RAH TA Vote Results

BobDDuck said:
A United 757 was going in to Maui in front of us yesterday and asked for a wind check (at about 6 miles out still). Tower must of been in a punchy mood because they said "United, it's Maui. It's windy. Enjoy your overnight."

It was gusting to about 35, but it was right down the runway... mostly.
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What bothers me is that the wind is given with the landing clearance. I've found taking a mental note of them, or some other abnormal part of the landing clearance will help with the "were we cleared to land?"

Otherwise. Ailerons to keep the plane on centerline, rudder to not land it sideways. Pretty simple stuff.

I know some planes/airlines have limitations, but they should be figured out before final.
 
Does anyone know the actual cost of pilot pay/benefits/etc for a regional as part of their overall cost structure? A friend involved in contract negotiations on the management side of a major told me that pilot related costs are VERY low overall. He said when management acts like it's going to hurt the company or that for a contractor it's going to hurt their position with the parent company, that it's almost strictly scare tactics and has almost no affect. While management is responsible for reporting to the shareholders and board of directors and maximizing profits, the pilot pay issue is almost a non-issue in the grand scheme of things. I try to bring this to people's attention whenever possible because it never ceases to amaze me how often I hear this argument from pilots that the company can't afford to give them a $10 an hour pay raise.
 
Screaming_Emu said:
What bothers me is that the wind is given with the landing clearance. I've found taking a mental note of them, or some other abnormal part of the landing clearance will help with the "were we cleared to land?"

Otherwise. Ailerons to keep the plane on centerline, rudder to not land it sideways. Pretty simple stuff.

I know some planes/airlines have limitations, but they should be figured out before final.
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Yeah I thought it was simple until I started flying the plane I am on now.

Energy management is pretty important with the 737-800/900 series as well as the 757-300 (even if it was a 757-200 they may have been asking because of the crosswind limitation we don't know as we weren't there) and as the plane is so long it can be 'sporty' with gusty winds as the back of the plane may be doing something different than the front. So while I understand you get a wind from tower when you check in, if I ask for it again, I don't expect a response like that from the tower as there could have been a plethora of reason why I'm asking for it again. When it's windy we are constantly adjusting our target speed down the approach and when we are doing that we could have pretty tight margins.

I'm all for a relaxed atmosphere with our ATC counterparts, this was out of line from the facts we have.
 
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Dan208B said:
Does anyone know the actual cost of pilot pay/benefits/etc for a regional as part of their overall cost structure? A friend involved in contract negotiations on the management side of a major told me that pilot related costs are VERY low overall. He said when management acts like it's going to hurt the company or that for a contractor it's going to hurt their position with the parent company, that it's almost strictly scare tactics and has almost no affect. While management is responsible for reporting to the shareholders and board of directors and maximizing profits, the pilot pay issue is almost a non-issue in the grand scheme of things. I try to bring this to people's attention whenever possible because it never ceases to amaze me how often I hear this argument from pilots that the company can't afford to give them a $10 an hour pay raise.
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When we went through arbitration a few years ago, management put out a message for EVERYONE to see stating that "If the pilot's don't accept our "fair" proposal for their pay...well, Alaska might not keep us as their preferred regional carrier and we might not get to grow". Yep, it's squarely on the pilot's shoulders to keep the same pay scale for 10+years while the company is making record profits. Thankfully the arbitrator saw our side of the argument and gave us a pay raise...then slammed Horizon for their conduct in the proceedings.
 
Delta made 10 billion in profits last year (profits not revenue) and United made over half a billion at the bottom line. Both of those airlines outsource about 50% of their flying to the regionals. There is plenty of money out there to pay a fair wage.
 
Derg said:
How do you know it was specifically a Delta pilot on guard?
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When queried by another pilot (re: I don't talk on GUARD unless I am on fire...) if the suspecting individual was Delta, he replied with "Yes. Move on with your social hour elsewhere kids."

So - hey - I wasn't in HIS cockpit on HIS plane, but he did say yes. Coulda been United or SWA pranking us all.
 
If there was an incident, and it was found out the crew was discussing contractual issues on an emergency radio frequency, good luck garnering any public support for what is going on at the regional level.
 
Seggy said:
If there was an incident, and it was found out the crew was discussing contractual issues on an emergency radio frequency, good luck garnering any public support for what is going on at the regional level.
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Emergency radio frequency is overrated. It would never be reported that they were talking about contractual issues because that would require them to report that we get shiat wages and that is where the concern lies.
 
Have you been paying attention to the coverage of the Malaysia Aircraft? Did you read the transcript of the Colgan Accident and how they 'broke' sterile cockpit communications according to the media?

The media will take the 'Emergency Radio Frequency' and run with it.
 
Who here has a story about guard being used for an actual serious emergency in the Lower 48? I've heard a couple ELTs and occasionally a crew searching for a frequency but in my short career that's about it.
 
Seggy said:
Have you been paying attention to the coverage of the Malaysia Aircraft? Did you read the transcript of the Colgan Accident and how they 'broke' sterile cockpit communications according to the media?
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I was gonna reply about the Colgan incident and point out that it led to lots of light being shed on the real working conditions and pay at the regional level. Why? Because they were talking about it during the flight.

As a result we have ATP (good) and FAR 117 (progress).
 
The Colgan crew was raked over the coals for 'breaking' sterile cockpit rules. If someone is playing around on guard over contractual issues and something happens, it won't be pretty.
 
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