AZ wildcat

Alright, I give. I'll step lightly into a discussion this stupid. I happen to be able to read and Kyle simply mentioned the manner in which FA's at TSA are trained to handle the closing of the door needs revisiting.
Now there's a few saying how he's "throwing crap at the new FA's" and is "not ready to be a CA".
It's laughable how far you two nerds go to get a rise out of people. One day you admit TSA has room for improvement and the next you jump on anyone who has a single negative thing to say. It's sad.

KyleMyers

Mav, in case you can't read, and you clearly can't, I will quote what I wrote earlier. I never, never, once, said anything negative about any of our co-workers. Only that the way they are trained and their policies could be changed to help our flights get out on time more.

Bellanca

I've seen it twice in the last two weeks where delays were placed on the FA and an inflight manager called the FA breathing down their neck to investigate the next day:

#1 - Our plane wasn't at the gate when we arrived to start our pairing, About 15 min after our show time, they finally get the jet brige hooked up to the plane and let us get on, and next thing the ramp agents want to board like 2 minutes later and the FA says she isn't ready. She got the plane ready quickly, yet we were late to board and the new inept stl ground crew took forever to get the bag sheet, but they placed the delay on her because we didn't board on time because she said she wasn't ready (despite having 2 minutes to do something that she should have had at lesst 15 for).

#2 - After a waiting well over an hour to take off from LGA and a long leg, the lav was disgusting and literally filled to the brim and about to overflow with crap, the FA refused to board until the lav was cleaned (the whole a$$ end of the plane smelled like a sewer). Again she had an inflight manager interrogating her the next day.

So there you go, two examples from the past two weeks, two different FAs (niether of them brand new), one on American and one on United. The gate agents are looking to place blame on the crew, and if the FA says she isn't ready to board (no matter if the reason why was completely out of her control and the fault of someone else), they'll try to put the delay on her for not having the aircraft ready to board on time regardless.

CBreezy

So, use that fancy Dep Delay function of your ACARS to blame the ramp so they don't keep placing the blame on you.

CBreezy

K1 has an open door policy. If you are that concerned about this, talk to him. Otherwise, tell the Gate not to pull the bridge and maybe board a few minutes early. If you don't get your final 10 prior, the blame goes to the gate.

MavAv8r

See below.


Damn it you always beat me to it. That goes along with being a Captain right? Or a half ass decent FO?

You tip toe the line boss. On one hand you are blaming the FA...that's what chit chatting and wasting time means and you also rip on the policy. So yes, you are still ripping on your own crew instead of doing something about it. End of story.

Don't blatantly rip on your FA and then come one here and make it sound like it's just the "policy" that's the problem. In all honesty it's not even the policy that's the problem. It's gate agents placing undue blame, which YOU can fix, and it's new FAs not necessarily knowing how to streamline some things. Help them.

Future Cpt Kirk

How is scheduling at TSA? What kind of trips and off time should a junior to mid-level line holder expect to bid? Do you guys frequently bid more than two consecutive days in a row off (ever get three or four)? Also, how is the hiring going there? Would a guy getting on in August still be able to expect an 18-24 month upgrade? Thanks guys.

FlyingKat

Exactly. If the ground ops people do their jobs and complete their tasks by 10 prior and have the aircraft properly prepared when we get there, then there is plenty of time for the FA to get their job done and get the plane out on time, no matter how new or anal the FA is.

As was said earlier, document when the aircraft isn't ready and report it via the delay mask.

FlyingKat

My point was in response to the statement about Gate Agents pulling the jetbridge. If there are not stairs present, the agents are required to leave the jetbridge attached until the FA closes the door for safety reasons. Of course you should say something, but if they pull early and someone is hurt as a result, then it is on the Gate Agent, no one else.

Lots of these problems could be solved by competent gate agents doing their jobs correctly, but it seems the competent ones are getting replaced more and more by cheaper versions that don't know what they are doing and nor do they really care.

bjohnson09

Expect 11 days off for reserve. And 12-13 days off when you hold a line. These lines will normally block 80-85 hours depending on the base. The type of trip depends on the base. In STL, we have a lot of 2 or 3 day trips. Denver has a lot of 4 day trips. And Im not sure about IAD. For a line holder, most days off sequences are either 2 or 3 days. There are the random lines where you can see anywhere between 4-6 (4 happens, but 5 or 6 is rare). On reserve you will get to request 2 series of 3 consecutive days where you are guaranteed to be off and scheduling can't call you. Choice of these days are seniority based. There isn't much room for trading, dropping, swapping trips because of the lack of reserve coverage. I was denied everything for July except for adding a trip.

We are running a little behind with hiring especially for the summer months. Looks like we are putting 20-25 through a month. Reserve guys are slim and they are working hard. There are still a lot of airplanes coming and we need all the guys we can get. As an August new-hire, IMO I think you could still expect a 24 month upgrade.