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Originally Posted by sailingfun
(Post 1345021)
The policy for blocking out the aircraft has not changed once that I am aware of since 1986 and I suspect well before that.
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Originally Posted by sailingfun
(Post 1345022)
They did not get the new training program approved by the FAA in time to pre post it as required by the contract. There will be training in March but only those pilots still on the last cycle. If your on the new cycle you will not be able to attend in the early month. The vast majority of Delta's training costs are fixed. There is little cost savings to deferring the training and it reduces line pilots available to the company as we ramp up flying in April and May for the summer. That increases greenslips.
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my gosh, I cannot believe we are doing 30 hour layovers in Flint.
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Originally Posted by forgot to bid
(Post 1345092)
my gosh, I cannot believe we are doing 30 hour layovers in Flint.
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Originally Posted by flyBanana
(Post 1344998)
I used both Plantonics MS50 and Telex 5x5 on DC9s and MD88s. MS50 was OK, but the mic was not the best. MS50’s mic boom is really just a tube that carries voice into the “box” where the microphone is. It sounds little “canny.” Telex is better, because the mic boom has actual microphone at the end of the boom. One problem that I had with Telex 5x5 is that it is very LOUD. I mean I had audio panel setting at about 12 o’clock position on any other headset, but with 5x5, I had to have the volume at 9 o’clock position. I did not like this since I had No. 1 radio at 9 o’clock and No 2 radio at all the way down 7 o’clock position and still No 2 radio (guard) was too loud for me. However, I found a solution to this problem. I stuck a small piece of cotton in the ear piece tube to muff the sound a little. Now it sounds perfect, and I really like the Telex 5x5.
Thanks for your input. I appreciate it. |
Originally Posted by DeadHead
(Post 1345014)
I'm at the point now where I just ask the captain before I turn the beacon on. I honestly could give a crap seeing as the extra minute I am trying to cheat the company on probably doesn't count seeing as most of our flights are scheduled overblock anyway.
I'll go out on a limb here and say that most of us are sick and tired of a constantly changing, dynamic block out time policy. (No later than D-0, no more than D-5, but not before Pre-Pushback Message, and only before the WDR, but, now, only when the aircraft is about to move imminently, hard focus on imminently/no standing definition of imminently). Standing by for a flow chart........ I think the next big step is going to be towards reducing those scheduled block times, but make no mistake here gentlemen this is about cost reduction nothing more, nothing less. If they can improve the "latency" on the front end, then shaving off block times will follow without effecting our on time performance. If the 4th floor wonder-kin can find a way to shave 5 minutes off of a majority of our flight block times, then that would translate to a significant cost savings from a labor standpoint. Just my two cents here, but I think that is the long term strategy. Just as they are looking at reducing the actual difference between transmitted block out time versus actual pushback, they are also looking at the difference between scheduled block time versus actual average block time. The new ACARS will put the beacon back where it belongs, as a safety device. I completely agree that one of the major goals is to reduce block times where possible. But the bigger goal, of which that is a part, is making sure that airplanes move around the system with increasing predictability, and show up at an increasingly predictable time. It just makes everything work better, from ramp to catering, maintenance and gate processes. If they find they have to increase a block time of a flight, they'll do that too, because it serves the overall goal of running a predictable operation. Chaos is the enemy, we've all seen it, from the ice storms in ATL to the ground stops or de icing at JFK. Once something gets out of sync, it hoses up everything. And in the past, we were the only ones seeing it and dealing with it as best we could. Mgmt just shrugged their shoulders and said "Oh well, just a bad day, tomorrow will be better". Back in about 1998, when the DOT started publishing on time stats, and DL was in the basement, Delta padded the block times of every flight in the system, not just a minute, but like 10 or 20 minutes on a fight from Birmingham to Atlanta. Because we almost always held. And "voila", our on time performance suddenly improved! But that's no way to run a global airline. The block time in 1960 from NY to Houston on Delta was 2 hours 59 minutes. Today it's four hours plus. One of many reasons air travel is less desirable and less valuable. |
Originally Posted by forgot to bid
(Post 1344892)
until a window doesn't seal. :D
I'd still much prefer an rj style intercom any day over the one ear on and one ear off system we use on the MDs and Boeing's. But hey, it's how they did it in the 50s so by golly that's how we ought to do it in 2013. |
Originally Posted by flyallnite
(Post 1345108)
The new ACARS will put the beacon back where it belongs, as a safety device. I completely agree that one of the major goals is to reduce block times where possible. But the bigger goal, of which that is a part, is making sure that airplanes move around the system with increasing predictability, and show up at an increasingly predictable time. It just makes everything work better, from ramp to catering, maintenance and gate processes.
If they find they have to increase a block time of a flight, they'll do that too, because it serves the overall goal of running a predictable operation. Chaos is the enemy, we've all seen it, from the ice storms in ATL to the ground stops or de icing at JFK. Once something gets out of sync, it hoses up everything. And in the past, we were the only ones seeing it and dealing with it as best we could. Mgmt just shrugged their shoulders and said "Oh well, just a bad day, tomorrow will be better". Back in about 1998, when the DOT started publishing on time stats, and DL was in the basement, Delta padded the block times of every flight in the system, not just a minute, but like 10 or 20 minutes on a fight from Birmingham to Atlanta. Because we almost always held. And "voila", our on time performance suddenly improved! But that's no way to run a global airline. The block time in 1960 from NY to Houston on Delta was 2 hours 59 minutes. Today it's four hours plus. One of many reasons air travel is less desirable and less valuable. |
Originally Posted by flyallnite
(Post 1345108)
The new ACARS will put the beacon back where it belongs, as a safety device. I completely agree that one of the major goals is to reduce block times where possible. But the bigger goal, of which that is a part, is making sure that airplanes move around the system with increasing predictability, and show up at an increasingly predictable time. It just makes everything work better, from ramp to catering, maintenance and gate processes.
If they find they have to increase a block time of a flight, they'll do that too, because it serves the overall goal of running a predictable operation. Chaos is the enemy, we've all seen it, from the ice storms in ATL to the ground stops or de icing at JFK. Once something gets out of sync, it hoses up everything. And in the past, we were the only ones seeing it and dealing with it as best we could. Mgmt just shrugged their shoulders and said "Oh well, just a bad day, tomorrow will be better". Back in about 1998, when the DOT started publishing on time stats, and DL was in the basement, Delta padded the block times of every flight in the system, not just a minute, but like 10 or 20 minutes on a fight from Birmingham to Atlanta. Because we almost always held. And "voila", our on time performance suddenly improved! But that's no way to run a global airline. The block time in 1960 from NY to Houston on Delta was 2 hours 59 minutes. Today it's four hours plus. One of many reasons air travel is less desirable and less valuable. And that's why management needs to get out of the office, get down to the gate, and take a look out the window, to see what's actually going on! Like Buzz said a few pages back, I have never seen a cockpit crew that was not fully ready to push, at least 5 minutes prior to scheduled. BUT...what really causes the pushback delays? Hmmm, what could it be? Let's think about that for a minute, shall we? Who's idea was it to cut the gate agent staffing in ATL, so they can't get the airplane boarded on time? And who's idea was it to cut the ramp staffing so the bags aren't loaded on time? And who's idea was it to buy a bunch of RJ's that that take up as much airspace on arrival as a wide body, so you have to hold going into ATL? And who's idea was it to pull flying out of DFW, CVG, MEM and put all their International Eggs into the ATL and JFK baskett, so when the snow starts to fly....guess what? Everything is AFU! Who Knew that could happen?? And who's idea was it to schedule 350 flights an hour into ATL, where they only have 200 gates, and not enough ramp workers to get you parked, if/when they find a gate for you? Gee...Let's write another Memo to the Pilots about turning on the beacon! Maybe the Pilots should write a memo to Mgt, saying; "Pull your head's out of your Arses and get down here to see with your own eyes WT Fark is causing these delays!" But Don't you dare turn on that beacon more than 1 minute early! That will fix it! My personal quest is to be fully ready, 10 minutes prior because at many of our Int. stations, they get us ready to go 10 min. early. I want to get home, and I want to be sure -nobody- is waiting on me to push. The good news is, now that they are converting the Acars to show out at break release, we'll be getting paid as soon as the tug driver calls up and says, "Hey, can you release the breaks so we can pull the chocks?" :D |
Originally Posted by DeadHead
(Post 1345056)
Actually the policy for blocking out aircraft has changed just a few days ago. (Hence this discussion)
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