ON Jan 18 united 925 from LHR channel 9 Was on

Jan 28 UNited 703 JFK-LAX It was also on

1/26 UA305 ORD-BOS :td:

1/26 UA973 BRU-ORD :td:
1/26 UA973 ORD-SFO :td:

1/30
261 SFO to LAX 757 ^:td: (Ch.9 on while we took an hour waiting for FO to arrive/"waiting for numbers" delays; off as soon as we got take-off clearance.)

746 LAX to SFO A320^^

Jan 29, UA 653 no go:td: rude crew that would not even check to see about turning it on:(

1/31 UA 581 DEN-IAD A320 ^ with announcement

1/27 UA220 SEA-SFO ^
1/30 UA289 LAS-SFO :td:
1/30 UA733 SFO-SEA :td:

-RM

01/31 LHR-IAD UA0925 Yes w/announcement (Capt. said would turn off after leaving Irish airspace and turn back on again after oceanic crossing upon reaching Canada, which he did!)

UA 622 from DEN - MSP last Thursday- Ch. 9 was off. I asked the purser (before the door closed) if she could ask the captain. She did, and came back to let me know that he said, "Sorry, no." I told her (with a grin) that my response for the captain was "pout". To my surprise, she relayed that, and came back again to tell me that he agreed to turn it on "just for me." ^

I extended my sincere thanks to her and asked her to share that with the captain as well when I got off the plane.

Some of the things I like about Ch. 9:
It's uniquely a United feature.
It shows me (again and again) how complicated and serious the jobs are that our pilots, and ATC folks (ground, approach, centers) do.
It teaches me more about flying. Understanding things like how, why and when planes fly at various speeds and altitudes based on spacing (or wake turbulence) with other jets, weather, fuel, chop, etc.

On a few occasions, it has even prepared me for problems that face the flight I'm on.

One rare (though classic) personal example was on the 1st leg of a 3-flight trip to Oz. While taxiing out, I heard and understood the reasons why we were returning to the gate to check a mechanical issue before the pilot announced it. I then later realized that the flight was going to be cancelled and un-boarded, once again, before it was announced. That allowed me to pull a quick escape from my E+ seat at the front of Y and blaze past even the majority of F cabin pax (nicely, of course) to slide into the 2nd position in line with the GA. Within a couple minutes, several hundred anxious people were lined up behind me. That time saved allowed the GA to transfer me to a Delta flight, and run to a different terminal, making the flight with about 1 minute to spare before the door closed. Without my foreknowledge (thanks to Ch. 9) and that exceptional service from the UA GA, I would have missed my transpacific flight and been forced to go a full day later.

UA even earned some serious bonus points (to my absolute shock) since my checked bag somehow got unloaded from my UA flight and, transferred to the DL jet and loaded on that plane before we took off! ^

I'd say that about 50% of my UA flights in the last couple months have had Ch. 9 off. I'm a big fan of keeping this small perk on if at all possible.

UAL282 A320 2/1 - ^^ with announcement
UAL916 B757 2/4 - :td: didn't ask

PS Cool story MPsince1984!!

Flights on 2/5/2012
 

UA373 LGA-ORD (320) ^ at boarding but :td: after safety video.
UA417 ORD-PDX (319) ^
UA746 PDX-ORD (319) :td: Same aircraft as UA417, so new cockpit crew turned it off.
UA502 ORD-LGA (320) ^

2/4
UA768 SFO-BOS ^ No announcement but on at boarding and remained on for the entire flight

2/4
UA503 BOS-SFO ^
Off when boarded. Asked one of the F/a's and she came back with a "the Captain said he just flipped the switch for you and thanks for the Tootsie-Pop®" ^. After arriving at SFO and while waiting outside for the shuttle to go get my car, I saw the captain and F/O waiting for their shuttle and went up to them and thanked them both where I got a "we aim to please" from the Captain ^

3 for 4
 

2/1 791 OAK to DEN A320 ^
2/1 740 DEN to MSY A320 ^^
2/4 295 MSY to DEN A320 :td: (declined for the "YouTube" reason)
2/4 561 DEN to OAK A319 ^^

2/2 UA 915 IAD-SFO :td:
2/2 UA 548 SFO-SEA ^ with announcement
2/5 UA 250 PDX-IAD ^

2/6 UA 468 SFO-SAN :td: