Originally Posted by
MajorTom712
Ya it's the lack of a PDC causing delays. You should be in management. I guess it's also cause we send more than 1 runway to Aerodata that it takes too long to come back. I agree it's broken and needs to be fixed. And its an annoying problem but this is a little exaggerated.
Again, that's a very cynical way to look at what I said. "You should be in management" nice...
Is a PDC system there to expedite one of the tasks that we do each and every leg? Yes. Does that system work correctly? No. So we all agree that a tool that we use to make the job faster isn't working correctly. Does the ACARS latching problem cause X amount of delays? No. But an airline's performance is all about the aggregate. High volume of operations with a low margin of error. 30 seconds can cause 10 minutes. 10 minutes can easily cause 30 minutes and so on and so on.
Is the PDC issue the 'biggest fish' in the pond of delays? No I don't think so. However, I'd say that any fish in the pond of delays is worth fixing. Fix enough of the problems and you're back on the top of the D-0 list. The reason we're talking about the PDC thing is because someone else voiced frustration with incorrect ACARS initialization. I have never said that the PDC issue is the top thing we need to address. I've only said that it's ONE thing. Printers not working is yet another small fish. But a fish none the less. High volume aggregate. Small things add up. It's never one thing for an entire operations performance, that's all I'm saying.
Originally Posted by
ACessential
I understand your point of something being broken, yes its annoying when the flight number sticks and you can't get a PDC. But if you are on a quick turn (which always seems to be the case in LAX), don't you think its quicker to call for a clearance rather than coordinate a ground reset with mx (which the QRH tells you to do)? The airplane will be powered down and back up eventually.
People writing up dumb ****** like that on a quick turn is what is slowing us down. I guarantee if you look hard enough in the airplane you can find one stupid thing to write up at any given time. If you are truly thinking about the big picture tell your FO that is whining about the stupid clearance or printer not printing to call clearance and write down the damn ATIS
You're right, if the only options are to call in for a clearance or call and coordinate a ground reset, then yes it's faster to call for your clearance. But you're only overlooking the root problem. The best option is to fix the system so crews are not stuck turning a blind eye to the issue. You can't have official policy be for crews to turn a blind eye. Just fix the issue. I totally agree that writing up stupid stuff is a drag on the system, but one step deeper is that stupid stuff is not right.