Customer service disaster in PHX waiting to happen ?

freedom

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Feb 15, 2006
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First the good news ... It appears that the City of PHX ( airport authority ) wanted to upgrade the Air conditioning on all the gates , so they removed ALL of them at the end of last year ....

Now the bad news ... This is PHX and it's starting to get hot and there is no Air-conditioning (on the gates ) ....

All people are talking about now is "when are they going to get the A/C installed ? "

You can't have boarding bridges without A/C in PHX heat ,and I've been told that only 3 out of our stations 6 portable A/c units are functioning ...

I'm not sure if all of my facts here are 100% correct because I've only been following the issue so-so ... but the fact remains there are only a handful of gates that have A/C ... I guess we're suppose to put our trust in the contractor to finish on time , whenever that is ... but I have SERIOUS doubts about that ..
 
I have heard May or June but there's really no way of knowing. With highs in the mid-80's we're already reaching the point when ground air is needed on the turns. There may be some kind of interim solution, (such as self-contained cooling for the jet bridge interiors) but if there is one they're not telling us about it.

As far as I know no one was briefed that the AC hose bins were going to be taken off the jet bridges in the first place, they just removed them with nary a thought of the consequences to the operation of taking equipment off the gates unannounced; it took a bag tug colliding head-on into an aircraft engine before they figured they should go around to all the jet bridges and make sure there were actually places on them to stow chocks. Whoops.

The jet bridge-mounted A/C modules in PHX were never adequate and the newer system should be far more robust, given the amount of piping and wiring they're putting through the terminal to accommodate it. There seem to be multiple contractors working on it (saw some tonight), and just like the SkyTrain™, it won't be running until it's running (it ain't running).

50% out-of-service on for the portable AC units sounds about right. Those that do work don't work for very long, which isn't surprising since most look like they belong in the Smithsonian anyhow. Pilots should note that PHX ramp will not hook up the pressurized air carts to run the PACKs, station policy. A couple of weeks ago we had a pilot actually try to "order" one of our leads to do so, apparently unaware that outside of a sealed airliner they can't order their coworkers around...when getting sass from a pilot it's useful to check the engine type. In this case, confirmed for CFM56's. :rolleyes:

Yep, this summer's gonna be a hot one...
 
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I have heard May or June but there's really no way of knowing. With highs in the mid-80's we're already reaching the point when ground air is needed on the turns. There may be some kind of interim solution, (such as self-contained cooling for the jet bridge interiors) but if there is one they're not telling us about it.

As far as I know no one was briefed that the AC hose bins were going to be taken off the jet bridges in the first place, they just removed them with nary a thought of the consequences to the operation of taking equipment off the gates unannounced; it took a bag tug colliding head-on into an aircraft engine before they figured they should go around to all the jet bridges and make sure there were actually places on them to stow chocks. Whoops.

The jet bridge-mounted A/C modules in PHX were never adequate and the newer system should be far more robust, given the amount of piping and wiring they're putting through the terminal to accommodate it. There seem to be multiple contractors working on it (saw some tonight), and just like the SkyTrain™, it won't be running until it's running (it ain't running).

50% out-of-service on for the portable AC units sounds about right. Those that do work don't work for very long, which isn't surprising since most look like they belong in the Smithsonian anyhow. Pilots should note that PHX ramp will not hook up the pressurized air carts to run the PACKs, station policy. A couple of weeks ago we had a pilot actually try to "order" one of our leads to do so, apparently unaware that outside of a sealed airliner they can't order their coworkers around...when getting sass from a pilot it's useful to check the engine type. In this case, confirmed for CFM56's. :rolleyes:

Yep, this summer's gonna be a hot one...

Actually, the company policy is that the captain is in charge of the airplane, and its servicing, once he/she arrives at the aircraft. Of course, that is rarely respected and it is being loudly verbalized to Parker et al during the transition to the New AA. The FARs also support that position, and the FAA would dispute any contention of a "sealed aircraft" being necessary for the captain to be the final authority.

Me? I would simply refuse to board the airplane until my orders were followed, and advise the flight attendants to do the same. If it truly takes a "sealed" airplane for the captain to be in charge, I wonder how I would get on board to actually operate the flight?
 
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Actually, the company policy is that the captain is in charge of the airplane, and its servicing, once he/she arrives at the aircraft. Of course, that is rarely respected and it is being loudly verbalized to Parker et al during the transition to the New AA. The FARs also support that position, and the FAA would dispute any contention of a "sealed aircraft" being necessary for the captain to be the final authority.

Cool story bro, but you can't order me to violate the Ground Ops Manual or station policy, especially when doing so will result in my being disciplined. I'm not going to get written up or suspended just to satisfy your ego trip. Panties all bunched up 'cause of working seven years on BK wages, that misery was self-imposed, son.

Me? I would simply refuse to board the airplane until my orders were followed, and advise the flight attendants to do the same. If it truly takes a "sealed" airplane for the captain to be in charge, I wonder how I would get on board to actually operate the flight?

That's your prerogative. Taking a delay until you get your way...gosh, makes you want to bust out that yellow lanyard don't it?
 
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While it's not an ideal situation, I suppose that they could run the APU's if no other options are available. I realize that the cost of doing this will be high, but if it comes down to a flight being delayed or not going, you don't really have a choice.
 
That's your prerogative. Taking a delay until you get your way...gosh, makes you want to bust out that yellow lanyard don't it?

Before we get into a pilot-agent urinating contest, are you talking about jetway temps or aircraft? Was the APU inop?

If the aircraft if hot and the APU works, that's simple-run the APU the entire time it is on the ground. Too often the APU is not started early enough even if the ground air works as most cannot keep up with hot outside temps and a full pax load.

The FOM priorities are:

1) Safety
2) Passenger comfort
3) Schedule
4) Efficiency

Boarding a hot airplane doesn't meet those and boarding should be delayed.
 
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well chock I heard that there is a plan in place , and they were already using the working portable A/C to cool down some of the planes in a very organized manner , but I just worry that as we progress we could get overwhelmed without more portable A/C units ... I suppose their gonna ship more in thou ..

Still , when I see the contractors working , their not working very fast ....I honestly think it wouldn't hurt them to pick up the pace ...
 
Chock, the beauty of the Authority of the Pilot in Command is you can't be written up or suspended for their decision.
The FA procedure is to state to the Pilot in Command what you know the policy to be, and if the Pilot wants you to go ahead and do it anyway, do it and then document it.
No big deal.
If you have a supervisor handy to run it by first by all means do so.
But its definitely not worth ruining your day by arguing with him, especially if he's only trying to do whats right.
But the Captain is in charge of the A/C and immediate vicinity as soon as he arrives at the A/C. Has nothing to do with the door being closed.
 
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Pilots cannot tell an agent what to do, they are not a lead nor management.

We have had this pissing contest before on the east side, between maintenance and crews, and maintenance won out, while on the ground its maintenance's airplane if a problem arises.

Fleet or anyone else follows the company's procedures and if there is a problem, call out a supervisor.

While on the ground the plane is everyone's, not just the pilot, but yes the pilot can refuse to board or refuse the airplane and their management deals with them.
 
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Chock, the beauty of the Authority of the Pilot in Command is you can't be written up or suspended for their decision.
The FA procedure is to state to the Pilot in Command what you know the policy to be, and if the Pilot wants you to go ahead and do it anyway, do it and then document it.
No big deal.
If you have a supervisor handy to run it by first by all means do so.
But its definitely not worth ruining your day by arguing with him, especially if he's only trying to do whats right.
But the Captain is in charge of the A/C and immediate vicinity as soon as he arrives at the A/C. Has nothing to do with the door being closed.

The captain has control over his or her plane ... the captain can request a portable ground unit , but they can't ORDER anyone to go get one .. As for arguing , that's a complete waste of breath , that's why we have managers to deal with unruly individuals ...