http://www.moundalexis.com/tm/2008/07/28/eleven-minutes-worth-of-fuel/ Rants and musings, without care for substance. Fri, 09 Jan 2009 15:21:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 http://www.moundalexis.com/tm/2008/07/28/eleven-minutes-worth-of-fuel/#comment-13888 Alex Wed, 30 Jul 2008 11:02:57 +0000 http://www.moundalexis.com/tm/?p=462#comment-13888 yellowjkt: I couldn't find the link either, but Patrick Smith (the author of Salon's <a href="http://dir.salon.com/topics/ask_the_pilot/index.html" rel="nofollow">Ask the Pilot</a> column) is one man. In the past month, I know of two distinct pilots -- completely independent of the media -- that were shorted. I'm unaware of Mr. Smith's recent commercial airline experience or qualifications, but it's entirely plausible that he hasn't been shorted by his dispatchers and planners yet. He probably hasn't been taken aside to be "trained" to be more sensitive to fuel costs after he exercised his FAA-regulated right to request additional fuel. But it is happening. In an industry where your training record follows you around, the airline's behavior feels more like a reprimand to me. That or passive aggressive behavior that doesn't encourage pilots to speak up. yellowjkt: I couldn’t find the link either, but Patrick Smith (the author of Salon’s Ask the Pilot column) is one man. In the past month, I know of two distinct pilots — completely independent of the media — that were shorted. I’m unaware of Mr. Smith’s recent commercial airline experience or qualifications, but it’s entirely plausible that he hasn’t been shorted by his dispatchers and planners yet. He probably hasn’t been taken aside to be “trained” to be more sensitive to fuel costs after he exercised his FAA-regulated right to request additional fuel. But it is happening. In an industry where your training record follows you around, the airline’s behavior feels more like a reprimand to me. That or passive aggressive behavior that doesn’t encourage pilots to speak up.

]]> http://www.moundalexis.com/tm/2008/07/28/eleven-minutes-worth-of-fuel/#comment-13882 yellojkt Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:35:09 +0000 http://www.moundalexis.com/tm/?p=462#comment-13882 There is a column on Salon called "Ask The Pilot" (I'm too lazy to find the link) that says all this low fuel hysteria is just hype. The reserve includes enough fuel to make an emergency landing at an entirely different airport. There is a column on Salon called “Ask The Pilot” (I’m too lazy to find the link) that says all this low fuel hysteria is just hype. The reserve includes enough fuel to make an emergency landing at an entirely different airport.

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