Channel 9 Working ???
 

I know that channel 9 is at the discretion of the pilot, but over the last couple of weeks I have been on UA 4 flights and channel 9 hasn't worked.

Just wondering if channel 9 is working elsewhere?

Thanks

Worked just fine on my last trip. It was a lot of fun listening to the traffic around Salt Lake. There were a couple of folks who asked for different routings but they were told no, you can't do that, the military's got that space.

Had channel 9 on all four segments LAS-ORD-BTV outbound on 2/9 and return 2/11.

had channel 9 this weekend on 3 of 4 legs phl-ord-sfo, sfo-ord-phl. esp. love listening to channel 9 at o'hare -- atc there is awesome!

sometimes i think i fly ual just for channel 9.

9 was on my 4 flights this past weekend (SFO/ORD/ATL/IAD/SFO) Also learned that a new "curtains open all the time" directive came down. And for the first time since October, all the curtains were open all the time on all these flights.

There are lengthy threads on this in the past. You may be able to increase your chances of ch.9 by asking the crew, but this won't work every time. Like others, I've found ch.9 working on most post-9/11 flights. Sometimes, it'll be on but your headset may be inop, so don't eliminate that possibility. I did find a senior Captain last week who was outspokenly anti-ch.9 because he "didn't want anyone who might cause trouble on his aircraft to know more about its position" than he did. While I disagree with his reasoning, he was the Captain; and as UA says, it's "at the Captain's discretion"

The only time it wasn't really available on my recent trips was due to the SuperBowl http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

It was on LAX-LHR yesterday. And the curtains were closed BTW.

Came from Europe last week, connected at ORD. I always ask about Channel 9 when I board and when I get anything but a "Yes", I politely inquire about asking the Captain. Overwater flight was a "Only if a passenger is specifically asking" (FA told me Captain turned it on because I asked). Domestic was a resounding "NO!" that I heard all the way back at the door. Curtains were open all the time on both flights and no announcement about "classes of service divided by curtains " was made either.

Curtains closed between class of service is at the discretion of the crew.

I noticed on my weekend IAD - DUS flights that the curtains were left open the whole flight, plus the food carts were left in the aisles about 60% of the flight.

I was kinda concerned about the carts if we hit turbulence . . .

Channel 9 was available Friday SNA-SFO in an A320. The guy next to me, who was also an FF, was not aware of the existence of channel 9, and didn't understand why its even there (he slept the whole way).

However, my previous flights LAX-SJC had NO channel 9 (or channel 8, or 1, or even a place to plug in headsets) on the dreaded CRJ.

Channel 9 was available a couple of weeks ago from NRT-LAX.

When I sit near the flight deck, I usually knock politely and ask the captain to please have it on for us. It usually works. Once, a captain gazed intently at me as if pondering something, and then saying yes. And several times I've gotten nos.

If I get a yes, I thank them and say that's why I fly United, and wish them good luck with keeping the airline afloat. Usually puts them into a good spirit knowing they've retained a good customer.

If I get a no, I say that's really too bad and "It's an important reason why I choose United."

On long transpac flights, I try to visit the flight deck prior to door closing and also inquire about the routing and timing. Despite September 11, flight deck crews have been as willing now as they were before 9/11 to share this information with me. Some crews are standoffish, and some are very friendly. With 4 flight deck crewmen, usually one or two of the guys in the jumpseats will entertain me for a while while the other two continue with preflight checks. They're often happy to pull out maps and printouts. And I always try not to take up too much of their time.

Of course, one reason they're so candid may be that I'm very friendly and don't look threatening at all. I take an interest in their profession, and I never demand their time or Channel 9 as a right.

Does he also try to disable the Airshow? That's a much better graphical presentation of where we are than what is available in the cockpit (in terms of referencing geographical points of interest and overall position). And knowing that you're talking to Chicago Center gives away so much position information. There are some guys who are just a joy to fly with.

--Mark Rogers