R57 relay

This comes from thread creep on the pass thread.

With adopt and go, the US side is getting most of the changes. I get the theory, but some AA procedures just seem odd to us. I'm figuring that for some of them we just don't understand the logic, so I thought I'd ask.

Does anyone know why we use 10,000' AFL for the cabin chimes? I really don't get this one. It doesn't really correspond to anything. At US we used 10,000' MSL up and 10,000' MSL down, or 10 min prior to landing. Those correspond to steril cockpit, 250 knot speed and in the Airbus the non-magic fingers speed for landing lights. When we leave CLT for the west coast in the Super Slug(321), we hit 10,000' MSL where we are allowed to retract landing lights per the PH(dang, already forgot proper AA term), accelerate to 280 for the SID, then wait until we are nearly out of NC to get the next 750' for the bells. What am I missing?

South America? Left over from when you guys used QFE?

DCA A321 FO

Well for Mexico and South America the altitude verification calls/checks have been or will be taken out of the book. I think I will still do them.

Dolphinflyer

Probably South America issues trying to standardize across entire system. LPB is 3000' above 10K. BOG and UIO are close to 9K. Vail has it's own issues.

Not a big deal. They changed it not long ago. I try not to think too much over their nitnoy procedures. If we're in recurrent class together, please take questions privately to the instructor after class. In class just delays me from lunch and trying to figure out if it is a Tortilla soup day.

You should have been around when we flew QFE procedures in the states and QNH in South America.

EMBFlyer

Why, for God's sake, as we approach an active runway at very busy airports are we having the Captain go heads down while he taxiing and the F/O is busy twiddling his/her thumbs. I'm very capable of saying "Flight Attendants, prepare for take off." If AA doesn't trust me with the proper timing, tell The Captain to tell the first officer (notice proper cAApitalization) to make the PA. In the very short time I've been with US Airways, there has been a HUGE push to avoid runway incursions. We've actually done a stellar job at doing so and even designed our procedures in a way that we do everything possible to mitigate them. Now, we're ok with throwing that out the window.

Surprise

Seems to me the company has heard these concerns, but maintains the stance of "adopt and go" just to get things done. They can (and likely will) come back to look at everything again after SOC. I think I read somewhere that United tried to use "best practices" in every area of their merger and it just slowed everything down.

DCA A321 FO

Yes, it's get it done as fast as possible, then maybe fix it, or not.

7576FO

Up until a few years ago our vacation at AA ran May 1 until April 30. We would bid for vacation in January.
Now we run vacation March 1 thru Feb 28. In January we take your vacation bank and cash it out. SO your Feb vacation goes unpaid if you didn't plan accordingly.

Thank you USAir and JCBA for ending this misery! We will (at signing) go to Jan-Dec vacation like the rest of the free world and most communist countries.
Even on Kepler 28b the vacation runs solar annual orbit, not fiscal year.

7576FO

Kepler solar system 55,000 LY's from Earth is in the goldilocks zone and has 200+ planets.
The goldilocks zone 285-395 ish days orbit and 18-30 hour planet revolution (not too hot, not too cold).
I would prefer a 285 day orbit as it would be a shorter work week.

7576FO

We've adopted numerous USAir policies.
FO TO 1/4 mi. AA used to be 600RVR for FO
FO LDG chart vis. AA used to be 4000 or 3/4

PRM whatevah! Nevah done one.

aa73

EMB,
I've been trying for years to get this PA changed to the FO. No go. AA is stuck on the CA making this PA because, by God, he or she is way more qualified than the FO to make it. (Eye roll please.) The exact verbiage I got from the flight dept when my suggestion made it there read something like this:
"We appreciate your suggestion but feel that the Captain has a much better awareness of when to seat the FAs and as such, we plan on keeping it this way."
That's what I got back - no joke. To which I responded, "then why not have the CA tell the FO to seat them?" "Because the FO has already way too much going on and we don't want the FO to go even more heads down at this point."
Great, so let's have the CA go heads down while taxiing! Unreal.
I believe AA is the only airline in the US that got an FAA exemption for the CA to be able to make this PA while taxiing. I know, makes zero sense.

The 10,000ft AFL chime reflects many of our SA high altitude ops.

There are many more little idiosyncrasies but AA runs a safe cockpit overall.

Keep em coming!