Originally Posted by
Cycle Pilot
Ya, the -88 gets hot, too, especially during the Summer time when it's 90 degrees out. The day in MCO when I saw all these APU's running it was about 65 degrees out. I've been in the back of many Airbuses over the years that single engine taxi. The noise is no worse than the hydraulic pumps running on -88. I think it's actually quieter.
It's been hammered into me to save fuel since I was at Skywest. Delta also hammers us on saving fuel. It's almost like a challenge to see if you can have the APU come on line just as the Captain sets the brake at the gate. After working so hard to save gas, it's frustrating seeing DAL-N aircraft not doing the same thing. I don't understand the operational reasons why you wouldn't shut an APU down when you have good air and power hooked up on a mild temp day. Or why you wouldn't taxi single engine when you have a 20 minute long taxi in LGA or MSP. My only conclusion is that there's just a different mindset and the DAL-N crews weren't hammered on saving gas. That's why I'm bringing this up. Maybe things will change as the crews integrate more and we become "mixed nuts." It's hard to change after you've been doing something the same way for a long time.
I don't think that anyone (well, most anyway) are not against SE taxi. I know that right now (and for the last year) when we talk about the taxi plan and brief, it is determined that with all the changes that we are working through, it is safer to start both engines at the gate which will allow us to focus on the other stuff. Taxiing in, different story and we usually shut one down after 3 minutes. Threat and Error Management.
Also, LGA in the summer used to be a 2 engine taxi out due to the soft asphalt. As for at the gate, I am not going to speculate and give the benefit of the doubt to the other crews as to why the apu was going.
What really irritates me is when a Pinnacle has to "pull off to the side and burn some gas because they are too heavy for takeoff". Why is this such a common occurrence?