SWA weight and balance

[GIZMONC]

Additionally an experienced ops agent friend at SWA told me that they were having w&b issues with the 800's and the way they configure and load them. He indicated that it was a real pain and that they were trying to rework the system so it wasn't such a problem. But no solution yet...

800's which have 175 seats are a ROYAL PAIN IN THE A _ _. I had one last evening booked at 86. SWA does not want to move any passengers so you load to the best of your ability with a preflight, load up the passengers and hope you did it right. Add in the 3 zones for pax weight and DAMN, you have to move 26 bags from FWD to AFT to get in TRIM. Seems to me it would be much easier to have pax sit more forward since the 800 is tail heavy by nature.

 

[humveedriver]

Open seating on the stubby -200 forty years ago was probably a great idea. Maybe not so much now with the longer tubes.

 

[Lear70]

Open seating on the stubby -200 forty years ago was probably a great idea. Maybe not so much now with the longer tubes.

Hush yo mouth!

 

[SWA GUY]

I usually just pick up the phone and call dispatch to let them know I will burn more taxi fuel than the standard flight plan says. The jump seater gets on every time.

A little out-da-box thinking keeps everyone happy, and traveling.

 

[Just thinking]

Do other 800 operators have this same issue?

 

[nimtz]

Do other 800 operators have this same issue?

Only w/b issues I've had with an 800 is on 6K or less runways. Then again very few operators are configured to 186 seats like LUV.

 

[scoreboardII]

Luv jets only have 175 seats.

 

[igneousy2]

There is also a possiblity that the agent was intending to do your buddy a favor. If things are so out of whack that there is a near zero possibility of getting him on, it might have been a twisted way of saying, you better find another option.

Better than what a lot of agents do, take your name, run you through CASS, "okay sir we'll call you", when there are 5 company guys already listed and they are about to start looking for volunteers.

 

[critterair2]

Happens freq between FLL and mco

 

[capt1900]

Happens freq between FLL and mco

That's why those flights are done.

 

[Ty Webb]

I usually just pick up the phone and call dispatch to let them know I will burn more taxi fuel than the standard flight plan says. The jump seater gets on every time.

A little out-da-box thinking keeps everyone happy, and traveling.

Luckily, at FL, it's still up to the Pilots to make the final call about bumping jumpseaters for weight issues. . . . an accurate kiddie count helps . . Lots of our Agents have forgotten all about those, since it rarely is an issue with the -700 or the 717.

Taxi burn, a better altitude, or closer alternate can all help, too.

 

[737tanker]

an accurate kiddie count helps

At SWA the kiddie count is now done automatically by the computer based on info from the reservation.

 

[FIREMAN]

AT SOP is to use the reservation kid count too, it is usually off by several. If there is a wight issue we can always ask the FA for a true kid count. The trick is getting the agent to change the .Z.

 

[SWA Bubba]

AT SOP is to use the reservation kid count too, it is usually off by several. If there is a wight issue we can always ask the FA for a true kid count. The trick is getting the agent to change the .Z.

It used to just be SOP at Southwest, now it's fully automatic with no override ability. It's based on the fact that you have to put the date of birth for each passenger (TSA reg) when you buy a ticket. Then the computer does it whether you asked it to or not. Plus the Ops agent won't know for sure until the actual boarding passes are scanned as the kids actually get on. I think they took away the manual method at least partially because some Ops agents would every now and then list phantom kids weights just to get under ATOG when performance was tight (i.e. he realizes he's a thousand pounds over gross, and suddenly he 'finds' 11 kids, and now you've got 100 pounds to spare).

Bubba

 

[humveedriver]

It used to just be SOP at Southwest, now it's fully automatic with no override ability. It's based on the fact that you have to put the date of birth for each passenger (TSA reg) when you buy a ticket. Then the computer does it whether you asked it to or not. Plus the Ops agent won't know for sure until the actual boarding passes are scanned as the kids actually get on. I think they took away the manual method at least partially because some Ops agents would every now and then list phantom kids weights just to get under ATOG when performance was tight (i.e. he realizes he's a thousand pounds over gross, and suddenly he 'finds' 11 kids, and now you've got 100 pounds to spare).

Bubba

That would be a bad scenario in Mexico City. Saw bleeds off performance data at 73 degrees OAT! I also got to see what the end of the 13,000 runway looks like at about 165 knots and probably 100 feet agl.