News, Events, and Info For Media

Patrick Smith has appeared on over a hundred radio and television outlets, including PBS, Discovery Channel, CNN, Fox, the BBC and National Public Radio. He has been cited in dozens of print publications worldwide, from People magazine to Le Monde. He is available to speak on a wide-range of topics, including:

air safety
airport security
aircraft technical issues
fear of flying concerns
the real stories behind rumors and scandals
airfares and service issues
airline culture

PLEASE CONTACT:

PatrickSmith@askthepilot.com

OR CALL (USA) 617-501-5267

This website itself can also be a useful resource for journalists. If you’re researching a particular issue, from engine stalls to crew fatigue to inflight service, chances are it’s covered in one essays or FAQs.

RECENT MEDIA APPEARANCES & EVENTS….

  • December 2011: Rudy Maxa’s World syndicated radio show
  • December 2011: WILL Illinois Public Radio
  • November 2011: The Emily Rooney Show on Boston public radio WGBH
  • November 2011: Peter Greenberg Worldwide radio program
  • September 2011: USA Today
  • September 2011: Rudy Maxa’s World syndicated radio show
  • September 2011: Peter Greenberg Worldwide radio program
  • August 2011: KGO radio San Francisco
  • August 2011: The Emily Rooney Show on Boston public radio WGBH
  • August 2011: Quoted in Associated Press story
  • July 2011: Cleveland Plain Dealer
  • June 2011: WSOC TV, Charlotte, NC
  • June 2011: Martha Stewart Living radio program
  • June 2011: Rudy Maxa’s World syndicated radio show
  • May 2011: Interview with CheapFlights.com
  • May 2011: New Hampshire Public Radio
  • April 2011: MSNBC.com
  • April 2011: WILL Illinois Public Radio
  • April 2011: KGO Radio San Francisco
  • April 2011: New England Cable News
  • March 2011: Peter Greenberg Worldwide radio program
  • February 2011: Jezebel magazine
  • February 2011: Patt Morrison Show on KPCC Southern California Public Radio
  • January 2011: The Emily Rooney Show on Boston public radio WGBH
  • January 2011: Quoted in Yahoo News (Associated Press story)
  • January 2011: WGN radio Chicago
  • December 2010: KGO radio San Francisco
  • November 2010: Anderson Cooper’s AC 360 on CNN
  • November 2010: MSNBC Countdown with Keith Olbermann
  • November 2010: New York Times
  • November 2010: WBAL Baltimore; KPBS San Diego; KOA Denver; WGBH Boston
  • November 2010: Live interview with CNN
  • November 2010: BBC World radio interview
  • November 2010: The Atlantic magazine
  • November 2010: KUOW Seattle Public Radio
  • November 2010: KGO Radio, San Francisco
  • November 2010: CBC (Canada) television interview
  • November 2010: Quoted in Associated Press story
  • October 2010: WGSO 990AM, New Orleans
  • Octotber 2010: Rudy Maxa’s World nationally syndicated radio travel show
  • September 2010: KCBS radio, San Francisco
  • September 2010: Interview for upcoming Woman’s Day magazine feature
  • September 2010: Two appearances on Peter Greenberg Worldwide radio show
  • September 2010: Rudy Maxa’s World nationally syndicated radio travel show
  • August 2010: KUOW Public Radio, Seattle
  • August 2010: Op-ed published in the New York Daily News
  • August 2010: The Leonard Lopate Show WNYC public radio, New York City
  • August 2010: quoted in The Boston Globe
  • July 2010: Interview with the Seattle Times
  • July 2010: Live segment on Rudy Maxa’s World radio program
  • July 2010: KUOW public radio, Seattle
  • June 2010: Interviewed by Readers Digest magazine for an upcoming feature
  • June 2010: New England Cable News
  • June 2010: Slate magazine
  • June 2010: Real Simple magazine interview
  • June 2010: Latest appearance on Peter Greenberg Worldwide radio travel show
  • May 2010: Patrick was quoted by the Associated Press regarding the crash of a jetliner in Tripoli, Libya
  • May 2010:Women’s Health magazine interview
  • May 2010: Interview on KPCC Southern California Public Radio
  • May 2010: Interview on KGO radio in San Francisco
  • May 2010: Interview by Business Week magazine, and contributor to New York Times online air travel forum
  • May 2010: Patrick’s travel photos were on view as part of the annual Somerville Open Studios event in Somerville, MA. Thanks the to 200 or so guests who stopped by.
  • April 2010: Several media appearances discussing the volcanic ash cloud over Europe, including BBC, WBAL, National Public Radio’s Diane Rehm Show and Canada’s CBC-TV
  • March 2010: Facebook members have started an ASK THE PILOT fan site at the popular networking site.
  • March 2010: The Emily Rooney Show on Boston public radio WGBH, and New England Cable News
  • March 2010: Peter Greenberg Worldwide radio program
  • January 2010: Public television’s WorldFocus, Canada’s CBC radio, and WGBH-Boston’s Greater Boston program
  • January 2010: Baltimore’s WBAL radio, Los Angeles public radio, and Peter Greenberg Worldwide
  • December 2009: Patrick joined acclaimed journalist William Langewiesche on WHYY’s Radio Times show, carried nationwide by NPR affiliates
  • October 2009: numerous interviews, including radio stations WNYC in New York, WBAL in Baltmore, and TV station WGBH-2 in Boston, to discuss the Northwest Airlines incident over Minnesota. Patrick’s column on the incident was quoted in the New York Times and USA Today.

    • li>September 2009: Interview with travel guru Rudy Maxa on KFWB-FM, the CBS radio affiliate in Los Angeles

  • September 2009: National Public Radio’s Morning Edition
  • June 2009: CNN, The New York Times, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, USA Today and the Homecast Show, an internet radio program
  • June 2009: Boston’s WBZ-4 TV news
  • June 2009: KCRW’s To the Point program
  • June 2009: CNN, the BBC, Baltimore’s WBAL, and Minnesota Public Radio discussing the Air France disaster off the coast of Brazil. Additional interviews with the Associated Press, the Brazilian newspaper Correio Braziliense, and the Italian paper La Stampa, Argentina’s La Nacion, Switzerland’s Basler Zeitung, Hungary’s HVG and the UK’s Independent.
  • June 2009: KUOW, Puget Sound Public Radio
  • May 2009: Appearances on CNN and National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. Interviews with the New York Times, the New York Daily News, and Business Week.
  • May 2009: BBC television segment and online news story
  • May 2009: WBAL Baltimore’s Ron Smith Show, and Buffalo’s WEDG-FM Shredd and Ragan Show
  • March 2009: Patrick’s thoughts on the March, 2009 crash of a FedEx freighter plane in Japan were quoted by the Associated Press and other news sources
  • March 2009: Patrick was interviewed about the crash of USAirways flight 1549 by ABC News, Time magazine, Bloomberg News, Italy’s La Reppublica and more than 20 radio stations in the US and Canada
  • March 2009: Fifth appearance on the Peter Greenberg Worldwide radio show
  • Februrary 2009: 20th appearance WBAL’s Ron Smith Show in Baltimore
  • January 2009: Interviewed by Men’s Journal magazine for an upcoming piece on airline simulator training
  • November 2008: Appearance on BBC radio’s Up All Night program
  • November 2008: Guest on the Viewpoint nationally syndicated radio program
  • November 2008: Interviewed for a National Geographic Channel documentary on conspiracy theories surrounding the September 11th attacks
  • August 2008: Patrick’s Salon column received a mention in Aksam Daily, a major newspaper in Turkey
  • July 2008: Patrick spoke about air safety issues with several CBC (Canada Public Radio) affiliates
  • July 2008: Patrick’s June 14th, 2008 op-ed in the Washington Post was chosen as one of the week’s four best opinion pieces by The Week, media review magazine
  • June 2008: Interviewed by Tom Fudge for San Diego public radio KPBS’s These Days program
  • June 2008: Patrick’s op-ed “Don’t Hate the Airlines” was published in the Washington Post
  • May 2008: Fourth appearance on WGBH’s Greater Boston program with host Emily Rooney
  • April 2008: Patrick published his fourth op-ed piece for the New York Times, discussing aircraft groundings and maintenance scandals
  • April 2008: Guest appearance on NPR’s All Things Considered
  • February 2008: ASK THE PILOT receives a surprise endorsement by the actress Thandie Newton during a TV talk-show interview
  • January 2008: Interviewed by eight Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio affiliates to discuss an incident aboard an Air Canada jet
  • December 2007: Patrick was invited to take part in the New York Times air travel blog, “Jet Lagged,” joining several well-known writers and industry insiders. The Week media review magazine voted Patrick’s December 16th installment its favorite column of the week.
  • November 2007: Patrick discussed air traffic congestion on National Public Radio’s Day to Day program
  • October 2007: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s morning radio show The Current
  • October 2007: Patrick was featured in an interview on the future of US airline travel in the New York Times’ Freakonomics blog
  • September 2007: Patrick appeared in an E! Network documentary about celebrities who’ve survived airplane accidents
  • September 2007: Third appearance on WYNC’s Brian Lehrer Show in New York City
  • July 2007: Interviewed by the New Zealand Listener, a weekly news and entertainment magazine
  • July 2007: Washington Post Radio
  • June 2006: The story of Patrick’s visit to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was published by the Sunday Times of South Africa
  • October 2006: Patrick’s “Don’t Fence the Sky” op-ed published in The New York Times
  • August 2006: “Air Safety is a State of Mind” op-ed published by The Boston Globe, and reprinted in the International Herald Tribune
  • August 2006: Patrick’s “Flying in the Face of Fear” op-ed is published in the Glasgow Sunday Herald
  • June 2006: Participation in the filming of a Discovery Channel documentary in Los Angeles
  • January 2006: Patrick Smith was recognized in the Boston Globe Magazineas one of its 2005 “Best of the New”
  • March 2005: Interviewed in Seattle by Rick Steves for the Travel with Rick Steves radio program
  • December 2004: Amazon.com selected ASK THE PILOT as its Best Travel Book of 2004, finishing number one in both Editor’s Picks and Customer Favorites
  • September 2004: Patrick’s interview with Gawker magazine can be viewed here here
  • June 2004: Patrick was interviewed in New York City for a National Geographic Channel documentary
  • February 2004: Guest appearance on National Public Radio’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me program