Chicago is a great town... Flying in and out of ORD is fun (except for the weather delays/ground stops)... The crews that I flew with in and out of ORD were all great and lots of fun to work with...

It's the ground operations that suck. But then again UAL station ops at PHL were even worse...

 

"Fill-in-the-blank" at PHL s*cks @ss...

That place was an experience.

 

I'm not sure you can single out SkyWest pilots, but I think it's a good idea, why not be nicer. These people can positively effect how well my day goes, it seems silly to be grumpy with them. Especially CSR's as the next day I might be trying to jumpseat on a flight they're working.

 

Hmmm. I am a SKW pilot now, and I must admit that there is slightly more pilot attitude here than at other places.

 

why is it like that?

 

I don't know. Maybe because it's historically been hard to get on with just CFI time, so the folks that came straight from the flight school think they're special?

 

Two reasons, probably.

1. SKW pays more than other regionals.
2. Non-Union guys tend to think they can "do it all themselves."

 

Another reason for the shortness with the rampers perhaps.. In our other hubs and many of our outstations we are mainly handled by Skywest personel. Anyone who has been with Skywest for more than a few weeks is cross-trained on all the ramp jobs. In Chicago it is very frustrating to see the baggage crew leaning up against the equipment while you sit in the alley waiting to be marshalled in for 10 minutes.... or to have them finish up loading the bags and walk off while you wait 10 minutes for the pushcrew... the frustration level can really mount if you don't get yourself into a Chicago state of mind.. I commuted out there for a year and realized that for the most part you do your part and request (and re-request ) politely that they do theirs. It is almost never productive to get excited about something and start pushing them. Many of our crews only get to ORD occasionaly and don't leave their expectations of an efficiently run operation behind. The "system" out there has been broken for some time and most likely will be. Some great folks working and busting their butts on the ramp out there.

 

The key to getting anything done is to have the captain go to the gate, and tell the agent directly what they want. i always laughed when people are onthe ops frequency..."yeah...ops, this is fltxxxx, still waiting for commo." I used to just go and asked for it personally and NEVER once had a problem getting what I wanted in a timely manner. People working at ORD tend to feel a bit persecuted, so if you are even the least bit gracious, their midwestern sensiblity usually kicks in to 'get er done." it doesn't hurt that my dad is from there, so I understand the mentallity somewhat.

Mookie