I'm here!!!! Finally done with my butt whooping by crew sched... 1 day off in the past 13...

Our crew sched needs some SERIOUS work. I have deadheaded more the past few months than ever. My straight credit (no premium) last month was 86 hours. I flew 54. 32 hours of deadheads.

Today I flew SLC-SMF, and deadheaded SMF-SLC-ATL. An ATL rsv copilot deadheaded from ATL-SMF to fly SMF-SLC and then layover... a leg I was perfectly legal to fly.


So I flew with a big wig recently...

-320 and 330 to ATL early in the year... DC-9 to ATL later in the year.
-The WDR metrics will be out soon and we'll be able to "fix" the stuff we've been doing.
- Not happy with the way OCC dealt with the latest IROP... we're actually still recovering... Look for continued tech changes as well as improvements with ACS coming... stuff like that.

 

Anything on changes in northeastern bases? i.e. DTW/NYC/CVG

 

Didn't ask, sorry! Brotha doesn't get out of the office too much these days.. didn't want to overwhelm him with the usual "HEY SO ABOUT ____..." stuff.

I did make sure to voice my opinions on outsourcing, D0, and others.

 

Question for you 737 drivers.

I was riding in the back of one today in MSP and it was snowing. After we'd been de-iced, while we were taxiing the power periodically came up quite a bit so that we were moving at normal taxi speed holding the brakes with the thrust up to what sounded like about what you'd need for a cross-bleed start (but both were running). This happened about five times for about 5-10 seconds each time.

Does it have to do with the anti-ice system or something? It was -SN at the time.

 

Sounds like periodic engine runups during icing conditions to shed ice off the spinner and vanes.

 

Yep. 19 (NINETEEN) days on from December to January with 1 (ONE) day off. Finally got my first short call day since November. Always given the next trip before the current rotation finishes ... learned underwear from South America does not come in sizes that don't chafe the average American. (with my Ron White Voice) that laundry, she's just a spinnin.

The Dead Head legs are to keep your pay from getting out of control. The ER guys don't suffer this problem like the 737 does. Something to consider during the next AE.

 

E-Crew is a web application and takes a ton of time to load.
I-Crew is a web page and take mininal to no time to load. The only function that I crew does not have is the ability to report for your rotation, hence the reason E-crew is still in the lounges.

I only use E-crew to report for a trip, other than that it is I-crew all the way.

 

Even the large RJ's have a high CASM. There is really no point to continue to invest in those jets.

**The disclaimer to this is that many of TSH's large RJ's will need a home and DCI is a target. They can put about 20 70 seaters here right now. They are under leases so DAL would not be responsible for acquisition costs nor long term agreements with these jets.



And then Delta and SKW do this!

NEW YORK (AP) -- Bombardier Inc. said Tuesday that SkyWest Inc., which operates regional flights for Delta Air Lines Inc., has placed an order for four CRJ700 NextGen airliners.

The order is valued at about $148 million at list prices, although discounts are common.

The aircraft will be flown by SkyWest Airlines under the Delta Connection banner.

SkyWest Airlines and its sister airline, Atlantic Southeast Airlines, currently operate 406 CRJ200, CRJ700 and CRJ900 regional jets.

Including this announcement, Bombardier has taken firm orders around the world for 1,713 CRJ Series aircraft as of Oct. 31.

SkyWest is based in St. George, Utah. Bombardier is based in Quebec.

 

Oh yeah.
I flew from mid Nov to Mid Dec without a break and then just finished five days of flying. Reroutes to boot. We got a big op and lots of items that need to be fixed.

Customer Service needs to be a top priority or this whole merger experiment will not stand the stress test.


As for Scheduling:
Lets put it this way, I called them in early Dec to advice them of a possible FAR issue, was told I was wrong, and then as soon as I pushed back on the rotation I was flagged for a possible violation. Seems many of the schedulers trust the computer and do not have a working knowledge of the FAR's and PWA and how each impacts the other. Needless to say I got to talk to the scheduler I talked to the night before and worked it all out.

They are over worked up there. I do feel their pain.

 

Must be tough, going home every night after their shift is over

If they "worked" they would look at what the computer spits out, then apply knowledge and judgment before hitting "EXECUTE." What happens now is that they respond to calls like yours aggressively, then waste their time trying to defend their pride and fix their screw up. Thousands of passengers get caught in the middle.

Any job is much more difficult if you are stubborn.