Floyd

Do you really trust a manager to determine, or should I say mandate, what kind of headset you're going to wear 70-90 hrs/mo?

HuggyU2

If the Captain I fly with wants to use the company supplied headset, that's fine. I talk loud, and they are free to abuse their hearing.

However, please:
1. provide a hot-mic or VOX system on the aircraft.
2. mandate that each pilot will speak to the other pilot using intercom below FL180

rvfanatic

Well said Huggy! I wonder what kind of lobbying it would take and using which methods to initiate such a change?

oldmako

I hate reading stuff like this.

KonaJoe

I don't know about that. On the 737, the company minitel with the hotmic on is like ear rape for the other pilot.

757Driver

Completely agree along with the heavy breathing, wheezing, coughing and all other annoying anatomical noises that go with it. No thanks.

So Huggy, once you upgrade you can run the hot mic system anyway you see fit. Until then, its the guy in the left seats call.

As a PS, mandate is a word you really don't want to be throwing around that carelessly.

JimLaheyTPS

I was always partial to the savory sounds of my fellow aviator enjoying the living hell out of his chew on the hot mic . Kinda reminds me of the magical sound an overweight, 14 year old basset hound makes when “cleaning himself”.

rvfanatic

People here act as if the technology isn’t available today to prevent hearing another pilot breathing or chewing, while still enabling normal communication. That sentiment is ignorant.

APC225

Does anyone know if the cushion tips seen on other boom mics might help with this problem?

EWRflyr

Do you pay attention and read communications from ALPA National at all? There is no mystery surrounding ALPA's position on the retirement age. It is standing direction in ALPA's Strategic Plan as voted on by the ALPA Board of Directors (i.e. ALL the elected representatives of the ALPA airlines) to oppose any effort to raise the retirement age from Age 65. I believe this was added three or four BOD's ago and has been reaffirmed and codified at each ALPA BOD meeting since.

And FYI, to again dispel false statements or notions, the L-CAL pilots did NOT overpay the LTD premiums. Each and every year under that plan, as is done today, an assessment was made to determine the money needed to cover projected benefits and the number of pilots who would need to take LTD. This resulted, as it does today, in an adjustment to the LTD premiums paid by ALL the pilots in the plan. Part of the calculation is how well the investment of the premiums perform. Due to the rise in the markets since the L-CAL LTD plan was frozen, there is an excess amount of money in the fund needed to pay those pilots still under the old L-CAL LTD plan. You didn't over pay. I didn't over pay. We paid exactly what the actuaries determined was needed to cover the individuals at the time the rate was set. The investment of those premiums has just done very well, not to mention that fewer L-CAL pilots remained out on LTD under that plan than was projected. You can make the case that the excess earnings should be returned to the pilots, but "over payment" is not the same as "over funding" in general. Just the facts.