Productivity

Looking back at the last few days reveals both good and bad. We did have a flight from down south up to the Detroit. I'm the first to admit, I don't know what it's like to be a controller, but sometimes, I really just don't know what the hell they're trying to do. Once we were over Evansville, IN it all began. Every single time we were switched to a different center frequency, they had something else for us to do. It was as if they were all working really really hard and not talking to each other. Speed up, slow down, speed up, slow down... go left... no, back right... speed up again... now slow waaaay down. It was retarded. It's nothing new, but this was the worst case of it I've ever seen. We've got enough to do when getting ready for the decent and the approach into a major airport. From where I sit, all this crap just serves as more distraction. I guess it's not a shock that some people are screaming at the government to "modernize" the ATC system. Perhaps this is a classic case and point. I'm all for it, as long as they do a MUCH better job that Lockheed-Martin did when taking over our Flight Service Stations. Holy balls was that steamer.

We also flew out to the northeast on this last trip. Just as we were starting our decent, I took note of an icon labeled "BUF" on my nav display. Buffalo, NY. Ironically, as I looked out and located the Buffalo airport about 25 miles off the nose, it was a clear, warm and beautiful day. I have to admit, I wasn't a pilot when Capt Al Haynes crash landed in Sioux City. I wasn't even a pilot yet on 9/11. But, I'd be lying if I said flying over Buffalo didn't have an affect on me. Being in this very same industry myself now, I do find myself taking a slightly different interest in such events. They are more real to me now. It's a chilling reminder that this industry isn't fool proof. And, if you make some bad decisions and your mistakes are not caught in time, the results will be far worse than "Oh, we lost the Peterson account" or "Now where do I put all these boxes?" We're all perfectly capable of being caught off guard. We all make mistakes. We train and train and train to be prepared for anything. But you can still be fooled sometimes. That's why we have Standardized Procedures and why we don't have just one lone schmuck up there in front. You know how somedays, you sit in the office and check a lot of email, surf around the web (carefully avoiding the porn!), chat with coworkers and just not get a lot done? Those days aren't a safe option in this business.

On this last trip, our crew had several "productivity breaks" as we call them. Basically, everyone knows there are certain time limits that pilots can be flying and be on duty. (Note: this is a FAR more complicated set of rules than 99.999999% of the general public would imagine and I do plan to attempt to explain this, at least in part, in a future post. In fact, different departments within an airline get into fights over how they each interpret these rules.) The last two days of our trip started with a very early start. Imagine getting up at 3:30am, getting showered, dressed, packed up, check the email, grab some coffee, and get on the hotel shuttle at 4:30am to be at the airport by 5:00am. Then, push off the gate at 5:30am and land in Detroit around 7:00am. OK, now your next flight is scheduled to leave at noon. 5 Hrs. In the past, you were just left to sit around the airport. Talk about awesome! Lately, our scheduling department has been much better about getting us something called a "Day Room." Basically, it's a room at a local hotel. It is nice because it's far better than just sitting around an airport, and you can either take a nap, watch TV, or even workout. However, one part that most people don't see is that it takes time to call scheduling, to get the room reserved, walk across the whole airport, call the hotel, wait for the shuttle, ride the shuttle, and get up to the room. Also, you will have to leave early so that you can get to the airport, get back through security, and all the way back across the airport and be at the gate AT LEAST 30mins prior to departure. So, a 5 hr break quickly becomes 3 or less. But, I digress.

Another slightly odd side of this day room stuff is that only two rooms are made available. One for the flight attendants, and one for the pilots. I have a feeling you just said, "What??" Yes, this is true. The we get to share rooms! Gotta love being a low-cost carrier! In all fairness, there are stipulations such that if there are male/female flight attendants, as well as pilots, they they get separate rooms. So, at least we don't have to deal with that can of worms. Otherwise, I'd just sit at the airport to avoid that whole situation. But still, it's a bit like being back in that college dorm room on your first day, meeting your new room mate, and sharing a room. It's odd. But, indeed, better than just sitting around the airport. That is, unless one crew member snores or has really bad gas.

In this business, it's very important to take stock in the little things. Oddly enough, one of the aircraft that we took when getting back from one of our productivity breaks had been sitting out on the ramp for hours. It's summertime. I expected that plane to be like getting in a car that's been sitting in a mall parking lot for 6 hrs. To my shock and awe, the ground crews had hooked up the external air conditioning! Every gate has it. Mainline flights are always hooked up to a/c in the summer, and heat in the winter. This minimizes usage of the aircraft APU, since that's what you would have to be running (which burns Jet-A) in order to keep the aircraft warm or cool. At a low-cost airline, you find lots of corners like this being cut, specifically when it comes to "man-power." I get the feeling the ground crews are told not to hook up and run the external air to save money, and time, since they are understaffed and need to work a lot of airplanes with little help. And, from the other side, our management is telling us to minimize APU usage in order to conserve fuel and remain competitive with other low cost carriers. It's a double-edged sword that we end up getting stabbed with when we have to try and take care of passengers with an aircraft that is 103 degF on the inside and a gate agent shoving passengers on board trying to get the door closed so that their manager isn't barking at them because the flight went out 2 minutes late. However, this time was different! I walked onto the plane and was greeted with nice cool air! It made my whole day! Honest!

On a final note, I was none too pleased with my wake up call in Rochester, NY a few days ago. I usually sign up for a wake up call, set my cell phone alarm, AND set the clock in the room. One of those is bound to work. In honesty the wake up calls come, maybe 80% of the time. And, some of those come early... late.... or in succession. In Rochester, I recieved no less than FOUR wake up calls. WTF??? I'm up already!!! I've only got an hour to get up, pack, shower, shave, take a massive and get out the door! We all make mistakes, believe me, this I understand. So, after the first, second and third wake up calls, which came about 5 mins apart, I was still OK with it, just puzzled. However, my ass was on the porcelain when the 4th came in. I ended up doing the "pants at the ankles gallop" across the room to yank the damn phone cord out of the back of the phone. I'm sure you've seen or made use of such gallop techniques at home when one is out of TP and must make their way to another bathroom in the house to find some additional supplies. Ahh, the glory of being an airline pilot... ;-)

-PS