Originally Posted by uluvbs
Does anyone know how much a pilot can do to work around the "bumpy air"? I sort of wonder sometimes whether the pilot can't just more easily go above/below/around the air pattern, altering the trajectory slightly.
I was on a PIT-ORD flight a few months back that was quite bumpy and was listening to Channel 9. The pilot was on with ATC almost continuously asking for reports from other altitudes, other aircraft, etc. He seemed to be exagerating the level of chop ("we're getting beat up pretty good here") to "negotiate" a move. I think we tried everything from FL21-34 looking for smooth air. He was working it pretty hard but we never really found anything. Somtimes there's just no alternatives.