v1valarob
Well-Known Member
This pilot I know had a 3 day trip. On day 1 he was supposed to deadhead to an outstation, and then fly a round trip. Well that all worked out as planned. The next night he was supposed to fly another round trip. Well due to the poor planning of a certain united hub, everything was delayed throughout the day due to the weather conditions.
This pilot was supposed to depart at about 1920 and be back at the outstation by 2330. The inbound flight didnt arrive until about an hour late, and a quick turn was done to get the first leg done as quickly as possible. After getting into the hub the pilot began to wonder how his rest for the evening would pan since the original schedule only had about 9hours and 45 minutes to begin with. In the morning his show time was 0935 for a 1005 deadhead home to finish his trip.
As the clock ticked away the pilot realized that it was going to be cutting it close to get 8 hours of rest. The plane touched the ground at 0055 and pulled in at 0100. The company's software showed a release time of 0115. Fantastic, the pilot now has 8hours and 20minutes of rest!
BUT WAIT!! The morning is calling for freezing rain. The airline in their infinite wisdom decides to cancel the early flight out. This doesnt mean much for the pilot, except that now the plane can no longer park at the gates, it must be parked at the very expensive FBO. The crew taxiis the plane to the very expensive FBO. Wait a minute, where are the marshallers? Its 0130 in the morning, why would anyone be working? Why would the airline notify the very expensive FBO that they need people there to park the plane?
The airport authority sends over a truck and they marshal the crew in. At 0145 the #2 engine is shut down. So the pilot calls scheduling to let them know that he will not be showing up at 0935 for the deadhead back as he does not have enough rest.
The hotel van is waiting out front of the terminal and takes the pilot and FA to the hotel. Upon entering the hotel the front desk asks the question "There are 2 of you?" The answer, yes. There are 2 of us standing here. "We only have 1 room under your airline, and we are sold out for tonight." Fantastic. Its now 0215. Calls are made and the pilot gives up the room to the FA and his airline finds him another hotel. Since the pilots pay is below the poverty line, he has no money to get a taxi to the other hotel. Thankfully the front desk clerk says he will give the pilot a ride to the hotel down the road.
The pilot gets to the hotel and checks in and goes to his room. He checks his schedule online. Hmmm, they are still showing me with a 0935 show for a 1005 deadhead. The pilot doesnt care, he is waking up when he wakes up and will figure it out in the morning.
Morning comes and its 0930. The next direct flight to the hub is at 1920. He looks up the earlier flight from the morning and notices that its delayed. Maybe he can make it to the airport and catch it! So he calls the shuttle and makes it to the airport by 1200. The flight is still delayed. The pilot calls up the captain on the delayed flight and finds out there is a maintenance issue, and due to the icing conditions, it cant go.
This pilot waits it out until 1400 when the departure time is now chnged to 2000. Thats 6 hours away!!! The pilot is angry. He is in one of the most expensive places the airline flies, he is past security where there is no food, the terminal is packed with passnegers. Scheduling says "deal with it." Luckily the pilot is able to call up the crew who is supposed to be flying the flight, and they are hanging out at the very expensive FBO. The pilot gets a ride over there, where he is sitting at this very time (I just spoke with him
)
The crew has been sitting around since 0900 and its currently 1905. Earlier in the day the captain called the chief pilot to complain about sitting around for 11 hours with no pay. The chief pilot says "well we were going to put out new policy regarding maintenance cancellations, but after it became apparent a union was going to be put in place, we didn't get approval on the new policy."
This pilot was supposed to depart at about 1920 and be back at the outstation by 2330. The inbound flight didnt arrive until about an hour late, and a quick turn was done to get the first leg done as quickly as possible. After getting into the hub the pilot began to wonder how his rest for the evening would pan since the original schedule only had about 9hours and 45 minutes to begin with. In the morning his show time was 0935 for a 1005 deadhead home to finish his trip.
As the clock ticked away the pilot realized that it was going to be cutting it close to get 8 hours of rest. The plane touched the ground at 0055 and pulled in at 0100. The company's software showed a release time of 0115. Fantastic, the pilot now has 8hours and 20minutes of rest!
BUT WAIT!! The morning is calling for freezing rain. The airline in their infinite wisdom decides to cancel the early flight out. This doesnt mean much for the pilot, except that now the plane can no longer park at the gates, it must be parked at the very expensive FBO. The crew taxiis the plane to the very expensive FBO. Wait a minute, where are the marshallers? Its 0130 in the morning, why would anyone be working? Why would the airline notify the very expensive FBO that they need people there to park the plane?
The airport authority sends over a truck and they marshal the crew in. At 0145 the #2 engine is shut down. So the pilot calls scheduling to let them know that he will not be showing up at 0935 for the deadhead back as he does not have enough rest.
The hotel van is waiting out front of the terminal and takes the pilot and FA to the hotel. Upon entering the hotel the front desk asks the question "There are 2 of you?" The answer, yes. There are 2 of us standing here. "We only have 1 room under your airline, and we are sold out for tonight." Fantastic. Its now 0215. Calls are made and the pilot gives up the room to the FA and his airline finds him another hotel. Since the pilots pay is below the poverty line, he has no money to get a taxi to the other hotel. Thankfully the front desk clerk says he will give the pilot a ride to the hotel down the road.
The pilot gets to the hotel and checks in and goes to his room. He checks his schedule online. Hmmm, they are still showing me with a 0935 show for a 1005 deadhead. The pilot doesnt care, he is waking up when he wakes up and will figure it out in the morning.
Morning comes and its 0930. The next direct flight to the hub is at 1920. He looks up the earlier flight from the morning and notices that its delayed. Maybe he can make it to the airport and catch it! So he calls the shuttle and makes it to the airport by 1200. The flight is still delayed. The pilot calls up the captain on the delayed flight and finds out there is a maintenance issue, and due to the icing conditions, it cant go.
This pilot waits it out until 1400 when the departure time is now chnged to 2000. Thats 6 hours away!!! The pilot is angry. He is in one of the most expensive places the airline flies, he is past security where there is no food, the terminal is packed with passnegers. Scheduling says "deal with it." Luckily the pilot is able to call up the crew who is supposed to be flying the flight, and they are hanging out at the very expensive FBO. The pilot gets a ride over there, where he is sitting at this very time (I just spoke with him
) The crew has been sitting around since 0900 and its currently 1905. Earlier in the day the captain called the chief pilot to complain about sitting around for 11 hours with no pay. The chief pilot says "well we were going to put out new policy regarding maintenance cancellations, but after it became apparent a union was going to be put in place, we didn't get approval on the new policy."
