Originally Posted by
theaviator
Did anyone here the guy complaining on acceptions yesterday because they held the boarding on his plane even though the crew said it was ok? Acceptions "We were told that the F/A told the ramp guys to hold boarding" Pilot "Im telling you that that was incorrect" What a douche. Then I was in CLT ground told us to taxi following the American MD-80. So we did. Some Express Jet guy "Ground are we suppose to hold for the Comair jet?" Ground short pause "ahhhhhhhh yea, just wait for him" Express Jet "Well he's already in front of us I guess we have no choice". First off we were told to, second, what was the deal with everyone yesterday? Anyone else have stories from yesterday, maybe a full moon or something?
As a former ramp tower employee, I can say with authority that this is nothing new. The behavior on exceptions can be embarassing at times, especially when us pilots start pouting like 4 year old children. Most people forget that the exceptions freq is a public freq, and the public can, and does, listen to our conversations. The poor guys in the tower are just a coordination center and are usually relaying messages. Taking your anger and frustruations out on them isn't going to help you in any way whatsoever.
On a related note, if you guys have never been up to the tower, I'd highly recommend going up there and seeing how every thing works. Give them a call on the phone and tell them you'd like to take a look, they'd be happy to show you around. Or just let me know and I'll take you up if I'm not on a trip.