Well those "bells and whistles" usually came about because a bunch of people died not having it.

You guys might think we are pansies when we refuse airplanes for things that we never used to have. But remember that YOU won't be at the other end of the long table if something goes wrong and you have to explain yourself. Example: Let's say you take an airplane without Autobrakes. You ingest a bird right before V1 and end up aborting. Let's say its a little slick and you end up running off the end of the runway and someone gets hurt in the evac. Do you think the Maintenance personnel who I now have to "discuss" my refusals with will be sitting their with their ticket on the table? If you ran off the runway BEFORE we had Autobrakes, you can't be faulted for them not working. If you run off a runway after deciding to take an airplane that had them installed but not working, the FAA WILL ding you for not operating at "the highest level of safety". Sorry, but I'm not going to let peer pressure and comments take me into a situation that I can't defend if something goes wrong.

That being said, I had a FIRST the other night. A mechanic who wouldn't sign off an airplane that was technically legal to defer because of the relationship between multiple failures. That guy earned my deep respect.

 

Exactly, dosen't the iPad have to be TSO'd before it can be a legal substitute for printed plates, pubs and charts?

 

Instructor today said Dave Lynn is onboard for the Ipad but it will be a while. What will happen, he said, very soon, is UAL's no logbook. Our latest ASAP letter has CAL flying with open write-ups and Lynn lieks the way UAL does it. He also said look for Jepp ship-sets to be coming soon and then the Ipad sometime later.

 

It matters to me how things come about when I see the same pilots on sa wasting time and money. The shipsets getting done was just ridiculus, but those same guys will be on sa for the next project.

As far as caterwauling over no a/l sorry in 26 years have never seen this. I am sure you see more of it but most of the time I see an a/c refusal the crew can justify their decision.

I have also seen much better communication at ord anyhow between the mx and pilots discussing problems with a/c.

 

Quite a post there, where to start in reply??

How 'bout we start with it is NOT YOUR JOB to question a Captain's refusal of an aircraft, for WHATEVER REASON HE DEEMS NECESSARY. It IS your job to provide answers as to when the aircraft in question can be fixed to said Captain's satisfaction. I'm painfully aware that UAL management has sold most of the spare parts inventory, and furloughed many maintenance techs, which requires the line pilots to be the adult supervision around here and fight off the 'just take it as is" mentality, no matter what you, the FODM, or the flight office says.

Aircraft refusals for inop systems are often situation dependent, with many factors playing a part in the decision, including weather, and runway length/condition, among others. What may be acceptable to defer on one flight may be a no-go on the next. The FARs and our own professionalism require us to make those decisions based on maximizing the safety of our flights, regardless of inconvenience or cost.

 

Actually I agree with the original poster. You want to refuse an airplane because it doesn't have an APU? God forbid you ever had to fly a DC-8, it was even installed!!! Oh my, how would you get to and from without that option.

I would hope that as a Captain you can actually have something other than a blanket policy. Each refusal needs to be based on something other than "I am the Captain". Some of the UA pilots remind me of that Geico commercial with the "Mamby Pamby Land" quote. I for one hope they change the policy and we start seeing some nice punitive actions for those that decide to refuse to BS reasons. Too many times in the past couple of years have I had trips altered or reassigned because an airplane was stolen to placate some Linus and his blanket. I am pretty sure you can probably fly safely between LAS and LAX without an APU on a VFR day, but thanks to the Jackwagon that hung us out to dry without an airplane recently because he was too scared to make such a dangerous trip!

No wonder our union can't make any progress. Our pilot group in consumed with mental midgets. Glenn is gone, move on!

L

 

Then there is the jackwagon who brings me a plane he has flown for 2 legs with a seat that is stuck in a forward jacked up position and tells me he hopes I have a strong back. AC refused and seat replaced in about 20 min. But feel free to keep carrying the operation on your back, I'm sure jeffy and the boys will enjoy their bonuses.

 

Doesn't that deferral require it to be usable by the pilot? If it isn't usable then that is a good refusal. It is the blanket statement morons that don't think and just refuse for BS items are the ones I am talking about. Flying without an APU is not an emergency procedure, contrary to popular belief.

It is the same as if you add gas just because your the Captain on each leg. If you don't put any thought into what you are doing then someone else will and they will start taking away your ability to make decisions. Personally from those at CO that I have talked with our refusal policy might be a big change of lifestyle for many UA peelots. Standby for accountability for your actions as a UA Captain in the future.

L

 

I've found myself disagreeing with just about every post of yours and I disagree with the above.

When I was a Captain (now riding shotgun again), I did have some personal no-go items that were situation dependent. You cite the VFR LAS-LAX APU inop example above: If a fellow Captain decided he didn't want that jet, I certainly wouldn't be calling him a Jackwagon. Would I take it? Depends. If the ground air conditioning unit was working well in LAS and the aircraft temp was comfortable for the passengers and crew, and the APU had not been deferred inop for days on end with numerous opportunities to fix it, I probably would have. But I've been burned by that very situation on a hot, humid day in ORD. The jet was heat soaked because the ground AC works like a swamp cooler in ORD, and CS boarded the pax prior to the FO and me getting there ("Zone said we had to"). So we walk on to the jet and it's just sweltering, pax are puking and ready to revolt before we've even closed 1L. So I suppose you would have taken that jet because it was VFR and a short leg, right? Well, not me. Aircraft refused, and pax deplaned back into the comfort of the terminal. A mechanic was quickly on the scene and had the APU running and cooling down the cabin within 15 minutes. Yeah, we got there late but many of the pax thanked us for what we did.

As I noted in my reply to the OP, the company has laid waste to our maintenance department in the name of cost cutting. Guys like you (unlike you, I won't resort to name calling) are willing to take up the slack and fly airplanes that should have been fixed. Why? Do you get an extra bonus for it? Remember that we have line guarantee, so even if your trip falls apart you are still getting paid. And you advocate punitive action for what you say are BS reasons? Who the he!! are you to judge your fellow Captains? Kolshak?

I sincerely hope I never have to spend time in a cockpit with you.

 

Most excellent post, sir!