ABEX Skipper gets sacked over alternate
 

ABX Senior Captain Who Questioned Alternate Airport Choice Loses Job | Aviation International News


Isn't training provided by ABEX for situations of non FMC data based airport diversions?

perhaps it is a disagreement in how the ops specs should apply

Please re-read the article you will see some restrictions......

The PIC/Capt wanted another alternate. The PIC/Capt and dispatcher didn't agree on the alternate. Chief pilot ( loose term in this case) and dispatcher choose a different alternate . The Chief pilot appears to be lacking a spine.
ABX is attempting intimidation via termination ( kill one and a thousand will follow ) to override PIC/Captains authority.

I don't get it.

ABX Air allows the customer to choose the alternate it wants, which in this case was not in the FMS database, causing the captain some discomfort.

Who is the "customer"? If they mean the person whose cargo they're moving, since when does the customer have any say in the operation?

Beyond that, how can a CA be disciplined for his choice of alternates? The FAA is clear on who is ultimately responsible for the safe outcome of the flight. Furthermore, I'll assume their OM is like mine, and includes something like:

the PIC and dispatcher must agree...

I hope there's more to this story than what's in the article. If not, we have a major problem with this company going against the Captain's authority.

Your last sentence probably sums it it .

If all the info presented is true, I hope that ABX will have to make a very large grievance payment. This one's gotta hurt!

Captain's authority being overridden again... :mad:

If the CA and the dispatcher cannot agree then the flight doesn't go. The CA shouldn't be fired over it!!!

It takes 3 to go, and 1 to not go. This includes both pilots and one dispatcher. I know CA authority is basically everything, but I don't budge if the FO has any issue with the operational aspect of a flight.

Cheers to the CA for standing his ground. I hope he gets his job back because that's ridiculous.

Customers routinely pick alternates ...DHL for one. They specify alternates for us all the time within operational capabilities of course. DOD picks alternates... there are places their cargo can just not go.

Also, I agree with the CA concerning ultimate authority.

On the other hand....what have we become when we can't navigate to.. and fly and approach to a airport that is not in our FMS?

Wasn't the issue--- apparently the ops specs say that you can only manually enter an airport into the fms if you are in the US, and foreign airports must be in the fms. The problem was they were departing from a foreign airport and landing in a foreign airport with a foreign alternate that was not in the fms.

The article in AIN covers this.