Introduction

Captain Dan Hanley’s American Dream Came True!

For youngster Dan Hanley, as a boy, the dream of flying was not just everything, it was the only thing. Grounded is the story of his arduous and triumphant struggle to realize his great American dream, only to find he had landed in the bleak terrain of a living nightmare.

Through more than a decade of commitment, strategy, hardship and sacrifice, Dan Hanley ultimately racked up a sterling reputation as a Naval aviator. Proffered a Pentagon promotion, Dan opted instead to follow his childhood dream to be a commercial airline pilot.

He landed a starting position at United Airlines — at the worst possible time. Corporate owners had just had Congress pass deregulation of the airline industry. As Hanley was soon to learn, in the ‘Greed is Good’ era, what was ‘good for business’ was terrible for employees and passengers!

Economic and working conditions spiraled downward as airline management, Federal regulators, and organized labor leaders formed a united blockade to intimidate employees into silence over egregious ‘cost-saving’ safety lapses which could easily prove fatal for employees and passengers. The 9/11/01 attack on the Twin Towers and Pentagon and becoming a whistleblower about safety issues caused even more problems that negatively affected Dan’s career.

When Captain Hanley tried every resource in an attempt to redress these perilous evils and more, he discovered the warnings he was receiving from well-meaning contacts were true. Ruthless, ruinous responses from virtually ALL of the ‘powers-that-be’ in the USA were to cost Captain Hanley his career and reputation, his life's earnings, and his beloved family.

This is the story of what it means to be GROUNDED!