New ASA Boarding Procedure w/o Pilots!

[shamrock]

Wow, can you imagine how mad all those passengers are going to be when their flight is cancelled for lack of crew after they've been sitting on the airplane for over an hour?

 

[CFI2766]

The airplane will have a GPU & an air cart running when this procedure is in effect.

Also, the FAs are supposed to have access to a jetway phone, ergo, communications with (gate agent/ramp/Labreque/someone who cares...)

This policy has the potential to save some time. However, it also has some serious risks. I don't get the feeling that the risks to the passengers have been adequately addressed. As well, I suspect the first passenger that comes to grief over this process will have an easy time in court proving negligence on the part of the airline. Also, let's face it, the FAs who will be babysitting these aircraft will more than likely be the most junior FAs. What will happen when a junior FA comes in contact with a unhappy/rowdy/drunk passenger? Leave the aircraft unattended to access the phone in the jetway to call for help?

A more likely scenario is operations folks boarding an airplane without really knowing where the crew is, or when they will actually get to the airplane. We all know that the gate agents are much more concerned about getting the passengers out of their gate area than about whether or not the airplane actually should be boarded. I see the potential for aircraft having to be boarded and then un-boarded several times as the scheduling displays their normal efficiency in locating flight crews.

 

[Palerider957]

The airplane will have a GPU & an air cart running when this procedure is in effect.

This is where the policy will fail. I can't imagine ASA/GSE reliability has improved a bit, so this policy will be a paper policy almost never used.

 

[IamHYPOXIC2]

Ok, this is a retarded rule. It might work for DELTA...but not ASA. Ground facilities or not, the inbound crew might wait 30 minutes for wheelchairs and then satisfy physical needs before even thinking about getting to the plane. People may sit on board a cramped RJ for 45 min to an hour before their pilots even show up. Then the airplane might be put in MTC or who knows what....DEPLANE!! DEPLANE!! This will make passengers very happy. Another well thought out idea by our mis-managed airline.

 

[Jmoney]

Nuts!

jmoney something else man, you only get violated, if you did something that caused the incident or accident to happen. If you arent there then you cant get in trouble. In order to hold you accountable they have to prove that you had a duty to act, and that you breached that duty!! You will be ok man. Be a captain dude, not a worry wart !!

This is simply nuts! Lets say a fuel truck hits the airplane, fuel starts dumping out everywhere, and now you have a situation. Pilots know how to use the radios, know the technical aspects of what risks are involved, and can make an informed judgement about the situation. What will some "transient" FA who has been here two weeks do?

If you read the memo on this crap, there is one FA on the plane, out of communication with everyone, and he or she is supposed to acutally ask panicked passengers to do many of the things she can't do-like get off the plane and call someone. Why the hell does the intercom between the flight deck and FA have to be working for dispatch? Because the FA needs to be able to communicate! This is a huge f-ing mess!

The lawyers will have a field day with this if anything ever happens, and you can bet they will sue/attempt to violate everyone who had anything to do with this aircraft. When the landing gear fell off a few years back and some woman sprained her ankle during an evacuation, she sued everyone who had anything to do with that flight, all the crew, the dispatcher, the freaking gate agents, etc. I do not want to be involved in something similar! Don't bet ASA will spend a dime to defend your butt!

-Find something better to suck up to these retards about!

 

[sweptback]

I think you guys are missing the best part. With the jetway hooked to the aircraft, one FA on board, and ground services running, the flight crew may leave the aircraft with passengers on board.

Waiting for 5 wheelchairs on the last flight of your 4-day? Tough luck, see you on the bus!

 

[SuperPilot]

So if I'm correct at how this will work, the plane will have a GPU and air hooked up and a FA on board. Who turns the airplane on to actually utilize the ground power? And who is the one who will shut off the plane when the GPU plug is accidentally knocked out or stops supplying power and the tubes overheat?

I don't work there, just curious.

--SP

 

[HoserASA]

my crystal balls are cloudy. .

They have shots for that www.!

Hoser

 

[HoserASA]

As long as you're not there, you are not responsible for what may occur. ASA/DAL is taking responsibility for this, and as been mention, Delta does it routinely. Should be comical to watch though. Fly Safely!

Hoser

 

[crjskipper]

jmoney take your meds. what if a fuel truck crashes into a delta jet at a15. fa's will do the same thing on us as delta fa's do. remember the letter says only at delta gates. and btw, the emer lite can be turned on from the fa phone panel, and gpu power can be turned on from the outside,they dont need the cockpit.

 

[Smoked Toilet]

The big question: "How about them 'Emergency Exit Lights' that lead to the the emergency exits?" Who is going to arm those?

Fortunately, the flight attendant Emergency Light Switch is the one switch they have control over that will "override" the flight deck. It works regardless of flight deck selection of the switch.

As far as boarding without pilots, I see no problem with it.

 

[shamrock]

As far as boarding without pilots, I see no problem with it.

Nor do I, as long as the company is OK with letting passengers sit on the airplane for long periods of time while their pilots get something to eat, hit the head, and hoof it from E to A. And you thought we had some surly passengers now!

 

[Jmoney]

Problems

jmoney take your meds. what if a fuel truck crashes into a delta jet at a15. fa's will do the same thing on us as delta fa's do. remember the letter says only at delta gates. and btw, the emer lite can be turned on from the fa phone panel, and gpu power can be turned on from the outside,they dont need the cockpit.

Maybe you missed the part about the ONE flight attendant we have on our aircraft. That means that ONE FA is going to be telling 50 panicked people what to do alone. How many passengers will totally lose their poop? Our FA is going to have to ask one of them to do this and another to do that, because our FA can't leave the aircraft?

This whole procedure is silly. It invites trouble and clearly was not designed for us. Comparing our plane to Delta's is not valid-they always have at least 3 or more Flight attendants available to handle things.

If anything happens, just wait and see what a legal poop storm comes up!

 

[Oakum_Boy]

I wonder what will happen when the external flight deck power switch is left in, the aircraft is powered up and the display cooing fan goes inop. The CRTs burn up, the pax get evacuated, and fire services called on scene. Pilot Error, I'll betcha. Even though you were in the men's room. Sounds good.

 

[bailout]

how long is the FA going to be onboard before the pilots gets there? they usually walk over somewhat together from the last airplane to the new one and the pilots usually get there first anyway.

 

[goahead]

Who cares you bunch of babies, you'd send back a new car b/c the front window looked too clear.

This places no more responsibility on us, it just lets us get off the plane once power is established, we are not going to be held responsible for something that happened when we weren't on the aircraft. I got a response last week from a RIF I wrote back in Feb.

LET IT GO..... Someone else is making a decision other than you.

ASA=NO accountability

 

[CFI2766]

how long is the FA going to be onboard before the pilots gets there? they usually walk over somewhat together from the last airplane to the new one and the pilots usually get there first anyway.

That's just another questionable part of this policy: It will be a ready reserve FA. Sooo, this poor gal will be getting 1.50 an hour to babysity some of the potentially most angry passengers at the airport.

And, when the folks are boarded, they will want to know why they have to sit on the airplane. They answer that everyone will give them is that their pilots were not there time.

 

[Oakum_Boy]

The problem with this place is that they come up with these schemes that do absolutely nothing to solve the core issues.

Bandaid City. That will be the new name of our hangar! I won!!!! I won!!!!

 

[TOOL CRIB]

Good grief people, did any of you even read the memo or are you just joining the b1tching bandwagon because it makes you feel better?

1) They will only start boarding the aircraft when the pilots are on the ground and deboarding their current flight.

2) They aren't going to power up the entire airplane. All they have to do is hook up ground power and push the switch on the external power services panel to turn on the cabin lights. The cockpit will be dark except for possibly the dome light!

3) The flight attendant can use the emergency lights from her/his own switch.

4) You cannot be held responsible if something that happens to your plane when you aren't even there yet! Delta is taking this responsibility! Let them have it!

You guys need to actually read and understand the memo before you trounce it. Heck, we haven't even gotten the FOM revision yet which will lay out more details. Stop whining about crap you dont even know about.

 

[Oakum_Boy]

Then you show up and the airplane is overweight. Game over.

 

[ACL65PILOT]

It is about time. It makes a 40 minute turn with a swap doable. We do it at DAL every day. We show up 15 min before departure and normally make it out on time.

 

[www.]

Maybe you missed the part about the ONE flight attendant we have on our aircraft. That means that ONE FA is going to be telling 50 panicked people what to do alone. How many passengers will totally lose their poop? Our FA is going to have to ask one of them to do this and another to do that, because our FA can't leave the aircraft?

This whole procedure is silly. It invites trouble and clearly was not designed for us. Comparing our plane to Delta's is not valid-they always have at least 3 or more Flight attendants available to handle things.

If anything happens, just wait and see what a legal poop storm comes up!

Once again, you fly airplanes, you don't manage the airline. Your not on the aircraft means you have no liability. Who cares about the legal storm. It's not your problem.

 

[John Pennekamp]

I'd be curious to hear from some ASA F/A's about this.

Here's what one FA had to say... forwarded message below:

Dear Anthony,
I have a few questions regarding the new turn regulations that were not addressed in the FAQ's email: To begin with, in some cases the F/A will be performing many service duties while waiting for the pilots to show up such as serving water to PAX's who take medication and serving food to PAX's who have low blood-sugar levels - that is, if the F/A doesn't just initially decide to do a full water and snack service to everyone as a way of distracting the PAX's from the delay which would be the act of a good hostess/host. These are duties that are typically reserved for block-time pay. Will the F/A receive block pay while on the ground entertaining the PAX's and waiting for the pilots? If not and the F/A refuses to do extra work for no extra pay, then do you think the PAX's will be happy waiting on a potentially hot, small-enclosed A/C with a smelly one-person bathroom that stinks to high-heaven when it's flushed and no access to food and drink, or do you think they'd be more comfortable waiting in the gate area where they would have access to all of the above in more abundance and higher quality?
On the same note, I know that there's supposed to be a working air cart hooked up, but what if there's not? Sure we can try to notify someone, but, in reality, every ATL employee is super-busy with just their basic duties, and it could take a while to actually get a hold of someone, and then it could take an even longer while for someone to actually hook up the cart. That's a lot of time in a tightly-enclosed area with 50 hot and disgruntled strangers. Furthermore, since the F/A is not allowed to deplane for any reason while there are PAX's on board, are we expected to force a PAX to call someone on the jet way phone about the lack of air or force a PAX to go all the way back up the jet bridge and inform a gate agent? I don't think the PAX's want to feel as if they are being forced to work for their own flight - not to mention the fact that I have no clue how to operate that jet way phone - let alone instruct someone else on it. Are we going to be trained on it?
Plus, maybe the caterers and cleaners are faster in concourses A & B, but in C & D they can be as slow as Christmas. Just because the PAX's are ready to board, doesn't mean that the flight will depart any sooner. We all may still have to wait for those departments to perform their duties in order to go, and it's more difficult and time-consuming for them and the F/A to do their job if there are 50 people in the way. I know that I can never delay a flight due to trash in the cabin or lack of catering, but it's pretty "ghetto" when the flight has to go without one or both of those elements being achieved. I'm sure I don't have to remind you that PAX's remeber the cleanliness and options of food and drink when booking another flight in the future.
In conclusion, please don't think these questions are coming from a lazy employee who only wants to do as little work as possible. On the contrary, as a F/A who takes a lot of pride in the above-and-beyond service that I provide, I prefer to have the opportunity to fully prepare the A/C for our valuable customers from whom we are all trying to get repeat business. For example, I lay out water on every PAX's seat before they board, and I walk through the cabin offering snacks from the serving basket before the flight ever departs. And I execute all this and the typical cleaning and catering duties that every ASA F/A has to do - and I do it without ever delaying a flight. I find nothing more important in the field of commercial aviation than transporting our PAX's as fast as possible so they can all make their connecting flights or other engagements. I feel like this new system is punishing those that already work very hard to turn A/C's in an extremely minute amount of time. Most ASA employees in the in-flight department are already very disgruntled for reasons pertaining to an appearance of lack of company appreciation. Putting more stress on an already stressful job that pays very little is not a good company-morale boosting move. I believe in this company, though, and I believe that we, operating in smaller A/C's, can offer better customer service and give more personal attention to our PAX's. The safety, quality and speed of our operation is what will make us great. The F/A's are doing all that we can. Please don't punish us for a job already well-done.
Thank you for your time,

******

 

[ASARJMan]

Great letter, but again, for now this only applies at concourses A and B. Please read the memo!

 

[Smacktard]

Also, let's face it, the FAs who will be babysitting these aircraft will more than likely be the most junior FAs.

I didn't realize we had the ability to bid for trips that go in and out of A and B... Are they only sending airplanes with reserve FAs over to concourse A/B?

 

[John Pennekamp]

I didn't realize we had the ability to bid for trips that go in and out of A and B... Are they only sending airplanes with reserve FAs over to concourse A/B?

Uh, no, they will be calling reserve FAs to go sit on these planes until the real crews show up. Or extending more senior FAs to do it.

 

[Stifler's Mom]

Don't worry everybody. This is just a warm up for next week. For all you non-ASAers, we have another round of contract negotiations next week, and when they're over, you're all gonna wish we were still on this new boarding policy.

Until then, keep warming up with this topic so we're all in midseason form come next week.:uzi:

 

[John Pennekamp]

In other words, if you commute to work, it would be a bad idea to rely on ASA for the next few weeks.

 

[Stifler's Mom]

In other words, if you commute to work, it would be a bad idea to rely on ASA for the next few weeks.

Doesn't it say something about your company if your own pilots avoid commuting on you?

 

[701EV]

Man you guys can't see the forest because the trees are in the way! Who do you think wants it
this way? DELTA. Who is telling ASA to park at every concourse in ATL? DELTA. Who is involved in every decision that is made at ASA lately? DELTA. When was the last time we heard from Uncle Jerry? Can you read between the lines. A man in the ramp tower recentlly told me, Sir Delta does this everyday. We know that Delta is a fine tuned machine in many ways. Read between the lines!

701EV