Informal poll amongst pilots at breakfast this morning ....

100% of pilots polled believe 1 NYC Chief Pilot is responsible for 20% of Delta's decline in D-0. The stories about him may have been exaggerated with each retelling, but they've certainly taken hold.

Every other operator I've flown for wanted beacon on as part of the pushback checklist when READY to push. Waiting for actual push, no wait, ok to push, tail south, I mean north, hey Delta the road is blocked now, oh sorry man - forgot about you, wait, hold, push, clearance costs this airline D-0. It also results in the "late completion of checklist" code since the gate has no idea what you are waiting on. I've been a pilot for 29 years and can't figure out when exactly to turn the beacon on. This inability has resulted in my pre-brief expressing my limitations to the Captain, "hey Boss, your switch."

The other problem I've never understood is how sometimes, there is someone working ramp who simply can't communicate and can't remember a tail number, or a sequence. If any operational position in the company is critical to on time performance, it is the ramp controller. The candidates for that job should be ex-professional card counters.

I know the airline does not want times going over block and actually having to pay the crews for working airplanes full of people, but they can't have it both ways.