pbl22

One of my peeves about flying in NZ and Aussie is the seemingly inordinate amount of time it takes to affix the air bridges to planes in our countries. Does anyone know why?

I have just spent three very pleasant days flying all over the US on AA (yes, it was actually very pleasant - couldn't find too many faults). What has struck me though is how quick it is to disembark from these planes. The pilot turns off the seatbelt light before turning off the engine and then, before you know it, the front door is open. On all of my 8 flights, the front door was open in less than a minute after the seatbelt light goes off. In NZ it always seems to take about 3-5 minutes and sometimes longer while they jockey the air bridge into position.

Does anyone know why it is done so much quicker in the US?

pbl22

Actually, just after posting the above, I had the privilege of watching the operation actually happen here at LAX T4. The air bridge started moving towards the plane as the pilot was turning off the engines. The air bridge operator (or gate agent) opened the door 36 seconds after engine shutdown.

I do note that they only attach at the bottom of the air bridge - they don't bother folding the top bit out to create a cover, so maybe weather-dependent (although it was -8C in Boston yesterday morning and I remember the exposure to the freezing cold, so perhaps they only do ths in heavy rain).

forensicflyer

KPIs or incentives? Higher movement count = more bridge drivers = faster service? Less legislatively-required coffee breaks?

The longest I've ever waited for an airbridge was at LAX. We also waited over thirty minutes at one point during the taxi in as well, so maybe it was just one of those days...

Kiwi Flyer

Often in Australia and NZ there is a wait for someone to come to the airbridge. Whereas in other places (eg US, Asia) there is someone on the airbridge waiting for the aircraft to come to a stop.

pbl22

Yes, this wait has always fascinated me. Surely once they allocate a gate, they would allocate an air bridge operator who would then be able to ascertain what time the flight is coming in and be there waiting for it. It's very frustrating when coming in late on a TT around midnight and then having to wait 10 minutes while they try to find someone to operate it.

Trumpkin

Better than one trip to WLG last year. We taxied to gate 10 and the airbridge broke, so they spent about 10 minutes trying to fix it, then they were trying to get some stairs for 10 minutes but they gave up trying to find 737 stairs and eventually decided to taxi to another gate, finally getting off the plane 30 minutes later.

A few people were starting to think that using the slides might be easier!

Blackcloud

It is due t lack of qualified airbridge operators, who by the way also have other jobs to do at the airport.
I guess in the US they are more focused on the turnaround times, and with the large amount of carry on holding up loading they really want people off as fast as possible.

Leumas

It may be faster to have the airbridge hooked up in the US, but before that, you have to wait for the aircraft to be towed to the gate. Often waiting for the tow cancels out any time gained...

ajnz

And there's the big 'if there's a gate available'. I'm not so sure the US is a great benchmark to compare against after spending quite a while flying here. I won't even start on the boarding comedy.

Additionally, US baggage handling is the slowest in the world. I'd rather spend five minutes extra on the plane and have my luggage waiting at the carousel, than spend 34 seconds waiting for the jetbridge and 45 minutes waiting for my baggage on the carousel.

ace86

Sometimes when high reverse thrust is used, the engines need a 3min cool down period. So for example in CHC and WLG where the time between landing to gate are quite short the Captain has to wait for the countdown to finish before he can turn off the seatbelt sign. Which also means the 3 min rule applies to the airbridge operator because the light/beacon thing on top of the a320 is still lit up until the 3min is up. I think thats why, but please correct me if thats wrong. I asked a pilot once and thats what i remember from the conversation. Also qantas ground staff seem to dominate meeting a/c arrivals in Aus and dont seem to care about otp as much as Air NZ reps.
Sydney airport is also slack with updating arrival times, esp if Air NZ are early so there is no one to meet the a/c!

Leumas

At WLG, I've never experienced a 3 minute wait on the seatbelt sign coming off though (maybe others have). Most of the waiting is when the sign is off, most people is standing waiting for the bridge to be attached.

Kiwi Flyer

Only at certain airports (terminals). LAX being one of them.

B737NGDriver

Thats true. Boeing recommends a 3 minute cooldown period after using engine power higher than idle reverse thrust to settle cowl heat soak back temperatures.. in other words, to thermally stablise the engines and prolong their life. However most of the time, it takes 3 minutes at idle power to taxi to the gate, and Boeing says that this is permissible towards the 3 minutes.

There is also a delay before we switch off the rotating beacon, the flashing red light on top and the bottom of the plane. Most airlines wait until the engines are below 10% N1 (the big fan infront of the engine) before switching off the beacon so ground handlers can then approach the aircraft.

Then there is sometimes the inexperienced airbridge driver that attempts to join you in the flight deck, by driving his own entry into the flight deck with the airbridge. I've done landings smoother than some airbridge driver dockings... airbridges are driven by the ground handlers at each port. And they aren't the easiest to drive.... And the ground handlers aren't necessarily the airline that you travel with, but quite often 3rd party contractors.

Brisbane has a dicky gate that is suspectible to water damage and will cut out now and then, (Gate 77) Last time that happened to us, we ended up getting the airstairs and people had to walk across the tarmac to enter the apron.. but was better than waiting for them to try and send a engineer out to try and fix the bridge.

Sydney can be really bad, especially if you arrive early during a busy period, as quite often if you arrive early, the previous aircraft will still be on the gate, requiring that you wait for the gate to become free before taxiing and a P.A for everyone to please remain seated till we reach the gate.

=)