Pilot Has Unusual Candor

Old Jun 11, 2012, 8:10 pm
  #1  
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Pilot Has Unusual Candor

I took United Express flight 5755 this morning from Atlanta to Dulles for the second time this month to make an early morning meeting at the client. It took the flight attendant a few tries to lock the door for departure with multiple calls from the cockpit interrupting the safety talk to perform another attempt. We backed out of the gate five minutes early - good news. Then we returned to the gate a few minutes later with a message that the flap controlling computer was not working - bad news.

What ensued was a roughly four and a half hour delay while they attempted to change out the flap controlling computer(s). When we finally reboarded and backed out of the gate, the pilot announced that the flap computer had been switched into maintenance mode the night before and had not been switched back to the normal mode. So, the pilot admitted that a four and a half hour delay was fully preventable and human error. To me, I did not think airlines would admit this level of fault and just say, hey, we fixed the computer. Is this level of candor common to United Express pilots?
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Old Jun 11, 2012, 8:17 pm
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Very refreshing in this day and age of blame the others .
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Old Jun 11, 2012, 8:18 pm
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This is why I dont fly Express! An inexperienced pilot. I would've flown Delta as UA only has a few Mainline flight to Atl. They run away from AA and Delta hubs.

Last edited by LASUA1K; Jun 11, 2012 at 10:09 pm
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Old Jun 11, 2012, 8:25 pm
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Originally Posted by LASUA1K
This is why I dont fly Express! Un experienced pilot. I would've flown Delta as UA only has a few Mainline flight to Atl. They run away from AA and Delta hubs.
The first Delta flight to IAD is at 7:35. The Express flight is at 5:45 which gets me to the client site at 8AM, so they are the only same day option with a chance of making it to a 9AM meeting. Regardless - both Delta and United Express are running CRJ's on this route on Monday mornings.
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Old Jun 11, 2012, 8:40 pm
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Originally Posted by LASUA1K
This is why I dont fly Express! Un experienced pilot. I would've flown Delta as UA only has a few Mainline flight to Atl. They run away from AA and Delta hubs.
I'm curious how honesty somehow translates to inexperience. Interesting.
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Old Jun 11, 2012, 8:42 pm
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One word: VOUCHER!
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Old Jun 11, 2012, 9:09 pm
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Originally Posted by LASUA1K
This is why I dont fly Express! Un experienced pilot. I would've flown Delta as UA only has a few Mainline flight to Atl. They run away from AA and Delta hubs.
In what way does the pilot's experience level have anything to do with the mechanical? It is true that RJ outsourcing and pilot experience level is a major gripe with mainline pilots, but in this case it would be the regional carrier's maintenance staff, not the pilot's error. Your accusation is ill-based.
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Old Jun 11, 2012, 9:58 pm
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Originally Posted by HMPS
Very refreshing in this day and age of blame the others .
Agree, but still a mistake that should not have happened.
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Old Jun 11, 2012, 10:14 pm
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Originally Posted by The Mileage Millionaire
One word: VOUCHER!
Not in the era of PMCO "customer service."
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Old Jun 11, 2012, 10:43 pm
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Originally Posted by HMPS
Very refreshing in this day and age of blame the others .
+1
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Old Jun 11, 2012, 10:50 pm
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Pilot Has Unusual Candor

Wow! I'm a mainline pilot, and have had things like that happen to me more than once. We don't get trained in every aspect of the maintenance side of our aircraft. That's why we have maintenance controllers.

I recently had a maintenance issue in LAS that caused an off-gate delay, ultimately ending with towing back onto the gate for repairs. One passenger was adamant that she wanted off the plane even though it was taken care of.

I had to wonder who would spend a week taking a chance with less than even odds feeding a slot machine but not want to take the chance flying in an airplane that the pilots were perfectly comfortable with?

Another example of how utterly little most people understand about the care and feeding of an airplane.

FAB
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Old Jun 11, 2012, 10:51 pm
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Originally Posted by Axey
I'm curious how honesty somehow translates to inexperience. Interesting.
Agreed. I like the candor here.
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Old Jun 11, 2012, 11:28 pm
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Originally Posted by Axey
I'm curious how honesty somehow translates to inexperience. Interesting.
Sorry, this was typed from my phone. I also, stick to my guns on this as I prefer to fly with a more experienced Mainline Pilot. Yes a pilot is a pilot, but I have more trust in a Mainline Pilot.

I'm sure the captain of this flight landed at Midnight the previous night and probably slept about 4 hours. The work rules are different for an Express Pilot.

Anyways, yes it was great that they admitted the issue. My first reaction was that it was the pilots fault, but it seems to be a maintenance issue? Not sure.

Originally Posted by ATL-Bri
The first Delta flight to IAD is at 7:35. The Express flight is at 5:45 which gets me to the client site at 8AM, so they are the only same day option with a chance of making it to a 9AM meeting. Regardless - both Delta and United Express are running CRJ's on this route on Monday mornings.
My apologies. I also just noticed that Delta is flying a CRJ900 with Wifi. Wow wifi on express flights!

Last edited by iluv2fly; Jun 11, 2012 at 11:51 pm Reason: merge
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Old Jun 12, 2012, 12:42 am
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Originally Posted by LASUA1K
'm sure the captain of this flight landed at Midnight the previous night and probably slept about 4 hours.
That's absurd. How are you so sure? You have zero credibility with a statement like that.
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Old Jun 12, 2012, 12:47 am
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Originally Posted by LASUA1K
This is why I dont fly Express! An inexperienced pilot. I would've flown Delta as UA only has a few Mainline flight to Atl. They run away from AA and Delta hubs.
I love it. You are trying bash everything about UA and UAX, but the facts (below) stand in the way.

There are many deficiencies at UA, but at least some of them are shared by all of the majors.

Originally Posted by ATL-Bri
The first Delta flight to IAD is at 7:35. The Express flight is at 5:45 which gets me to the client site at 8AM, so they are the only same day option with a chance of making it to a 9AM meeting. Regardless - both Delta and United Express are running CRJ's on this route on Monday mornings.
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