Bad Ground Equipment (GPU's, etc.)

[Typhoon1244]

Summer in DFW. Our APU was deferred. Total bummer.

The first GPU they brought over wouldn't take any kind of a load at all...not even turning off the hydraulics and the probe heat helped. The second GPU they brought out didn't work at all. The third hadn't been fueled that day! With no more GPU's to choose from, we ended up improvising a shut-down procedure for #2 with no external power.

Sometimes I think problems like this are unique to my own regional carrier. Do the rest of you guys deal with crap like this?

 

[ATR-DRIVR]

LOL Don't EVEN get me started about that in ATL!

 

[jjbiv]

Try finding a working air cart in MDW...

joe

 

[Flying Illini]

He's a character on the Simpsons, you know, he owns the Quik-e-mart.

 

[ILikePlanes]

Heck try to find any working ground equipment at MDW.

 

[Typhoon1244]

What's an APU?

In your case, it's that big loud thing bolted to your right wing.

 

[wil]

Typhoon- I fell your pain! I was waiting to put my wife on a Brasillia flight last weekend and watched as 3 ac carts were rolled to the plane and none seemed to work! The ground crew had to wait for a flight to get cleared so they could get the operating cart. My wife"s flight left 1 hour late. It's no wonder people call us, "Another Sh*tty Airline" Wil

 

[T-Gates]

In your case, it's that big loud thing bolted to your right wing.

Sh!t, you beat me to it, I was about to say the same thing.

--03M

 

[tarp]

GPU's???

How about rampers that know hand signals?
How about wands so we can see those hand signals?
How about lighted wands so we can see them at night?
How about more than one push bar per 20 gates?
How about 3-man crews so that we actually have wing walkers and baggage loaders?
How about a lav cart that all on its own takes the initative and just does it instead of pilots calling 3 times for lav service?
How about if somebody bounded up the stairs and handed me the Dispatch Release?
and
How about if the headsets for tug drivers actually carried sound waves both ways?

OK, now that we have the ramp doing exactly what their "normal" job description entails, now we can look for extras like GPU's, Air Carts, etc, etc.

 

[Typhoon1244]

GPU's??? How about rampers that know hand signals? How about wands so we can see those hand signals? How about lighted wands so we can see them at night? How about more than one push bar per 20 gates? How about 3-man crews so that we actually have wing walkers and baggage loaders? How about a lav cart that all on its own takes the initative and just does it instead of pilots calling 3 times for lav service? How about if somebody bounded up the stairs and handed me the Dispatch Release...[etc.]

Sometimes I wonder why we have to call in-range at all. You should see the looks of shock and awe I get when I set the parking brake, then put my hands up to the window and slap my fist into my palm ("Connect External Services"). What was the point of my telling anybody fifteen minutes prior to arrival that I needed a GPU?

 

[chperplt]

ac carts

I go into LGA all the time.. I see Beech 1900s with the jetway A/C lines running into the cargo bay and through the opening into the cabin. Hmm I say.. That's a good idea. I call in range and ask for the A/C hook up. They hook it up and WOW.. the cabin is freezing. Time to load up now.. In the 2 minutes it took to remove the hook up and get the people down, the cabin was back to 100 degrees... Hmmm.

(If none of the above makes any sense it's because I've been up for 19 hours now..)