SWA wing walkers?

[F9 Driver]

Just curious… I’ve never seen Southwest use wing walkers on push back or taxi in.
Are they not needed? If that is the case, how did they get the feds to sign off on that?

Thanks!

 

[chase]

SWA uses a two man & sometimes a 3 person pushback. The person driving the tug, a wing walker & in some cases two (most of the time 2). I've never heard the FAA make a complaint....I don't know how SWA's safety record rates compared to other carriers but I believe we have no more accidents than other carriers operating in tight spaces (like others)....we'll keep our fingers crossed....our procedures have been changed in the last year to make push-back accidents less likely but most of the credit goes to the great rampers we have who do a great job in some rather tight spots (LA alley being the toughest I think, 1, 2, 3 & 3A are nightmares but those guys make it look easy).

 

[Frontier1]

UAL needs more wing boys here in Denver.

 

[F9 Driver]

Thanks Chase,

I saw SWA push in SEA the last few times I was up there and saw two people on the tug with nobody on the ground watching the wings.

The tug rider could see both wing tips I guess and that's how I figured they were doing it. I've just never seen that before.

 

[chase]

Wing-walkers don't adequately describe what the 2nd person does but certainly they do clear the area. They do remain in the general vicinity of the towbar but do clear visually where the aircraft is going....once the push is over with they unhook the towbar & comm cord....normal push to clearing of the tug is around 2-3 minutes (hopefully less)....having locations at airports that allow for short taxi times are a key in our "min-time" on the ground philosophy....all of these factors are well choreographed & reviewed to make sure we spend as little time on the ground as possible but remain safe.

Also by only requiring 2 persons vs. 3 (I don't know why some airlines do, unions, previous accidents mandated it, etc.) we save 1/3rd the costs in crews. Our employee to airplane ratio is around 73 & dropping rapidly thankfully....most airlines are much higher. This is a good example of how SWA attempts to be efficient yet safe.

 

[oldxfr8dog]

walk around

Not trying to start trouble here, just an honest question.
I was told that SWA's policy is no walk-arounds on quick turns. With Fed approval. That true?
I jumpseat on SWA quite a bit and I am always treated VERY well. Great bunch o people, front and back!

 

[StopNTSing]

Not trying to start trouble here, just an honest question.
I was told that SWA's policy is no walk-arounds on quick turns. With Fed approval. That true?
I jumpseat on SWA quite a bit and I am always treated VERY well. Great bunch o people, front and back!

Here we go again....

Yes, we are not required to do walk-arounds on through-flights. Only for originators, terminators, a crew change....or if we have a reason to.

 

[firstthird]

As for the no walkaround during turns, I think I remember in training that our rampers get training so that if they see something wrong (bird hanging from a wing leading edge) they let the pilots know.

For pulling into a gate, I suspect that we don't need wing walkers because of our one plane type operation. All of our gates have red and yellow lines painted by our company that are exactly the right size for our planes. The pilots clear the left and right side visually (and verbalize, "safety zone clear right.") I could see that if you put 767s and 737s and airbus types into the same gate, it could be much more difficult. We've all seen the multiple stripes painted for the different aircraft that use a gate.

That is my guess at least, just another fortuitous result of operating one plane type. (Granted, the 700s with their winglets are a little wider so there are a few gates in the system that are not for 700s but most gates fit either 300 or 700)

 

[RVSM]

You are correct. The gate lead agent is responsible for doing a walk around as part of the turn....or was when I was out there, I doubt it has changed.

Pulling into the gate it is also the lead's responsiblity to make sure the safety zone is clear prior to guiding the a/c to the marks.