A Pinnacle captain with some balls

[TIS]

That was stupid of the CA. Aren't we in the business to move people from point A to point B?

No, the company is.

If you don't like something the company is doing you should take it up with them at an appropriate time.

I'm quite confident they have. I'm also quite confident no one at that company, in business to move people around, was listening.

Don't get in a pissing match and punish the people in the back.

Fine, then pick up the mesages and respond to them as probably every manual on the subject of company operations says to do.

If what you posted is correct then that shows a lack of class.

Yup! It sure does. A company that relies on its pilots' personal expenditures to help float their less-than-adequate operational scheme has no class!

 

[TIS]

BOO HOO!!! You have a responsibility to the people in your care. Like I said, take it up with the company but don't punish the passengers. Am I the only who thinks this is an outrage?

Again you pin the happiness of the passengers squarely on the actions of the crew but that just ain't all there is to it - and with 15,000 hours you KNOW that!

It may well be an outrage but the pilot was WELL within his rights to decline to use a form of communication that is a) probably illegal once the plane is underway according to their own pre-departure briefing, and b) generates a cost of operation to be bourne by the company, not it's employees.

A company with some class gets its ducks in a row. This one clearly doesn't - at least not all the time - and therein lies the outrage sir. Leave the pilots out of it. They're just doing their jobs.

 

[TWA Dude]

If you use your cellphone for business purposes it becomes tax-deductable.

 

[SkyWestCRJPilot]

I was curious how much I used my cell phone for calling the company for work last month. I looked on my statement and I called the company for work related issues (maintenance, dispatch, etc.) 53 minutes. That amounts to $4.51 last month for my cell phone plan. Now it sure would be nice to have the company pay for that. But had I spent 10 minutes getting out of the cockpit every time to find a landline phone or waited 10 minutes for an ACARS message instead of just using my cell phone then I would have spent 3 hours and 20 minutes of my own time, and almost all of it in the cockpit at the gate not with the main cabin door closed making money. I consider the $4.51 well worth it for my own savings of time. What do you want? Do you want the company to pay you $4.51 a month in cell phone expenses? If so they'll negotiate something else in return which will cost you much more. Pick your battles. Cell phones expenses aren't it.

 

[PCL_128]

What do you want? Do you want the company to pay you $4.51 a month in cell phone expenses?

No, I want the company to fix the root cause of the problem. The problem here is that the company is not answering messages that are being sent by approved means. The dispatchers are so overworked and understaffed that they can't handle all the flights that are thrown at them each hour. Our computer systems used in SOC are so old that they sometimes crash several times an hour. The cell phone minutes isn't the issue, the issue is an entire support structure that is practically nonexistent. The only way to fix that is by taking delays because of it. Without that, management will just turn their back on the problem and gladly accept the "help" from the pilot force. The pilots have to do more than our fair share at this company to keep things running smoothly. It's time for managment to shift the burdens where they actually belong.

 

[redbook]

cell phone expenses are a real and legitimate expense. Trans States, despite our current problems, will reimburse pilots for the minutes used in company business. Just submit an expense report and you are paid. I think you guys might be just assuming you are not going to get reimbursed at other airlines.

 

[PCL_128]

Just submit an expense report and you are paid. I think you guys might be just assuming you are not going to get reimbursed at other airlines.

It's been tried. Management at Pinnacle does not reimburse for cell phone expenses.

 

[jayme]

SkyWest does, according to a captain I just flew with.

 

[Flying Illini]

Ok, lets look at this from another perspective. The passenger. If I knew that I was sitting in an uncomfortable, hot, metal tube for 1.5 hrs b/c the pilots wouldn't use 2 measly cell minutes because "it's the principle of the matter," not only would I be writing a letter to management about it, I would have volunteered my phone to get us on our way!

Ok, company approved avenues didn't work, you can sit and play disgruntled airline pilot, OR you can get your phone, make a phone call and quickly explain the situation, then hang up (1 or 2 minute phone call) then wait for your ACARS message.

I agree, you have to draw the line somewhere, but if you have to use your cell phone for company business twice a month, then so be it. If it's being abused by the company, then it's a problem, but you could have had 50 happy pax, instead you have 50 unhappy pax.

Just get the job done.


Oh yeah, I sometimes have to use my cell phone in Canada on business. The company didn't use to reimburse us, though they do now. But it's a flat rate and it doesn't cover my entire plan. So I guess, calls that have to be made in Canada, still come out of my pocket, oh well, it's got to be done to get the job done and to keep the customers happy.

 

[SkyBoy1981]

There's a few that can't seem to get by the cell phone issue. I don't work for Pinnacle, and thankfully where I work this is rarely ever an issue. But like PCL said this issue at Pinnacle apparently goes much deeper than simply using a cell phone. It is a staffing problem that needs to be fixed. If people keep going on a limb to "get the job done", then why should the company ever be motiviated to get their act together?