Who said I was faking?

I've always got one on deck.

Better 10 min before push than 10 min after…

It's grey. (Not "rank". But there is, even still, some residual hiearchy)

Had a recent experience where the new trial TSA "facial recognition technology" failed at an outstation. Massive delays, passenger lines ouside the terminal stuff. Easily 20% of pax weren't going to make it for no fault of their own.

Telling the gate agent "It's on me, we're going to hold to D+15" goes a long way. Went upstairs to stand at the gate agent station. No one [yet] is going to tell the captain to "get on the airplane".

PA's to the passengers who just went through the same travials doesn't hurt.

I've yet to receive a call for this kind of exercise of CA authority.

Grey. (Because there are limits. Which you well know. Not sure why I'm bothering to post this other than to encourage new captains to understand the plane doesn't leave the gate until you say it's ready. Be ready to defend your position. I keep notes for the outliers.)

I don’t see anything wrong with this but how do you know this is what flight ops wants or the company leadership wants in this situation? Every time I have held for connections or at an out station there were many people working against that decision and once I said we will wait they begrudgingly agreed but instantly went into CYA mode on FF. What direction are they getting or do we have to fall back on? I feel like management needs to be clear about expectations and their lack of this has been intentional to have the captain as the scapegoat if they decide after the fact that they want to rebuff the on site decision.

Frankly, I have had mechanical delays that only last 30 minutes and the gate has our passengers on other flights and we leave with just a handful of people. I honestly don’t have the big picture in that situation. I’ve held a few times knowing our flight is the last ride out of town. I’ve had dispatch who is supposed to be in touch with the bigger operation say no doing go early and no don’t delay more often than not when I include them.

Wonderful post. If you feel this way, others feel this way. Information such as this should be added to the CAs course if it’s not all ready.

I’m not advocating releasing the parking brake and leaving it released. I hope you understand that. That sort of thing is why the text you’re referencing is in a red warning box. I’m quite certain you’re aware you can hold the brakes, release and reset the parking brake with no threat being incurred.
Perhaps you’re just being pedantic or a very letter of the law sort of person. In that case, good on ya and You do you. It’s good to have standards and they keep us safe out there
If you’re trying to be pedantic though (not saying you are), make sure you include the whole text where it IS allowed if the aircraft has been chocked. That also makes it permissible. That might make you feel better if you change your mind. I’m sure you’ve heard the old “stuck chock” request as well that often comes before the ground crew can say they’re ready.

What I’m suggesting for the rest of us slackers isn’t anything about company metrics for any JD Power award. That’s purely ancillary. It’s about getting the check mark for the gate agent and load agents who’re working hard and getting the aircraft ready to go. if any of us hasn’t had a discussion with a gate agent in ATL, please take the time to ask them what they go through with their supervisors for any delays that are attributed to them. Might be really eye opening, or maybe you won’t care because “it isn’t your problem”. That’s up to you. It’s a whole interview/inquisition process. Sounds stressful for them.

Me, on the other hand? Never had a phone call yet about a delay.
Oh, and sure it also starts the pay clock on those rare days when it’ll make a difference. I’m not pretending that isn’t an incentive as well.

Counterpoint.
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Isn't that just masking the problem? If we stopped "getting an out time' the data would drive operational changes. As it stands the data supports cramming more gate/ground work into fewer minutes because they always seem to handle it. A one time nice gesture has negative downstream consequences.

This was put out by FLTOPS awhile ago but the pay incentive has always been there. Very few block times make a difference in my pay now that we get all the soft pay and over block flights to make FAA on time.

This is old school and a false reward. Times have changed. So are taxi and dwell times, these metrics encourage rushing and diminish safety.

I’m all for being a team player. I once had a Chief Master Sergeant (E-9) work for me in a previous life with some wise words: “Be careful today’s courtesy does not become tomorrow’s obligation”

Finding that balance can be tricky.