Originally Posted by
Mem9guy
Nothing new in DTW. I have always considered it a failure of Middle Management as they seem to have allowed this behavior to become the norm.
Another ongoing issue that never seems to get fixed is plugging in air to DC-9's at the gates. I was in MEM, ORD, and LIT yesterday, all well over 80 degrees and we never once had air plugged in to the aircraft at the gates. They hammer us about APU usage, but don't seem to be able to make the people doing the "underwing work" do their part. May just be a case of "getting what we pay for" in labor force.
Another issue I've seen is that the MD-88s have their external-air port forward of the wing, and it's easy to roll out the hose and plug it in. On the DC-9 the port is way back below the engines, and several of the former DAL South gates don't have a long enough hose to reach it. The solution is a portable unit, but many places don't have those either.