Not that it is an excuse, but the MKE incident involved pilot pushing by maintenance when they ACARS'ed the MX and DX departments. In fact, one of the things that crew got hammered on was use of ACARS, as it was deferred.

Our MEL says we can use our ACARS when it's deferred if it works.

It was comical but mostly sad what they did...total hyd failure of system 2 coming out if lga. Then over flew buf, dtw, and grr to land in a snowstorm in MKE.... they held while the crossing runway was plowed and landed on the contaminated runway. Weeeee! Over a million dollars of damage to the plane.

Oh, and they taxiied what was left of the plane to the gate.

Edit: I forgot to mention the 4th item on the checklist was land at nearest suitable airport. Buf, cle, dtw, and grr were all nice weather....

Not taken as an "excuse," but when pilots are brought up in a culture which encourages pilot pushing they become used to it. At these airlines the Captains who take the risks are heroes until they break something or get regulatory attention. Then management sacrifices the Captain's certificate to get the FAA off their back, but continues pushing the next guy. This is why our union pushes back for "One Level of Safety" across the board.

As others have mentioned, a union which is conflicted about outsourcing loses focus on its core mission. It is impossible to take the moral high ground on safety, while out the back door you agree with management to facilitate outsourcing.

While I do not speak on behalf any of the candidates, a reason I support Dave Nestor and Chad Smith is my impression that they "get" ALPA's mission and are clearly focused on the foundational principles on which our association was built.* **

Besides, at some level, Delta has the same interest that we do. Operating a safe airline is priority number 1. We share common ground here.

* I'm no Expert on the matter, JMHO.
** I think Armando Gomez gets it too, but as an incumbent he's already vetted and qualified by the record of his actions.

I used to have respect for Mark Richt until yesterday after the game when he said "No, this game wasn't a test for us. The Missouri game was more of a test." Bull**** Mr Richt. You were worried... What really OUGHT to worry him is that an offensive run team as anemic as UT ran for 197 yards on his badazz defense. THAT should keep him awake at nights this week.

I'd kill for just one of those frosh running backs though... dayam they good.

Paycheck Question:

Can someone please explain the paycheck dates (15 & 30) and what they are accounting for. My paycheck on 9/28 was considerably smaller than usual. Does the last day of the month paycheck pay for the first half of the month?

Thanks,

TEN

I heard a MX guy give the blow by blow from touch down to brake set at the gate. He was laughing so hard he could hardly get the story out. He couldn't fathom how they thought it was a good idea to taxi to the gate.

He said it was this but in an RJ:

crazy sea plane - YouTube

The 30/31 paycheck is an advance for the following month. So the 9/30 check was an advance for 1/2 of the guarantee of October. If you're on reserve, the difference will be quite a bit considering the drop in ALV's.

Thanks,

Something is not right, then.

TEN