USA Today

[mach zero]

I flew the Embraer 135 and 145 for a couple of years. As I have posted earlier on this board, it was hands down the worst airplane I have ever flown. In addition to the numerous avionics problems encountered, I had a whole slew of things go wrong with the airplane in general. Such as:
1. A total and complete loss of pitch trim (both main and standby).
2. A ruptered bleed line that leaked hot bleed air into the walls of the cargo compartment.
3. A complete loss of horizontal stabilizer de-icing in icing conditions.
4. Numerous warnings generated when the "faulty" sytem was operating just fine.
5. Several failures of the IC-600 computers which required replacement.
6. Thrust reversers that failed to deploy on landing roll on several occasions.
7. A bad APU intake design allowed de-ice fluid enter the APU intake during deicing operations which on more than one occasion caused the cabin to fill with a noxious vapor.

That is just the stuff I can think of off the top of my head that happened to me. I lost lots of money on that airplane due to maintenance cancellations. My airline put many passengers in hotels when flights were cancelled due to maintenance. I bid off the EMB fleet as soon as I could for the above reasons. I had all this happen to me in my short tenure on the EMB product. I have been flying the 737 for almost a year now and have only had 1 problem that required we run a checklist inflight and I have not had one maintenance cancellation. Unfortunately, I am not surprised that Mid-Atlantic is having the problems they are. IMHO anyone seriously looking at an EMB fleet better balance the cheap acquisition / operating cost with that of hotels and lost revenue from passengers who will book elsewhere later.

Then again what do I know lowecur...I'm just a stupid unionized LCC pilot.

 

[flyingitalian]

I too have flown the 145 - 135 and although I found the aircraft to be extremely reliable I no longer fly it nor do I fly for a carrier that flys this type of aircraft. However this level of whining just p!sses me off. Yes I have had failures and one emergency involving icing conditions and bleed air, but I have also experienced the same or equivalent in the atr and 737.

I flew the Embraer 135 and 145 for a couple of years. As I have posted earlier on this board, it was hands down the worst airplane I have ever flown. In addition to the numerous avionics problems encountered, I had a whole slew of things go wrong with the airplane in general. Such as:
1. A total and complete loss of pitch trim (both main and standby)

Granted. Unless you were the A eagle crew you knew the problem and its solution.

.
2. A ruptered bleed line that leaked hot bleed air into the walls of the cargo compartment.

Bleed lines rupture on any airplane. I had one on the ATR.


3. A complete loss of horizontal stabilizer de-icing in icing conditions.

Dont you mean an indicated loss of anti icing. 737 does not even have HS deice.

4. Numerous warnings generated when the "faulty" sytem was operating just fine.



GEE this never happens in any other airplane.


5. Several failures of the IC-600 computers which required replacement.

Computers fail


6. Thrust reversers that failed to deploy on landing roll on several occasions.

Landing distances are calc. w/o thrust rev.


7. A bad APU intake design allowed de-ice fluid enter the APU intake during deicing operations which on more than one occasion caused the cabin to fill with a noxious vapor.

APU design or deice procedure? Scary but hey if it happens more than once I think we need to take a look?

That is just the stuff I can think of off the top of my head that happened to me. I lost lots of money on that airplane due to maintenance cancellations.

Seems like you had a bad contract. My carrier paid for any cancellation.



My airline put many passengers in hotels when flights were cancelled due to maintenance. I bid off the EMB fleet as soon as I could for the above reasons. I had all this happen to me in my short tenure on the EMB product. I have been flying the 737 for almost a year now and have only had 1 problem that required we run a checklist inflight and I have not had one maintenance cancellation. Unfortunately, I am not surprised that Mid-Atlantic is having the problems they are. IMHO anyone seriously looking at an EMB fleet better balance the cheap acquisition / operating cost with that of hotels and lost revenue from passengers who will book elsewhere later.

Then again what do I know lowecur...I'm just a stupid unionized LCC pilot.

You can say that again. Its a fine airplane and anyone honest enough to admit it will say its light years ahead of the 737 as far as sytems go. The 737 can out climb the emb and the NG can out cruise it. The NG 737s are a great airplane, very reliable and ice just "dont" stick to it. Howeve systems wise it is a dinosaur.

 

[TCAS]

Originally Posted by TCAS
Lowecur=blue
TCAS reply = RED

I've got over eleven thousand hours of experience in mostly "regional" (what region is it that covers coast to coast?) airline equipment. I've flown Saabs, ATR's and four models of the Embraer line. I will hazard a guess and say the 120 was the other. I assume that was junk also. Compared to it's primary competitor, the Saab, I'll take the Saab over a 120 anyday. So far hands down, not even a contest, the Embraers have been junk.

Soooo, lets do a recap. You've flown 4 different models of the Embraer line. Kind of reminds me of an abused wife who keeps going back to her husband. You fly what management buys, simple as that. You fly for AE, and eventually the Legacy's are going to retake the skys No, but some of todays mailine carriers will share the skies with a few of today's LCCs, and you think the South won the war Some of them "good ol' boys" not only think that, they know it!

It looks like you have 11,000 hours and have been toiling at a regional for a long time. I would not necessarily call it toiling, but yes I have been a regional pilot for quite a few years. Can you explain to me how it is you haven't moved on to mainline by now? I'd be glad to... After 15 years in the regional airline business I am able to live where I want, bid and be awarded the trips I prefer, have the days off I want and I'm able to take vacations when I want to. It's called quality of life. Something that would have been drastically diminshed if I started over again as a junior pilot at a mainline carrier. Have you filled out applications to other thriving Legacy mainlines? A few years back I did apply and was interviewed by one major airline but I was not hired. I thank my lucky stars that they didn't hire me. I'd have been furloughed and would have seen my hard earned pension taken away. My other application went to a a major freight carrier who never called me for an interview Also, let me know if you have put in to fly the CRJ 700? Currently there are no CRJs based where I am. They are only in ORD and DFW. I chose not to bid the CRJ right now because the hassles would exceed the extra $4 per hour the CRJ pays over the ERJ. Afterall, they are at AE. Or, you could just go back and fly the 146. Those options are probably much safer and less aggrevation, right?

 

[TCAS]

TCAS, So who do YOU think will and will not around in the future of LCC's

This is just a personal opinion...

Extreme risk of failure: ATA, Frontier

Moderate risk of failure: Independence, Spirit

Slight risk of failure: JetBlue, AirTran

Little risk of failure: Soutwest, America West

 

[Fly-By-Cable]

from USA Today:
"They (AirTran Flight Attendants) say they are particularly upset top executives' pay grew 25% in 2002 and 13% in 2003 while their pay and benefits lag behind the industry average."



Now I feel for our flight-attendants, but come on...any job that requires 4 weeks of training and a high school diploma is not meant to be a career. You can't expect LCCs to pay them 60K a year to serve cokes.



As far as I'm concerned AirTran management deserved that pay increase

 

[lowecur]

Zero

Then again what do I know lowecur...I'm just a stupid unionized LCC pilot.

Don't be so hard on yourself, at least you were smart enough to move.

 

[lowecur]

This is just a personal opinion...
Lowecur's opinion: blue

Extreme risk of failure: ATA, Frontier, ATA

Moderate risk of failure: Independence, Spirit, Independence, AWA, Frontier, Spirit

Slight risk of failure: JetBlue, AirTran, AirTran

Little risk of failure: Soutwest, America West, Jetblue, Southwest

.....

 

[lowecur]

Originally Posted by TCAS
Lowecur=blue
TCAS reply = RED


I'd be glad to... After 15 years in the regional airline business I am able to live where I want, bid and be awarded the trips I prefer, have the days off I want and I'm able to take vacations when I want to. It's called quality of life. Something that would have been drastically diminshed if I started over again as a junior pilot at a mainline carrier. A few years back I did apply and was interviewed by one major airline but I was not hired. I thank my lucky stars that they didn't hire me. I'd have been furloughed and would have seen my hard earned pension taken away. My other application went to a a major freight carrier who never called me for an interview Currently there are no CRJs based where I am. They are only in ORD and DFW. I chose not to bid the CRJ right now because the hassles would exceed the extra $4 per hour the CRJ pays over the ERJ. Thanks for the honest answers.

.....

 

[mach zero]

Here's the deal FlyingItialian. I was in the EMB program at my airline fairly early on. We were accepting them at 3 a month so I was having these issues with mostly brand new planes. We were the first crew to experience the pitch trim problem at my carrier. Ours happened a couple of years prior to the much publicized one at ORD. Our deice failure was attributed to yet another broken bleed fitting. The EMB-145 was equipped with h-stab de-ice for a reason. When we lost it we were really packing on the ice so it was a big deal. I know you can't use T/R 's for landing dist. #'s. The problem was we were usually at an outstation when this happened and contract maintenance had to be called out at exhorbitant rates to bolt the T/R closed. We were told that these were teething problems and that they would get better. In my two year span on the plane, they fixed a few problems but those were quickly replaced with new ones. It got so bad many F/A's would bid around EMB's because they lost 100% of their pay on a cancellation. A recent conversation with a buddy who is still there in mgmnt revealed they are still not happy with the dispatch reliability of the EMB fleet. They are much happier with the T-props but unfortunately the pax are not. In my years of experience with corporate and airline aircraft, I have never flown an airplane that broke down as much as these did. Sorry my whining p!sses you off FlyingItialian but lowecur neads to realize what kind of product he is backing.

 

[lowecur]

Zero

Sorry my whining p!sses you off FlyingItialian but lowecur neads to realize what kind of product he is backing. Sooo, why be so concerned about me? I have flown the 145 probably 50 times on COEX, and never once had a dispatch problem due to mechanical problems. I have flown the 170 twice, and both times without a hitch. I have heard Mr. Hat proclaim the 145 is a fine a/c. Maybe COEX knows how to handle the mechs on the plane better than your former employer. I heard the CRJ700 had some problems that were corrected with retro-fitting, and even the 717 had it's problems the first year. This is a brand new airframe, and yes problems will occur. XJT, CHQ and AE have chosen to make Embraer the backbone of their fleets, and continued to exercize options the last few years. The E-jet will do just fine, and so will I with their stock.

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