Originally Posted by
marcal
I didn’t get the impression that he was “refusing“ to go, I felt like they were just shutting the engines down because the airport had closed because of the incident and they knew they’d be sitting there for a little while. Regardless, no one is going to stop our operation except for the Captains. No one in OCC is stopping anything. Until an airport closes they just keep the train chugging along.
The FOM clearly gives captains the authority to the delay a flight but not cancel one. I’ve used that card before.
Just because a flight arrives at its destination, does not mean that it was a done safely or responsibly. sometimes I wish more of us would have that versus the historic go go go mission driven mindset. This airline has clearly stated that they will back us up when we make safety related decisions.
Good discussion
Well said. Whenever an FO asks me about challenges from the left seat, I always mention the fact that we are the ONLY people at the airline that get paid to say “no” from time to time. The entire apparatus is set up to go, go, go. It can feel like you’re on an island when you put the brakes on the operation, but that level of backbone is what is sometimes required. Operators at shops without strong safety cultures don’t have the luxury that we have with a highly effective safety structure at ALPA backing us up. We’ve all known outfits where if you didn’t want to take the jet, they would find someone who would. It’s a terrible way to operate, but they exist. Once you realize you won’t “get in trouble” for putting your foot down, it’s liberating. Sadly, at UAL, we’ve recently let go of some who viewed each flight as a mission to be completed at all costs. One particular new Captain was fired for flying right through a line of weather, causing injuries. His response to the FO was that’s what the company pays me to do! No, the company pays you to be smart, but his mindset from his regional was tough to shake. And no, it’s not a regional slam, just that particular one that shall remain nameless. Bottom line, kudos to the CAPTAIN for being the voice of reason.