Cell phone required??

Goonie

Never say die
I've met 2 senior mainline guys now that don't own cell phones. I know in the corporate world cell phones are a must, and most companies supply the phones and service for the pilots.

I was just curious if it is a requirement by the airlines for their pilots to have cell phones??
 
At the airlines? Nope. A "contact number" of some sort is required, but it can be a home/landline phone.

I remember when I was first hired at Eagle, cell phones were a relative rarity and the cost was out of reach for me on 1st year F/A pay. I, and 99% of everyone else on RSV with me had pagers. Line holders didn't even have those. Oh the fun we had leaving scheduling's number on each other's pagers.... :laff:

Within a few years, most everybody had pagers, and cell phones became more and more common. By the time I left Eagle, just about everyone had a cell phone.

In the corporate world cell phones are pretty much a requirement, yes, but not at the airlines.
 
It doesn't ever hurt you to have a cell phone, especially on reserve. If you're on reserve and phone liable then you need to be reachable at that phone number, you can be sitting at home waiting for your landline to ring or jogging at the park waiting for your cell phone to ring. When you're not phone liable just put ignore any phone number you don't recognize...remember curiosity killed the cat, or at least got him junior-manned.
 
As much as i would love to have the company foot the bill for the Cell... i am VERY afraid of the consequences...

Be very careful of what you ask for...
 
Eff no. This is mainly Mesa (from the unofficial Mesa company manual) stuff but it may also be the same for other airlines:
You're not required to have a cell phone and if you have one you are not required to tell crew scheduling / crew tracking that that number is a cell phone. If you're a reserve pilot you're required to have a contact number. This phone should be at your "house." If you are sitting ready / hot reserve at the airport how can you answer the phone at your house? You can not.

You are not required to answer your phone when you are off duty. If you're on reserve and flying a trip you are not required to answer your phone, you are also not required to answer your hotel phone. If for some reason you do answer your phone you should say something like this : "Wow, another cody overnight? I'd love to fly this, you can't believe how much I could use the money but I went off duty five minutes ago. If you would like to delay the departure eight hours for minimum rest that would be awesome."

If you either are required to answer your phone or for some reason you do anyway and crew tracking / scheduling asks you if your Captain / Flight Attendant is there with you the answer is always 'No, they stepped out.' Even if you're at FL250 and you forgot to turn your phone off and they call you -- 'No, they stepped out.' If you hand the phone to the other crewmember you are likely to bring back a bloody stub.
 
Mesaba is sounding like they want to give each captain a cell phone. They already have a room full of these phones charging. The idea is, each pic gets the phone with a W+B program on there, so we can do the W+B on the phone and take company calls when required.

Gonna be a mess.
 
Mesaba is sounding like they want to give each captain a cell phone. They already have a room full of these phones charging. The idea is, each pic gets the phone with a W+B program on there, so we can do the W+B on the phone and take company calls when required.

Gonna be a mess.


Y cant they send it via ACARS? or are u talking about the saab pilots?
 
so hows that mess going to go with approved electronic devices etc?

That all just seems like a really bad idea - the whiz wheel's been good enough for long enough
 
so hows that mess going to go with approved electronic devices etc?

That all just seems like a really bad idea - the whiz wheel's been good enough for long enough
Background: Whiz wheels don't really get used much at this company. On the saab we get the numbers passed to the cockpit from the gate or over the radio. The Delta stuff isn't compatible with our NWA W+B software which is the reason for all these changes.

In response to your question: I don't think PED use would be a problem since the WB will get done before or just after #2 is started. I won't be taxing out, grab a spot in line and then do the calculation or anything like that. Should be done before we exit ramp. Time will tell though.

Since the PIC is the PIC, I would imagine even if we did goto the hold area with both turning I could still allow my PED to be used.
 
I have heard some stories of the voice mail greetings that some people leave for scheduling and just getting an extra line in your house with no phone hooked up to it or a fax machine so they get the screeching sound when they call. Also heard of people forwarding their calls back to HQ. Of course on reserve you couldn't do this but if you are holding a line...
 
I've met 2 senior mainline guys now that don't own cell phones. I know in the corporate world cell phones are a must, and most companies supply the phones and service for the pilots.

I was just curious if it is a requirement by the airlines for their pilots to have cell phones??

Nah, there's no requirement at my airline.

Some places we fly require the captain to carry a cellphone, but they're provided by the station manager. Usually somewhere in Africa.

I don't even think we require a non-emergency contact number unless you're on reserve.
 
Background: Whiz wheels don't really get used much at this company. On the saab we get the numbers passed to the cockpit from the gate or over the radio. The Delta stuff isn't compatible with our NWA W+B software which is the reason for all these changes.

In response to your question: I don't think PED use would be a problem since the WB will get done before or just after #2 is started. I won't be taxing out, grab a spot in line and then do the calculation or anything like that. Should be done before we exit ramp. Time will tell though.

Since the PIC is the PIC, I would imagine even if we did goto the hold area with both turning I could still allow my PED to be used.

Be a double standard if i could do that with my "company" phone, but not my own. I Can see a tablet or such, installed to the A/C.. but phone idea is just bad. If you were to loose one, what would the costs be? How do they plan on charging? etc. just way too many questions for something like that to really be a viable option. EFB's would rock on the other hand... W+B, Performance, Charts, all in one :)
 
I have heard some stories of the voice mail greetings that some people leave for scheduling and just getting an extra line in your house with no phone hooked up to it or a fax machine so they get the screeching sound when they call. Also heard of people forwarding their calls back to HQ. Of course on reserve you couldn't do this but if you are holding a line...

I've heard of someone setting their phone number to "Ladies En Confidente" which is an escort service here in Denver.
 
I was required to have a contact number. Whether it was a home phone, cell phone, or even a pager, was my choice.

Be careful what you wish for. If the company starts providing cell phones, then they are going to want you to answer it when it rings. That's the problem with a "freebie." It carries with it certain expectations.
 
Not required but it sure makes it easier when stuff breaks.

Heh. We're in contract negotiations, which means my cell phone stays off when stuff breaks. ACARS works....assuming they answer. If it's deferred, we'll try the company radio. If that doesn't work, I'll use the phone at the gate. If that doesn't work, I'm on a trek to find a pay phone to call......collect.
 
Heh. We're in contract negotiations, which means my cell phone stays off when stuff breaks. ACARS works....assuming they answer. If it's deferred, we'll try the company radio. If that doesn't work, I'll use the phone at the gate. If that doesn't work, I'm on a trek to find a pay phone to call......collect.

God... how do you call collect? 1800-call-col - 1800-col-lect ? I remember as a kid seeing it on TV but i'll be damned if I know how to do it.

Do they still have operators? Maybe they can put in a phone patch :)
 
1-800-c-a-l-l-a-t-t ... would make more sense if there was a & sign.... or dial 0, and keep hitting it till somebod answers
 
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