Ground Delays
 

As a soon to be Regional Pilot - My question is how rough is sitting for what the media reports an hour or more on ground delays...

I would think this would be mentally rough and very frustrating???

How do you cope with it, and how do you keep riots from happening in the back...

Thanks

I fly out of one of the most delayed airports in the country. I have sat for 4+ hour delays, and as long as it is not the last day of a trip, I personally do not really care. The pax do get frustrated, but they also seem to understand that there is nothing us a flight crew can do about it. Every once in a while you get some idiot, but for the most part they remain civil.

As long as the passengers don't get really PO'd, and it isn't the go home day, I just sit up front and do my money dance and smile. ;)

So they pay you while on the ground if the door is shut and the engines are turning?

Thanks

If your company has block or better, as long as you get a push time, you are getting paid. The engines don't even have to be turning!

If it is the leg you are going home it sucks.

Other than that, its not that bad.... the clock is running...

If you are at JFK you can keep entertained by listening to the ground controllers yell at JetBlue for various things.

VERY, VERY good question!

Some airlines do, some don't. It is common for newbies to look only at the hourly pay scale without understanding the work rules that determine HOW that payscale is applied...the actual hours for which you get paid can vary dramatically between companies, make sure you understand the companies rules before you accept a job.

I have personally experienced as high as 400% difference between regionals in delay situations and my current company usually pays 150% more than my last employer...it adds up at the end of the month.