Originally Posted by Hotel Kilo

Until you find out once you get there there is no fuel on the plane, the lavs and water haven't been serviced and then during the walk around you find an issue that requires maintenance. Now good luck getting that plane off on time. I know, you don't rush and you could care less. I also guess you dont' mind fighting the hoardes down the jet bridge as if you show up 30-40 prior the plane is already boarding. Your "A" is probably already engaged in serving first class or sorting thru the messed up catering. You arriving at "your time" now has them stressed and they are now asking you to get a hold of ops to talk to catering to get it sorted out. Not to mention maintenance, fuelers or below wing to get your lavs and water done. That 20 minutes of time you could have possibly taken care of those issues.

I know you're a 717 CA and probably dont' run into it much but why put yourself in that position? The company doesn't pay you up until block out anyway, however, by being there a bit earlier than 30-40 prior helps to mitigate many of those gate issues. Int'l - myself and the crew show to the plane at least 1 hour prior. That's what I want. I don't want to be rushed and I want to be there if the pursor is having issue with the D1 meals etc. It's important and our customers pay a premium for that. My friends on the domestic side show up around 50-60 or so prior. They have countless FO's that stroll in right at about 30 prior and they are often running behind especially if it's the FO's turn for the walk around and/or their leg to fly. The expectation from these FO's is the CA will do most of the preflight duties prior to their "arrival". That's BS and taking advantage. Most of us do walkarounds for the FO's if it's their leg. In my day that never happened. CA never did the walk around regardless of who's leg it was. Now, it seems our group is moving further in the wrong direction. FO's should be considerate, not abuse the good will and at least make an effort to show up the same time as the CA does. Again, if you're showing up 30 or so prior, I maintain you're kinda screwing the team over on that move. If your CA tells you they are showing up an hour prior, you as the FO should be there as well. I don't get this mentality of showing up 30 or so prior (on your own volition, not an external factor causing you to be late van ride etc etc).