Don't forget "it will go senior".

What I heard.....

That we will be BOTH Supplemental and Flag Ops, depending on the aircraft; meaning the 727 will still be Supplemental while the rest of the Fleet will be Flag.

By keeping the 727 Supplemental, there is no need for the "immediate communication" requirement of the Flag Ops per the CFR's. This way, there is no requirement to install ACARS or Sat Phones. Per the recent trials, AGRIS / Delta Radio / etc. failed to meet the Flag Ops requirement.

Now, this is from the crew bus out to the Democrat Lot.....

I believe BG said in recurrent this week that we are keeping both so that we can do charters under supplemental. They are planning on putting Sat phones in the Boeings.

What's the main penalty for using supplemental ops? Fuel?

That's one. Alternate required on every flight regardless of wx. I don't know if that's the "main" one, but it's significant.

I forget who I was talking to from MGT but I was told that we would operate both certificates. Told Flag for most ops and Supp for charters.. Also had a very senior GOC manager on an OBS ride and it sounds like some sort of SAT phone for the 727 to meet the Flag Ops reqs....

I believe under 121.5 Supp regs we can fly a max of 16hrs in a duty period. With Flag Ops you can fly greater than 16......