Thoughts of a Ramp Agent

[Victor Squawk]

The novelty has worn off so now the ramp feels like a hassle. Everyone's got plans for where to go. I have a purpose of my own to follow.

 

[Victor Squawk]

I was granted an epiphany today. For the past few days the ramp leads were apologizing about the work and saying "its not always like this, it'll be getting better next week". I didn't understand since it all seemed like ... the same? It was usually hard work.

However today I finally connected some dots. It's the second time one of the leads was acting apologetic for asking me to wingwalk the plane right after I finished stacking bags in the bin. I've done this countless times so I had figured that this is just how it's done. (Norms??)

But between that what happened today and the other few days prior, it finally occurred to me that we had been understaffed. Next week the new hires are finally finished with their training and will start working regularly. So it will get "easier".

 

[Victor Squawk]

Today it feels like bags are designed to be as cumbersome as possible for stacking in the bin. Murphy's law seems to operate on overdrive in here.

 

[F9DXER]

Today it feels like bags are designed to be as cumbersome as possible for stacking in the bin. Murphy's law seems to operate on overdrive in here.

I believe it is called "Tetris in real life." and some days the blocks (aka the bags) just don't fit.

 

[Victor Squawk]

I believe it is called "Tetris in real life." and some days the blocks (aka the bags) just don't fit.

Yeah it is just like tetris with the time pressure too.

And for the one passing the bags, it's like something between bowling and basketball.

Not to say that anyone is shooting hoops just that sometimes you have to "pass" the bag riding on its wheels into a specific small space, or predict where the stacker is going to be in 5 seconds and pass it there.

 

[Victor Squawk]

Life on the ramp has become simpler. I like to stack when im on the ramp and clean seats when im in the cabin. Mostly everyone else doesn't like these parts, so even though I have no buddies at work, I'm tolerated, since I carry more than my share of the load.

They don't annoy me while I study, and don't try to be friends with me, and that's more refreshing than wondering if I should remember anything they say to me.

My least favorite part has become wing walking, but that's a given, since it's so damn hot. Nobody really wants to be out there in the sun and heat.

I'm probably too critical of the new people, though. I keep trying to be more understanding but someone told me I have no patience for •, which is true, and it's reducing the quality of my communications with my coworkers.

I do a decent job well enough, though. So it's just a bit of up and down every now and then but the movement forward is inherently stable.

 

[Victor Squawk]

Line Service probably refers to maintenance for the ramp. That's a guess based on the "terminology" you can see on the trucks they drive.

So this thread probably doesn't quite fit in here except like a little brother of line service.

Ah well, it's here now.

---
The ramp, when it comes to baggage handling, and actualizing the load plan delivered by ops, sketched up by the Desk (and whatever a dx does to it beforehand) - you have a situation in which

all the managers limp
and the supervisors constantly do lower ranked work
because there are no leads
since no one is available
and people skip work or quit
because the pay is low
and the work is hard and unhealthy

and it perpetuates a cycle of "not enough workers" until everyone gets tired
and the management doesn't GAF anymore
and most of the equipment is hand-me-downs from more important ramps

people talk about where they are going next, what's their plan, how long can they tolerate wasting away their body and their health while not being able to afford a single bedroom apartment for themselves (or even a studio apartment)
and they live off cheap pizza and instant noodles
...and vending machine junk

leads sell their lives to the job in terms of the hours they put in
for a dollar raise
which is reported as "not worth it"

and overall as a first job in aviation it has been a massive, stinking pile of dirty Sh!....

a lot of the workers obviously dont' care about being fired
actually they can't fire anyone because there is already not enough people

 

[Victor Squawk]

But let me brag about something. My acheivements as the hero of the ramp (only when i stack bags though. the others probably find me annoying but my endurance and stacking skills justify my awful availability due to church obligations and the terrible class schedule that currently defines my pace of life).

First big achievement - I stacked 150 bags in Bin 2 of a 737-900 (and it was in keeping with the load plan). Safe and legal; every bag fit
Second big achievement - Solo-stacked 80+ bags in a 737-900 in Bin 3. We had one person help unload, who then left. We had another one come through at the very last possible second, to help marshall the plane, which leads to the third big achievement
Third big achievement - while solo stacking the 737 and working most of the flight with 2 people, me and the lead (while in the meantime... management, people from other departments, and one other person cleaned the flight) = We got the flight out at D0, perfectly on time

Having achieved the impossible, I'm ready for my next challenge.

 

[Victor Squawk]

Take hundreds of passengers and give each of them a bag. Give them a dirty bag with all their distinct germs on it...

Then pass that bag through screening, let everyone touch each of them a little and mix the germs on all of them, passing them down one by one. Have them slide along a belt that handles thousands and thousands of dirty germy bags.

Then have them bump around in mysterious places, showing up on the wrong piers and somehow ghosting past the scanners for extra confusion. Have them mixed and stacked up to nestle all the freshly contaminated germs together. Jostle them along the way to the plane.

Have mosquitos bite everyone to load their immune systems with busy work and something to do. Then have everyone start working, accelerating their heart rates and their breathing rates.

Have them ingest jet fumes at this higher breathing rate and circulation of blood. Layer that hot sauce tasting vapor into the body and then go ahead and have them jump into the bin.

There, let them hug and carry, with lots of love, all these germy bags and work up a real sweat. With the highest heart rate and breathing rate, and sweating with wider open pores, layer on that dirty germ dust from the bags onto the skin so it can soak in well. Let it go in the lungs too; cycle it through the body.

Do it regularly ;
TLDR , I caught a cold

 

[Avalon781ML]

Line Service probably refers to maintenance for the ramp. That's a guess based on the "terminology" you can see on the trucks they drive.

So this thread probably doesn't quite fit in here except like a little brother of line service.

Ah well, it's here now.

---
The ramp, when it comes to baggage handling, and actualizing the load plan delivered by ops, sketched up by the Desk (and whatever a dx does to it beforehand) - you have a situation in which

all the managers limp
and the supervisors constantly do lower ranked work
because there are no leads
since no one is available
and people skip work or quit
because the pay is low
and the work is hard and unhealthy

and it perpetuates a cycle of "not enough workers" until everyone gets tired
and the management doesn't GAF anymore
and most of the equipment is hand-me-downs from more important ramps

people talk about where they are going next, what's their plan, how long can they tolerate wasting away their body and their health while not being able to afford a single bedroom apartment for themselves (or even a studio apartment)
and they live off cheap pizza and instant noodles
...and vending machine junk

leads sell their lives to the job in terms of the hours they put in
for a dollar raise
which is reported as "not worth it"

and overall as a first job in aviation it has been a massive, stinking pile of dirty Sh!....

a lot of the workers obviously dont' care about being fired
actually they can't fire anyone because there is already not enough people

I’ve been there and I know how it can feel underwhelming/overwhelming. It’s ok to feel this way. There are good day and the are definitely bad days. The job will start to feel thankless. Even as a pilot it stops being fun and is just work. It isn’t personal so don’t let it get you down. Do your work to the best of your ability, pay no heed to the idiots that surround you, and take pride that you perform well regardless of the people around you. Things will improve in time.

 

[Victor Squawk]

I’ve been there and I know how it can feel underwhelming/overwhelming. It’s ok to feel this way. There are good day and the are definitely bad days. The job will start to feel thankless. Even as a pilot it stops being fun and is just work. It isn’t personal so don’t let it get you down. Do your work to the best of your ability, pay no heed to the idiots that surround you, and take pride that you perform well regardless of the people around you. Things will improve in time.

Well I took almost a week off because I got super sick and now I feel like just quitting the job.

 

[///AMG]

Well I took almost a week off because I got super sick and now I feel like just quitting the job.

A lot of us worked line service. It is a good entry job into the industry. Don't let the •tiness of this particular job turn you off. I wasn't a much more glamorous terminal/gate line guy like you, just an FBO dude. Keep at it, and see where it takes you. It took a lot of us to careers ultimately, and I think those of us who did such a thankless job never forget about you guys who do that job.

 

[BEEF SUPREME]

I regularly walk down to the ramp and find the lead. I shake hands and introduce myself. I also try and remember their name when we talk about brake release during push back. I never stacked bags but I did drive the fuel truck for a hot minute. So I try and show a little respect.

 

[Victor Squawk]

A lot of us worked line service. It is a good entry job into the industry. Don't let the •tiness of this particular job turn you off. I wasn't a much more glamorous terminal/gate line guy like you, just an FBO dude. Keep at it, and see where it takes you. It took a lot of us to careers ultimately, and I think those of us who did such a thankless job never forget about you guys who do that job.

I'll try to keep at it.

 

[Bob Ridpath]

Take hundreds of passengers and give each of them a bag. Give them a dirty bag with all their distinct germs on it...

Then pass that bag through screening, let everyone touch each of them a little and mix the germs on all of them, passing them down one by one. Have them slide along a belt that handles thousands and thousands of dirty germy bags.

Then have them bump around in mysterious places, showing up on the wrong piers and somehow ghosting past the scanners for extra confusion. Have them mixed and stacked up to nestle all the freshly contaminated germs together. Jostle them along the way to the plane.

Have mosquitos bite everyone to load their immune systems with busy work and something to do. Then have everyone start working, accelerating their heart rates and their breathing rates.

Have them ingest jet fumes at this higher breathing rate and circulation of blood. Layer that hot sauce tasting vapor into the body and then go ahead and have them jump into the bin.

There, let them hug and carry, with lots of love, all these germy bags and work up a real sweat. With the highest heart rate and breathing rate, and sweating with wider open pores, layer on that dirty germ dust from the bags onto the skin so it can soak in well. Let it go in the lungs too; cycle it through the body.

Do it regularly ;
TLDR , I caught a cold

You aren't the only one to work a tough job.

The same still applies though: either sh*t or get out of the outhouse.

No one is responsible for your future except you.

Make it what you want that future to be, or change direction.

Sans the excuses and probable mindset, based upon your posting here, you either choose to maintain the status quo or might listen to the good advice and resources available here or how you might succeed in life.

Ymmv, but the choice is yours and no one else's

 

[Victor Squawk]

You aren't the only one to work a tough job.

The same still applies though: either sh*t or get out of the outhouse.

No one is responsible for your future except you.

Make it what you want that future to be, or change direction.

Sans the excuses and probable mindset, based upon your posting here, you either choose to maintain the status quo or might listen to the good advice and resources available here or how you might succeed in life.

Ymmv, but the choice is yours and no one else's

Bob that post was just a joke. It was an elaborate way of writing "I caught a cold".

I thought it was pretty funny but now it just looks like whining. Sucks for me if I want to be understood, huh!

 

[Victor Squawk]

I regularly walk down to the ramp and find the lead. I shake hands and introduce myself. I also try and remember their name when we talk about brake release during push back. I never stacked bags but I did drive the fuel truck for a hot minute. So I try and show a little respect.

That's pretty cool. I think most of the leads appreciate it. A lot of them are avgeeks so getting to be friendly with a pilot brightens up their day. At least, that's how I see it from the side.

 

[Victor Squawk]

It continues.

In the Epic of Ramp ~ amazing. The management doesn't seem to know what they're doing. The upper management seem to care and don't do much. However, I was recently told by a long-timer that our unit is only second-worst at the airport, which still makes me laugh.

 

[Victor Squawk]

By contrast...

In terms of our station competitions we are consistently at a monthly best or second-best. We got the yearly best before I got there. I find it inconceivable how anything gets done on time.

If the management could hire a consultant for correcting wastefulness, half the crew would get fired and half would get a raise. As it is, as it is, it keeps panting for breath. Never quite at the destination, never quite enough air.

But instead they give employee of the month to one of their most wasteful employees. It's not that they're stupid. They're just not tracking whats really going on. They cant fire some of these leeches because they need someone on the line. But they overwork their best and most dutiful workers who end up leaving from overwork and • pay.

The wastrels just soak up overtime and watch cartoons on company time.

 

[Victor Squawk]

Makes me imagine directing a sitcom/mockumentary about the ramp and call it "Cartoons on Company Time"

The Office X Trailer Park Boys -> the real

Well it helps me by amusing me to see it that way.