ERJ Single-Engine Taxi . . .

[FlyChicaga]

A 15 minute turn ! Do you guys go to the head at all ? What about picking up the plane and crossing those seatbelts, or giving your FA a moment to recover from the pax they just waited on? I am all for quick turns, but 15 minutes is a bit much. Are you getting a extra money for doing a 15 min turn. Oh I better stop now! :whatever:

Well, in this past trip we had a maintenance delay that caused us to get in over two hours behind schedule for our reduced-rest overnight. We blocked out 1 hour and 7 minute late for our first flight of the day. After some shortcuts and hard flying on that leg, we got to our destination 57 minutes behind schedule and turned the airplane in 20 minutes. Half-full off, almost full-load back on. Then we hauled-ass to our next destination after blocking-out 40 minutes late, making it in 17 minutes behind schedule and allowing our connecting passengers to make their next flight (same flight number; continuer) which blocked out on time.

During the 20-minute turn I cleaned the cabin with a customer-service agent (so the flight attendant could relax for a minute), used the bathroom inside the terminal, carried a few gate-checked bags to the bin, and was able to complete all our through-flight checks and program the FMS.

I attribute our success to the fact that we started the number two engine both times and let that number one hydraulic pump run for a few minutes. I'm not bragging at all... It was a really fun day with an awesome, hard-working crew. They were even more fun on our 24-hour overnight in Tulsa, right Nick?? :rawk:

No, we didn't get paid more for quick-turning the airplane. But we were able to get our passengers where they were going safely and relatively on-time (at least after the second leg), and that's what pays the bills. Why do we need a pay incentive to work harder for the customer?

 

[FlyChicaga]

From a pilot's point of view, maybe not.

Why isn't it a big deal from the pilots point of view? 15-minute turns are a very big deal to me, because it means I need to go help clean the cabin, carry some gate-checks, and do other assorted tasks in addition to doing my pilot duties. But if it helps maintain the integrity of the schedule without compromising safety, then I'm all for it.

We can normally have all our cockpit through-flight checks completed, and the FMS programmed, before the last person has deplaned.

 

[Nick]

No, we didn't get paid more for quick-turning the airplane. But we were able to get our passengers where they were going safely and relatively on-time (at least after the second leg), and that's what pays the bills. Why do we need a pay incentive to work harder for the customer?

I wish more pilots had the same attitude. And if they needed more reason: it shortens the crew's workday.

It was a really fun day with an awesome, hard-working crew. They were even more fun on our 24-hour overnight in Tulsa, right Nick?? :rawk:

That's right, despite the fact that a hairy-ex-flight-attendant-turned-prop-captain called several times while two flight crews were getting ready for the next karaoke song, a good time was had by all.