Capt. Chesley Sullenberger was supposed to appear on the “Today Show” this week – but that was canceled.

And what about the thousand or so other requests to interview the entire crew – which includes First Officer Jeff Skiles and Flight Attendants Sheila Dail, Doreen Welsh and Donna Dent – any movement there? Not at the moment. While US Airways has actually hired a publicist to deal with the media fallout, so far, no one’s talking.

According to a statement released by the US Airline Pilots Association and the Association of Flight Attendants, the crew is grateful for all the well wishes and support, but – here’s the rest of it:

“As the NTSB investigation is ongoing, [the crew] asks that the media respect their desire to refrain from participating in interviews until further notice.” –US Airline Pilots/Assn of Flight Attendants

To clarify matters, the pilots union asked the captain to stay off the air – per Newsday — and here’s a quote from that article: “The union asked Sullenberger to stay off the airwaves in deference to the National Transportation Safety Board’s ongoing probe, which the union is participating in. But Peter Knudson, an NTSB spokesman, said his agency has ‘no objection to the crew talking to anyone’.”

The statement goes on to say that the crew WILL talk – but only “when the time is right.”

I think they’re being smart. What do you think?