Just another day...

As I was coming to the end of a 5-day reserve period without any calls, I was thinking that IF I did get a flight assignment, I would use that flight as a basis for my next blog post. What ever happens, good or bad, short flight or long, that would be my next topic. So it was that on Tuesday, day 4 of my 5-day, Crew Scheduling called and informed me that on Wednesday I would fly two turns, one to Philadelphia and one to Manchester New Hampshire. At the end of the day, once off duty, I would then non-rev back to Chicago to spend a few days with Cathy. This then is that story, the story of yesterday.

My alarm wakes me up at 0430, just a little early because I want to get to the Crew Room early to review procedures into and out of Philly, as this will be my first flight there. Shower, shave, dress, and pack my suitcase. Because this is my last scheduled day and I’m only scheduled to fly “day trips” today, you would not think that I would need to pack for an overnight trip. However, seasoned aircrews have learned that weather, maintenance problems, and a sundry of other issues can conspire to turn day trips into overnighters. Always pack.

The flight schedule has me reporting at 0600, wheels up to Philly at 0700, returning to DTW after a 44 minute turn time. One and a half hours on the ground at DTW which gives me time for lunch, so two sandwiches and a diet Mountain Dew go into my lunch bag. Wheels up for Manchester at 1340, a 43-minute turn time and then return to DTW at 1813. I will be officially off duty at 1843, leaving me plenty of time to head over to A Terminal to catch the 1915 flight to Chicago. Seven hours of flying followed by a short hop home; Cathy and I could be having dinner and a beer by eight O’clock in the evening Chicago time…all in all a pretty good day. That was the plan anyway.

I’m out the door of the condo at 0510 and arrive at the DTW employee parking lot at 0528, thirty two minutes before my official report time. I find a place to park, and start heading to the bus stop, only to see my bus pulling away with me less than 50 feet away. The buses run on 15 minute schedules (supposedly), and the next bus arrives 0548, dropping me off at the B Terminal at 0558. So much for being early. A quick check of my in box shows that I have one bulletin to add to my Airport Directory. I also note a new bulletin is posted that must be entered into my Flight Operations Manual (runway construction at MSP), and no new CRJ-900 bulletins are posted. I duck into the Crew Room, drop my lunch into the fridge, grab my flight bag from the storage room, and enter my new bulletins. I remove the Philly terminal procedure charts from my chart binder and place them into my “day book”, a book I prepare before each flight that has all of the procedures needed to that flight. This helps keep me organized and means unless we divert, I will only need to pull one book from my flight case once in the aircraft. I spend about 5 minutes reviewing the arrival, departure and ground procedures for Philly and note nothing really out of the ordinary, except a note that some aircraft have reported false TCAS (Traffic alert and Collision Avoidance System) alerts caused by Naval ships in the nearby shipyard.

I am supposed to arrive at the gate at 0630, but because this will be aircraft 904’s first flight of the day I want to get there a few minutes early to perform the security inspection. I head upstairs to gate B11 where the gate agent tells me that our aircraft is coming from the maintenance hanger and has not arrived yet, although our flight paperwork has, so instead of inspecting the airplane I review the paperwork. The flight plan route is as expected, there is no alternate airport required, we will be given 9600 pounds of fuel, and the minimum fuel for takeoff will be 8300 pounds. Also of significance is that according to the paperwork, nothing is broken or deferred on the airplane, always a welcome note.

Captain M arrives at about 0635, and I introduce myself since we’ve never flow together before. Still no airplane. At 0645 the gate agent makes an announcement that the flight will be delayed until at least 0715, but I know that it will be much later since we’d be lucky to get out at 0715 even if we had the airplane at the gate. At 0710, the gate agent announces that there is a gate change and we’re taking another aircraft parked at gate B15, so down we head, tossing the flight paperwork in the trash since the gate agent tells us that we’re taking a different airplane, which will require a whole new dispatch release and flight plan.

Imagine my surprise to see aircraft 904 sitting at gate B15, where it likely has been sitting all along. Already 30 minutes behind schedule, we ask the gate agent to print out our paperwork again and we head down the jetway to get the airplane ready to load passengers. Hold it, not so fast! The ground crew has not completed their daily security checks, so we are not allowed on the plane. Normal procedure would be to board the plane, stow my overnight bag, then power up the plane and perform the cockpit initialization checks before heading to the ramp to perform the preflight and security inspections. However, instead of wasting time waiting on Bubba to finish his cabin inspection and allow us to board, I tell Captain M that I’m heading down to the ramp to perform the preflight checks.

Within one minute, I spot a problem. The windshield wipers are supposed to be parked straight up, resting on the windshield center post. Ship 904 has both windshield wipers parked several inches from center, resting fully on the windshield. If not properly parked, the aircraft is limited to 250 knots so that the slipstream does not rip a wiper off and send it through an engine (bad Ju Ju). I holler up to the Captain and tell him the news, but he can’t radio the news to maintenance since we can’t get on the plane still, so he calls dispatch on his cell phone and asks them to get maintenance rolling our way. I finish the inspections and note nothing else out of order and head back to the jetway, to wait some more for Bubba to finish, which he finally does, and we all climb aboard, power up the plane, and start making preps to get ready to load passengers.

Although we want to cycle the wipers to see if they will park correctly, we can’t run them on a dry windshield since that causes scratches. Maintenance arrives, wets the windshield, and cycles the wipers which correctly park, so they grab our MM1 log to make their entry. I call DTW Clearance Delivery, get our clearance and enter it into the FMS. The lead flight attendant tells us that the aft lavatory needs service and that we don’t have any ice on board, so service calls are made. Passengers start boarding. We note that although there are no deferrals listed on the newly printed dispatch release, there is a deferral sticker still on the flaps/slats control switch, and a review of the MM1 log shows that Maintenance signed off a “Slats Halfspeed” deferral the previous night, but apparently forgot to remove the sticker. Another call to Maintenance to get them back out to review the log and remove the sticker. Bags are loaded and the bag count sheet is handed to me for entry into ACARS. The passenger load count is likewise passed up and entered, and final fuel and weight data is then transmitted out via ACARS, and a return message is received with our takeoff safety speeds, weight and balance, and the flex takeoff thrust settings. The passenger door is closed and the parking brake is released at 0751, and the crew is finally on the pay clock, 51 minutes behind schedule. Our flight gets underway without ice and with only one lav since our service request was never filled.

Captain M flies faster than profile to Philly to make up some time, and we block in at 0922 having made up 10 minutes, which is good, but not good enough for those with missed connections. We are scheduled to have 44 minutes total from block in to block out, but since we’re running late we do everything we can to shorten that time. I’d really like to leave the cockpit and head to the usable washroom, but things are happening fast and we’re already loading passengers. We drop the brake at 0951, an impressive 29 minutes from our arrival time, but still 26 minutes behind schedule. Oh, and we still only have one usable washroom, but at least the Philly crew loaded us with ice. That’s only batting 500, but it is better service than we got back in DTW.

Philly is departing runway 27L and it looks like there’s quite a backup of departing traffic, but the tower is doing a great job of cranking them out. Within 10 minutes of leaving he gate the Captain turns over the controls to me and I takeoff, again pushing the profile to make up some additional time, but this time with a 67 knot headwind instead of the nice tailwind we enjoyed on the way down. Center and DTW approach controllers don’t spread any aloha and are not able to provide any shortcuts and in fact, start slowing us down very early for arrival spacing. We touch down on runway 21L at 1130, but by the time we taxi to gate B12 (4 minutes) and then wait for a ground handling crew to show up and marshal us in, we block in at 1142, which is 23 minutes behind schedule, so I was only able to make up three minutes on an hour and fifty one minute leg. We get an A for effort, but a D minus on results and only results count in this business.

We have an elderly passenger who needs a wheelchair to get up the jetway, and although we called ahead to make sure one was standing by, another passenger decided to accept a free ride to baggage claim and took it. This happens more frequently than you would believe, and it really ticks me off. If you really need a wheelchair, tell the flight attendant and we’ll be sure to have one for you. If you don’t ask for one, don’t just claim it like a taxicab, since there will not be one available for the person who asked for it and likely needs it more than you do. Anyway, since the flight attendants can’t leave the aircraft until all passengers are off, I go to try to find a wheelchair and attendant to help our last passenger off, which takes much too long. Our last passenger is finally wheeled away from the airplane and taken to her connection flight to Lexington and we start making preparations to clean up, shutdown and secure the airplane. Captain M finishes his post-flight walk around inspection and noting nothing out of the ordinary, he bids us goodbye and heads to his connection flight, his work done for the day.

Likewise, I bid adieu to our flight attendants who are also now off the clock (like the pilots, they were off the pay clock 30 minutes from the time the door was opened upon our arrival, even though we were all still on board and cleaning the aircraft then). I check with the gate agent and find out that I’ll be taking 904 to Manchester which is OK with me, especially if we get the lav serviced. By the time I make a quick call to Cathy and check the time, I see that I have to be back on board in 15 minutes, not enough time to head to the Crew Room and grab my lunch, but plenty of time to finally get to the washroom. So, at 1305 I head back down the jetway and power ship 904 back up.

The new flight attendants and Captain D arrive and once again we all introduce ourselves and get busy. Hold the phone, we have an EICAS message that we’re not supposed to; “Slats Halfspeed”. I explain the history of this to Captain D who calls Maintenance to come check it out. Maintenance arrives and tries to work their magic but once again there is no aloha and the EICAS message remains, so they defer the maintenance. A pretty yellow sticker, just like the one that mistakenly got left in place early this morning, gets placed next to the slats/flaps control. The Captain makes a call to Dispatch since we will need a new dispatch release showing this new deferral while I pull the MEL book and review the operational considerations of operating with slats at half speed. While this is going on our passengers and bags are loaded, Maintenance completes their MM1 entry and leaves, and we close the door at exactly 1340, right on time. The Captain makes his welcome aboard PA and tells everyone that we will be delayed pushing back until we finish with some paperwork. Although the Captain can make pen and ink changes to the dispatch release, it is an MEL requirement that our takeoff and landing data take into consideration the deferred slat speed, and although I’ve tried resending the ACARS data several times it is returned with “NONE” under remarks, meaning that there are no deferrals. Because we are delayed, our ground crew leaves us to go push the aircraft next door while Captain D calls Dispatch and tells them to get the deferral into system. Finally after about 15 minutes we get good data and our ground crew has returned, so we push back from the gate and head toward runway 22L, set up for me to fly the outbound leg.

Once again faster than profile to try to make up the time we lost on the ground, I dodge a single thunderstorm cell over Pennsylvania and fly an uneventful leg to Manchester, landing on runway 35 and getting to the gate at 1536, nine minutes behind schedule. Once again the passengers are all off, we clean and straighten the cabin, and the DTW-bound passengers start loading. Although we’re ready to close the door, the ground crew is still loading bags and are late to pass up the bag load sheet. Once that’s done we close the door 2 minutes behind schedule, push back and head once again for runway 35. With no other traffic at Manchester we’re soon airborne, again pushing the profile to make up time and to beat the 70 knot headwind. On the decent ATC finally spreads some Aloha our way and asks us to keep out speed at 300 knots or better in the decent which we gladly do. Two shortcuts come out way and even the winds cooperate allowing us a near straight in approach to runway 21L. The stars all stay aligned and when we arrive at gate B6, the ground crew is already there. Now THIS is how it is supposed to work, and we block in at 1801, twelve minutes ahead of schedule. An A for effort and results, finally! Passengers are all off loaded, systems are shutdown, the cabin is cleaned and straightened, and at 1850 I say goodbye and head over to Terminal A to grab my flight home.

I’m relieved to see the plane at the gate A53, but the gate agent tells me that the plane is overbooked and I’ll have to ask the Captain for the cockpit jumpseat, which is fine with me. At this point I’ll ride in the baggage compartment! At 1900 the gate agent announces that the flight will be delayed until 1945 due to weather in Chicago. The aircrew arrives at 1910 and I introduce myself to Captain R who signs my jumpseat authorization and makes me feel very welcome. I head down the jetway with the crew, store my bags, and then wait at the jetway door as all of the passengers are loaded. The First Officer returns from his walk around and tells me there is a hydraulic leak. About 10 minutes later Maintenance shows up and after about 15 minutes of discussion decides that they can’t repair the leak. Another 5 minutes pass and the gate agent comes down the jetway and tells the Captain that we’ll be taking another plane parked at A45. Just as with my first flight some 13 hours earlier, we move all of the passengers down to a new gate and the crew heads down to get the aircraft ready for the flight. Also just like 13 hours earlier, the flight crew note two problems with this new bird; first the interior temperature is 90 degrees and secondly, there is a broken safety bar on the Captain’s-side circuit breaker panel. The Captain is rightfully livid and explains to me that he refuses to load passengers until the cabin is below 80 degrees. This airplane has been sitting at the gate for 3 hours, without the APU running or external cooling air attached and is completely heat soaked. Unlike the CRJ-900 that I fly, he explains that if he loaded passengers and tried to cool the cabin with only the onboard APU, the temperature would actually go up to about 100 degrees until they got airborne. Considerate to his passengers comfort and safety although knowing that we’re already well behind schedule, he takes no shortcuts and demands that the ground crews get external air connected and the cabin cooled.

Without any additional details, I’ll tell you that the cabin was cooled, the circuit breaker bar repaired, passengers were loaded, and we were wheels up at exactly 2200, two hours and 45 minutes behind schedule. I found it striking that my day ended just like it started, and even though it was a different airline flying different equipment, they were faced with exactly the same challenges. Whether it is fighting to get ice on board, a lavatory serviced, windshield wipers fixed, a hydraulic leak repaired, or an excessively hot cabin cooled, the crew is fighting to correct issues that they had no hand in making. With a little more concern or pro-active inspections, others could have found these issues and had a remedy started long before passengers were delayed. Striking to me is that the crews fight these battles while under the stress of staying on schedule and while not on the pay clock. I am personally disappointed that out of four legs I was only able to get passengers to their destination on time once, but try as I might there is very little that can be done to overcome the delays once the die is cast. At least I am proud to be working among professionals that continue to try to do what they can for our passengers, even when it seems we are fighting a losing battle. My company has an impressive on-time record and days like today are rare (at least for this airline), but they do happen.

Such was my day yesterday, another day of reserve flying, another day closer to furlough. A new airport experienced, new friends made, new challenges overcome, and seven more hours of irreplaceable flying experience and can’t be gained in any other way. Low pay, hectic schedule, pending furlough and all, I love this job and will miss it.

Here’s hoping you find as much enjoyment overcoming your daily challenges!