But the pay clock was running
 

Taxi-out must be a lot smoother these days. We used to wait in line for ramp exit long enough to plug "War and Peace" into the FMS. :rolleyes:

I don't think anybody has a problem plugging in the numbers on the fly...like I said, happens all of the time. What I have a real problem with is telling the tower that we need to stop, set the brakes, and plug them in because somebody in upper management thinks it'll be too much heads down time. As an LA guy who flies to JFK and ATL almost exclusively, DAL will become the most hated airline out there and I'll be biting my tongue every time. It'll be embarassing.

Change the procedure, get the numbers after the push, fine, but let us plug it in on the roll. We can handle it, we do it all the time. What world do these folks think we operate in? IAD in the simulator would be my guess.

I think this was called Phase 7 (the redo of phases 1-6):D. Really, it's not going to be that hard. Remember, you can always bid the 9 on the AE and then you won't have to plug in the numbers into on the fly.....

Buzz,

JMHO: I think that mgt wants us to do it on the roll, but can't say it. Hence their procedure is to set the brake all while knowing it won't always be feasible and that it will get done on the roll (often let's say). Too much heat for the company if something happened while rolling on the taxiway if mgt makes it a procedure for every departure. Gives them the one and only get out of jail free card (we told you to stop). I think the runway change not being required every time is why they don't stop us from doing that one the fly. Again, JMHO. The bright side of all this is that the beacon can come on much faster as we will no longer be waiting on numbers!

YMMV...Philly

You're right... I'll give it a chance. THEN, I'll complain about it! :) I really haven't noticed the departure delays on the -88 that everybody's been talking about because of WDR issues. Maybe it's different in other fleets, but I rarely have to wait for the WDR.

Tom,

From my experience it is hit and miss. If you get caught in the middle, or tail end of a big push it is still like that. Occasionally we get lucky and cruise right out.

Scoop

Your are correct Buzz, no need to stop. At (brand X)we used to just have the FO taxi while the Capt set his bugs and looked over the data. Then we would transfer back to the Capt taxi and the F/O would read the check list. No problem, worked fine 95% of the time. If you got out to runway and still didn't have your data, you would just pull out of line till you were set to go.

Tom;
I want to know what FMS you had. The ones at DAL barely have enough memory for gate coordinates. :D

Bingo! We have a winner and remember we get paid by the minute....:cool:

I know a better fix to this rube goldberg abomination of our procedures tryin to do what fNW procedures did extremely efficiently:

Block out time is when all the doors have closed on the plane. The beacon and the parking brake have no bearing.

Tada! D0 problems fixed, no flashing beacons long after we've parked, and we can do our numbers at the gate the way the current checklist design is optimum.