Originally Posted by
johnso29
I always shut the APU off as soon as I can, but keep this in mind.....just because the GPU cord is plugged in does not mean the power is good. Often times it's not hooked up correctly, & the rampers don't even confirm it's good. They just plug it in & run off, or the GPU isn't providing good power so we can't turn it on. I make radio calls to get it fixed, or maybe go down to the ramp and ask them to mess with it but it doesn't always fix the problem. Also, in your example it's possible that those 3 Airbus were all w/in 10 mins of departure. I'm not saying that guys don't leave them running, I've seen it & feel frustration too but lots of guys do get them off.
I doubt that they were all 3 with in 10mins of dept. I notice north a/c on the gates with APU running all the time with no one on the A/C. Mostly the Airbus fleet.
Sounds like we need to move the APU Sheriff up north...
Originally Posted by
johnso29
In regards to the SE taxi, you have to remember that NWA had SE taxi weight limitations. A lot of guys have a hard time forgetting that we no longer have these limitations, & out of pure habit just start both. If I feel we are light enough I'll ask if the CA would like to SE taxi. Our max break away thrust is the top of out N1 boxes, & that's about 30%. It's often not enough to get an average weight aircraft going, certainly not a full A320.
I ride in the JS of JB and UAL about twice a month. Full Airbuses and they nearly always go out SE. Also they almost always taxi to the gate SE with no APU. We taxi SE in a full MD88 at 150,000 lbs so I am sure the A320 can handle it.
Originally Posted by
johnso29
I always try to save gas with higher altitudes(so long as winds aren't too strong) delayed descents, SE Taxis, etc and it'll usually works. I hope in time we have more DAL N guys doing SE taxi, but it's not always feasible