Ok, help me out here..... What is up with ATL crews and starting the APU?!?! How do I know it was ATL - the cappie announced it I his welcome aboard PA.

Sitting on a full 757, ~7 min prior to push the air starts... Finally.......The ground crew had disconnected the jet way air at least 15 prior to that. The FAs were begging for air. It was very much not a comfortable environment on the plane.


What gives? Seems it's always a preponderance of ATL folks doing this.

Not making an excuse for anyone but I effed this up once. FAs say everyone is hot so I say OK and start the APU. It comes on line and I swap the electrics and start the timer for the bleed and packs. We push back and the timer say 26 and the APU bleed is off along with the packs. Oops, sorry... got distracted by a NOTOC and a jumpseater. Obviously we were comfortable or things would have been different.

Ditto. Oops. If it makes HK feel any better, I felt really, really bad about it...

Glad I'm not the only one to make that mistake.

Thankfully on the A350, you can select the bleeds right after start and they just come on automatically.

I think it'll "work" on any fleet. I know, not supposed to...

I try and start the APU 20-30 mins from dept if the ground air is good and it's not too hot out, if it's warmer out I start it no later than just prior to boarding. Also, I always tell the FAs as soon as there's a hint of it feeling warm let us know and we'll start the APU, sometimes they forget...that's my excuse, oh and I (almost) never forget to turn the packs on too. :)

I start the APU every single time as soon as I walk on board the plane. Ground air just isn’t good enough in 95% of our stations, especially with any number of passengers on board.

It’s much harder to forget when it’s the first thing I do. Not to mention if I do forget to open the bleeds, we can do it as soon as we notice or the FAs complain.

My theory: It is a 757 thing. The 757 has enough ventilation that the cockpit remains comfortable. After all, it was designed for Eastern Airlines union members to smoke cigarettes.

In contrast, the A320 apparently has lighting and computer chips that are also used in New York to make the perfect pizza crust. Without air blowing the heat the other direction, the Airbus flight deck instantly goes to 100F or more. The only place this doesn't happen is MSP in February, which must be the reason Northwest bought these things and Delta bought 757's.

Classic "My needs are met, therefore no problem exists."

That's not at all what he's saying. If no one tells you others are uncomfortable, you might believe that everyone else feels the same way you do. Especially on tight turns and plane swaps.