ualp

Everybody's got an anecdote such as your's.

You do realize if something is broken we are REQUIRED by the FARs to write it up.
Notes on napkins clipped on the yoke are a big Bozo No No.

"Broken coffee pot"
That's how you phrase it. Makes a better story to call it the "coffee pot".
However, not the reality of the writeup.
The coffee makers are a rather large integral unit.
If something's broke on one of those it has to be written up.
Leaking water? VERY bad. Possible electrical issue? Also VERY bad.

"Dirty Windshields"
There's another one. Sounds good to word it that way if you want to dis the crew and imply that there is some kind of action.
Mgt tried several months ago to make an issue out of that one when the Miller Moth migration in DEN made every dept/arr a windshield killing field.
Think it's SAFE to takeoff and land with the windows obscured?
I don't like it in my car. I sure don't like it at several hundred mph.

You do realize that a new policy was instituted several months ago.
If we need the windows cleaned we MUST enter it as a log writeup and mx personnel must do the job.
We cannot just ask the cleaners to do it when they're onboard like we used to.

Despite my/our explanations, you continue to insinuate that there is some coordinated job action.
It is NOT happening.
Sadly, it seems you too easily swallow what is given to you by mgt in your daily briefings. (Yes, we hear what is being put out in those briefings. Friends, neighbors, and spouses working in CS and on ramp)

You're welcome!

Just callin' it like I see it from the trenches.
Give us the tools and we would soar at this place.
Unfortunately we're working with sticks and stones.

aCavalierInCoach

Hard to blame this one on UA; bigger story here will be how the pax are treated.

UA-NYC

Help us understand then WHAT is going on that seems to be causing massive amounts of cancellations (relatively speaking) compared to years past.

Is it the cross-fleeting?
Is it lack of spare parts?
Is it lack of spare planes?
Fewer hours for maintenance?
Higher utilization?
All of the above?

Fortunately I usually travel the day before a project, so I can absorb delays and cancellations - but I would not recommend UA to anyone right now who doesn't have the luxury.

Weyland Yutani Corp

Dude...I was also cancelled on UA921 SNA>SFO on July 4. MECHANICAL (flight was practically EMPTY, fyi). Ultimately arrived too late too connect into YYC that evening, thus having to spend the night in San Fran.

Then yesterday July 15 UA328 from MSP>DEN...cancelled. NO CREW. To top it off, the automated phone call came in at 12:15am, and took 20 mins on phone to re-book to a 6am flight (can you say NO sleep that night). That stuck me in Denver for 5 hour layover. My CR was dumped because of the cancel (it should re-credit apparently). Insult to injury run wild.

The re-booking agent for UA328 was an original United guy, and you could tell he wasn't happy with the new auto re-book computer. It's amazing (how vocal) how much the o.g. United employees can't stand the new system.

Anyway, called Customer Service today and laid it all on them. For the entire two trip mess they are sending me a $400 voucher.

ualp

Pilots must have swerved to ingest the animal.
Job Action!

JK!

aCavalierInCoach

Damn fine aim in that case!

Bralo20

Well since nothing has been shown in the press I guess everybody is happy since otherwise I would have guessed that the story would leaked by now, which it didn't. (it was announced by a passenger of that flight on a Belgian aviation forum)

ualp

YES!
As I've noted in MANY posts.

See United's recent announcement on how they intend to resolve the problems.
That should indicate that they now realize there are "issues" with regards to mx and staffing.
Unfortunately, it may be too little to late to mitigate the damage already done.

Tried to duck one the other day myself.
Still nailed the poor creature.
Got him right on the frame of my window.
Had to look at the "carnage" for several hours.
Oh the horror!

freshairborne

Nobody refuses an airplane for a dirty windshield or an inop coffee pot. If the windshield is dirty, we write it up for cleaning. If a coffee pot is inop (or any other part on an aircraft) we write it up, as required by federal law, not to mention our flight Ops manual, but don't confuse a write-up with a refusal.

I totally sympathize with our gate agents and CSRs, but I don't knowingly take a pass on something that isn't working properly either. We also have to deal with people when things go wrong, but it's usually not passengers the way you do.

A couple weeks ago, I refused an aircraft for an inop system. The airplane met MEL and FAA standards, but it wasn't prudent to fly that plane in it's current condition to that particular destination. I'm not going into specifics, but the it was a function of the destination airport in conjunction with the inop system that I refused the plane for.

Prior to refusing the plane, I called our maintenance controller to see if there was a solution we could work out. He told me he was expecting my call because it was unlikely that any pilot would accept that particular combination. He told me they would not fix the plane unless I refused it. So even though he acknowledged that it needed to be repaired prior to a flight to that airport, he said that unless it's shot down by a pilot, it will not be fixed until it's next maintenance event, per management order.

Does that sound like I was being set up to take a hit for a justifiable refusal? It sure did to me. End result, aircraft taken out of service because a pilot refused it.

FAB

UA-NYC

Just trying to understand - cross-fleeting wasn't as widespread last summer, but I just don't remember these massive amounts of cancellations and delays (of course, all anecdotal).

DCBob

No, not everyone. I have experienced NO cancellations this year. But I did have 3 long delays.

freshairborne

There is a distinction that you are ignoring. It's a different airline. UA and CO are under the same holding company, but United Express is not. I don't know what airline operates UX in & out of the Springs, but United Airlines isn't one of them.

Those examples that you use are particularly salient, though. United Airlines has outsourced fuel, catering, cleaning, etc. since I started working here in 1986, when United operated all of those things from within UAL, Inc. My Pas don't include any reference to the airline; only the info pertinent to the flight.

I honestly liked everything better when UA ran it.

FAB

aCavalierInCoach

Is this true of MEL issues too? Either way, if true, totally abhorrent behavior on mgmt's part.

ualp

I have lost count on how many times I've had a mx person tell me that.

As I posted, the line guys WANT to fix the planes. And they're good at what they do.
However, they are not given the latitude to do the job.
More often than not they pop into the cockpit, tell us they're going to defer the offending system, and put an orange sticker on it.
Then the call falls on our shoulders to decide whether or not the deferral is acceptable for our flight.

In effect, we are made out to be the "bad guy" because the PILOTS shot the plane down.
Then, that's what gets communicated to the pax, often at the hands of our CS folks.
And 'round and 'round we go!

halls120

Now why go and start injecting logic into this discussion?

I've been on flights pre-merger where pilots rejected an aircraft because not all nav systems were in working order. After they explained why they did it, no one on the plane was angry.

It is a simple fact that no United mainline aircraft serve COS. Thus, if you were sitting next to two "United" pilots at COS on layover, they weren't United pilots unless they were lost. :-)