newarkblows

Not according to BWI, DCA, and MHT station ops. I have taken bags that couldnt fit in the prior flight and it was a normal thing in bwi because the rampers were ****y. It isn't a big deal but it does happen.

2StgTurbine

Well rampers are not always the best sources for information on aircraft. I have never worked a flight where we had to leave bags or passengers behind because of weight problems. Only once we had to burn off 60 lbs of fuel before takeoff to accommodate a full load of passengers, bags, a jumpseater, and about 2,000 lbs of extra fuel. So you can either listen to a ramper who has a hard time remembering how many bags can go into the aft baggage compartment and usually fills out the load sheet incorrectly, or you can listen to people who fly the aircraft.

sinsilvia666

in the years i been on the q, the only time we dont take all the bags is when they dont show up on time....other then that there was only once where we took bags (4 or 5) out of the back into the cabin to get a jumpseater on for weight, and that night we had bad weather and tanks almost full...she can haul it all

Speed Pilot

Depending on the station, I'll take the ramper's word any day of the week over the pilot. But I'm biased. I used to load bags for Horizon before getting hired to fly at XJT. Hub rampers suck but most outstation employees are usually way more educated than you think. The majority of our rampers in Boise held bachelor's and master's degrees in technical fields. They were just there part time to get flight benefits or insurance for their families if they ran their own business.

Pilots, especially new hires in the last 6 years, well let's just say C's get degrees seems to have been the motto.

That said. The Q400 is an absolute beast. Usually we wouldn't bulk out the pit unless we were taking over 120 bags. My record in the aft pit was 123 bags and I still had 800lbs of floor weight left to play with if I'd have had the room.

Coehill

I rather be in an embraer jet than the last row in a 757 no matter how long the flight is. Love when you get the geriatric lineup to the bathroom about 1 hour into the flight with everyone monkey swinging on your setback. Not being able to stand up straight sucks, but never having a middle seat and not running out of overhead space is priceless.

AxialFlow

My standard answer for when the Saab was made is sometime during WWII.

2StgTurbine

I never questioned the general intelligence of rampers, just their specific knowledge on aircraft. I no some get the Dash 200 and 300 mixed up. I wouldn't be surprised if a ramper heard a Q200 couldn't take all the bags and then retold that info as a Q having to leave some bags behind causing the next person assume they meant a Q400.

shimmydamp

Master's degrees? Yes. You are biased. Newarkblows mentioned BWI rampers in his case study. Not sure how close that is to Boise in terms of demographics.

blakman7

Are you kidding? If I were a recruiter at Delta, I would hire a B1900 guy over an RJ guy any day of the week. The B1900 guy will know how to FLY the airplane because that's what they have to do with no autopilot. It's all RAW flying which would make that guy much more proficient. I'm not saying that an RJ guy doesn't know how to fly the airplane because that would simply be a lie but some RJ guys would be more apt to rely on automation rather than flying the darn airplane. I don't know who the hell told you that flying a jet takes more skill but I think that you're HIGHLY mistaken.

blakman7

Again making yourself sound foolish. If there was a turboprop that carried 300+ people, I would guarantee that it would pay close to equal of what the majors are paying to fly a 737 or bigger. You do sound like you have "the shiny jet syndrome" though.