a revealing look at the men and women who fly them
•Straight talk on turbulence, pilot training, and safety
•The real story on congestion, delays, and the dysfunction of the modern airport
•The myths and misconceptions of cabin air and cockpit automation
•Terrorism in perspective, and a provocative look at security
•Airfares, seating woes, and the pitfalls of airline customer service
•The colors and cultures of the airlines we love to hate

Cockpit Confidential covers not only the nuts and bolts of flying, but also the grand theater of air travel, from airport architecture to inflight service to the excitement of travel abroad. It's a thoughtful, funny, at times deeply personal look into the strange and misunderstood world of commercial flying.

It's the ideal book for frequent flyers, nervous passengers, and global travelers.

Refreshed and vastly expanded from the original Ask the Pilot, with approximately 75 percent new material.

Ratings and reviews

As an aviation nerd, I read this book and had to agree with Patrick on so many points, it was extremely interesting and all read in less than 24 hours, I was that hooked! I've already recommended it to others.

Really light and easy to read. Demystifies air travel even for those of us who are geeks on the subject

I learned so much about every aspect of airline flying, both up at the front and at the back. Well done.

About the author

Patrick Smith is a New York Times bestselling author, airline pilot, air travel writer, and the host of www.askthepilot.com. He has visited more than seventy countries and always asks for a window seat. He lives in Somerville, Massachusetts.