EdinMD

UA 294 from SFO to BWI was nearly three hours late due to weather yesterday (2/15). As the 2:37 departure time slipped to 5:15, I got an email update that my upgrade had cleared, and shortly thereafter I took the last seat in first on the A319, 2D. I settled in, got the welcome OJ, and asked the purser about channel 9 availability. Nope, he said, its in the Captain's discretion and that was the first point he had mentioned in the preflight briefing. I said I was disappointed, but understood the captain makes the call, and settled in for the flight.
A few minutes later, the captain appeared to welcome and brief the fc cabin on the flight expectations: a bumpy climb out expected, strong tail-winds should cut time out of the flight etc, and thanked us for flying. I asked him why no channel 9, and he explained that it wasn't worth the hassle to him: a passenger had made a report to the FAA about a missed approach and go -around due to wind shear when a buddy was piloting, and although everything had been done by the book, the hassle of the investigation was not worth it. I understand that, but... I explained that I had many times learned more by listening to channel 9 and understood what was going on better, and had been very impressed with how a number of UA pilots had worked with ATC to go around weather and expedite routings. After a short discussion, he asked whether I was trying to make a case for turning channel 9 on. You got it, I said, and with that, he agreed. Channel 9 was with us from push-back to the gate at BWI. The climb out (and the entire flight) was smoother than promised.
Kudos to the captain.
Ed