Formerbuspilot

I thought I heard or read somewhere that there was going to be a hearing in court about this on the 4th, last Monday. Anyone know what the outcome was?

fbp

Carl Spackler

It is one of the things I appreciate about being at Delta.

Carl

maddogmax

All this captain had to do was go get in his seat, have the CSR come up and say "you can close the door if you want, but this aircraft doesn't move until the bag is brought up here"
I've had to do this twice in 30yrs. regarding getting nonrevs on with open seats when the agent wanted to close the door 10 min early to ensure a D-0. Worked both times.

Stratosphere

There you have it.. As long as you do that it actually gets the agent off the hook..I am not an agent but I do remember at NW the agent will get some form of discipline if they do not get an on time departure even if the a/c is at the gate for another 30 mins as long as that door is closed and jetway pulled they are in the clear. Now if the Capt says I am not going anywhere until all the non-revs are on etc...The agent is off the hook and the delay goes to the crew and not the agent.

syd111

Continuance.

will be interested to see if this agent has a history of issues like this.

syd111

No in this case I had no reason to tell the ramp how to load the pits.

OscartheGrouch

Here is one of the reasons why I believe it is so important to have a good working relationship with ALL of your fellow employees. It may not always be possible, because if someone is a tool (includes pilots obviously) and is going to make a power play then hand them some rope.

Luckily for us at Southwestern Trailways we have a work place environment that encourages cooperation among our employees. I have even served as a ramp agent with many of my fellow employees who are ops agents, station managers, and even a VP. While I am not saying other airlines have poor interpersonal relationships amongst their employee group, SWA encourages teamwork that I believe is second to none.

Many of us know how difficult it is to non-rev and recognize we must be helpful to those trying to exercise that privilege. I personally have been helped by CSR's and Ops agents so many times I can't even count them.

As hard as it is for some (Lambourne, et al) to believe I personally checkout the boarding situation on almost every flight to be as helpful as I can. If I see a jumpseater I make sure they are accomodated as best as I can. Especially offline JS's because they might be able to offer me a First Class seat now and then. We don't have that to offer so the least I can do is to try to get them onboard early and make sure they don't have to check their bag. I also make sure the Ops agent knows that if there are non-revs WE should accomodate all of them and not leave the gate with an empty seat. This is of course after I have made sure all of the crew duties I am responsible for are completed. I also take the pressure off of the Ops agent by making sure that a delay goes against me. Never once have I heard anything back about it.

Sometimes you must attend to your duties when the weather is bad or you have maintenance issues, etc. Otherwise some extra effort is possible.


The Oscar

Sniper

I certainly have an idea how much each container weighs, as well as a general idea of how it relates to my CG - the FAR's still require a W&B to be carried on each flight, no?

As PIC, I try to do a quick walk-around whenever I pick-up an aircraft for the first time, especially if it comes out of MX. Especially on long transoceanic crossings, I like the opportunity to get some last-minute fresh air. I've certainly been known to go into the pit (or main deck on a freighter) on occasion - your first load shift on T/O will likely be your last. A couple minutes spent with the ground crew in casual conversation is often the best way to ferret out loading issues that wouldn't otherwise be brought to the crew's attention, as well get an overall idea of what I'm carrying (it also fosters good will and teamwork with folks that have my life in their hands). I don't micro-manage, but, when I sign for the aircraft, I like to know that the load on the W&B resembles what I observed (pallets, cans, and positions) and checks with common sense (30K lbs. vs. 300K lbs. of fuel is an easy mistake to make). Aircraft loading is, in the end, ultimately the PIC's responsibility, not a CSR's - as is where the OMC's bag will go.

Perhaps I'm in the minority or I'm too thorough for you, but my routine has kept me around so far.

Lambourne

You obviously don't work for UA. We get a total ZFW, a MAC and trim on ACARS. As far as individual LD3 weights we don't have that broken down. We don't know where each LD3 is located nor do we have a resource to adjust the location.

So telling the ramp to move containers would be unwise and ILLEGAL unless you coordinated with CLP on what needed to be moved. For without coordination with those with the W&B computer you could be moving the CG out of limits. Our process is FAA approved, deviation from that requires more than a "hey move that can, hold that one off and put those in the bulk". You might be directing bags to be boarded that haven't cleared the Positive Bag Match.

L

Lambourne

OTG,

The above is what I do admire about WN. You guys are for the most part able to get everyone tugging on the same end of the rope. We have too many people trying to tie the rope around the other employees neck. If we could achieve that culture things would certainly be more pleasant.

I am willing to give it a try here at UAL. But from the responses of the guys here that feel they were born with Silver Captains Bars attached it probably won't happen. Often see it in the concourse at UA. Guys will go out of their way to avoid eye contact. They get on their soapbox in ops and tend to alienate people around them as they expound on a tangent that is usually wrong or severely misguided. Just look at our dissension in our own MEC! If they are ticked at EXO then that is one thing. It is those that take out their frustrations on their co-workers that are the real mental midgets. Maybe we need to hire these guys hookers or get them boxer one size larger?

L