Response to USAPA ad in USA Today

[freedom]

Just because you get the monkee off your back, doesn't mean this circus has left town! Our "world view" is right where it needs to be, and if this company is weakening, your best to look to the a$$e$ in tempe that weaken it!, You never screw with a group that has nothing to lose!, OUR WORLD! MM!

like i said before , if you truly had nothing to lose most of you would conduct a mass sick out , or perhaps all quit at once , so obviously you DO have something to lose ...

i can relate to where your comming from , but sadly your situation has taken so long to resolve that the economy has gotten worse and worsen around you ..... why just a week and a half ago 10,000 borders employees lost their jobs as the entire chain folded , and something like another 10,000 workers in the finicial sector were given notice that they would be let go last week as well ...

maybe you'll learn to cherish what you have as more people continue to lose their jobs around us ...give it time ..

 

[Fixed Wing]

You are clueless. The RAT is primarily for hydraulic power to the flight controls. The A330 can fly perfectly well on battery power...just not very long...long enough to get the airplane on the ground. What it cannot do is fly without hydraulics. Lose all hydraulics and it becomes a ballistic missile. That's why the RAT.

I'll see your A330 type rating and raise you 7 more.

But, of course, you don't have the A330 type rating to ante up, do you?



Oh, now. That's rich. Capt. Wells chairs the powerful and much-feared SUB-committee for the Critical Incident Response Program.

I wanted to use my favorite word to describe folks like you. It starts with "M" and rhymes with Enron. But it is way too mild. I will have to rethink that for a while and get back to you.

Looks like its back to ground school for you also.
True the RAT supplies hydraulic power for flight controls with total loss of hydraulics. But it also supplies hydraulic power to the emergency electrical generator.
Did you forget about that small but important component?
I'll see your 7 A330 ratings and raise you a yellow lanyard.

 

[icehead]

Correct no APU, no ETOPS. however, the aircraft could have flown non-etops with inop APU.
As for the draining of the batteries - Wells put the aircraft into a ground configuration that forced the batteries to drain.
Replacing the batteries does not mean aircraft needed repairs as some have stated.
It means the batteries were replaced because they were drained.
I challenge you to tell me what A330 would still fly on battery power alone. Couldnt happen, That's why there is a RAT.
Wells took a pilot induced problem and blew it out of proportion claiming Hot Battery Bus failure, loss of electrical power etc.
She needs further ground school before further exercising her pilot in command authority.

I hope you do not design aircraft electrical systems....The A330 can be controlled in flight with a TOTAL AC power loss for as long as the Hot battery Bus "batteries" supply power to the DC ESS bus. An inverter is connected to the DC ESS bus and inverts DC current to single phase AC current, which is supplied to the AC ESS bus. Your words....Wells put the aircraft in ground configuration, how?. If above 50 knots, this switching will occur regardless of the position of the battery pbs. If the airspeed is less than 50 kts, both BAT pbs must be in the auto position. The RAT provides limited AC power in the event of a total primary AC failure. The batteries via the DC ESS bus and static inverter provide ESS AC power, limited to about 30 minutes. There is a log page with the work that was done on the A330 in question. Was the static inverter replaced? I do not know. Why do you smear Captain Wells without knowing what your talking about. Here's the crux of the matter. A USAirways crew gets escorted off an airplane, for what? What ever happened to the obvious "just fix the damm thing".

 

[toganoflex]

Spot On, Brother!

Oh please.

You guys talk tough and all you have to shoe for your chest thumping is sub B-scale wages, bankruptcy work rules, and no pension.

You've had nothing to lose for a long time.

Try shutting up for a while. Maybe something good may happen.

 

[nycbusdriver]

Oh please.

You guys talk tough and all you have to shoe for your chest thumping is sub B-scale wages, bankruptcy work rules, and no pension.

You've had nothing to lose for a long time.

Try shutting up for a while. Maybe something good may happen.

Well, you've had bankruptcy wages since the day your miserable airline opened its doors. What's your excuse.

And we do have pensions. Not what we were expecting, but about 1/3 or more, depending on age. How's your pension? Oh. That's right. You never even had one to lose! (Too weak to negotiate one?)

 

[nycbusdriver]

Looks like its back to ground school for you also.
True the RAT supplies hydraulic power for flight controls with total loss of hydraulics. But it also supplies hydraulic power to the emergency electrical generator.
Did you forget about that small but important component?
I'll see your 7 A330 ratings and raise you a yellow lanyard.

Like I said. The PRIMARY reason for the RAT is hydraulics, not electrics. The aircraft can indeed be flown with only battery power, but for a limited time only.

I don't have 7 A330 type ratings. I only need one. That's one more than you have. Or will ever have, I imagine, if your knowledge of aircraft systems is so woefully poor.

 

[toganoflex]

Well, you've had bankruptcy wages since the day your miserable airline opened its doors. What's your excuse.

And we do have pensions. Not what we were expecting, but about 1/3 or more, depending on age. How's your pension? Oh. That's right. You never even had one to lose! (Too weak to negotiate one?)

Nope. Never scraped bottom like you guys are now. We've always made more than commuter pilots (unlike you now).

And my matching is doing pretty good. I'm not going to lose any part of my retirement..

I guess you guys were too WEAK to hold on to your pension. Heck! You couldn't even get PAY PARITY in the TA. We walked away with PROFIT SHARING.

You guys were also too weak to hold on to any type of civilized work rules or pay.

When I get a line I get paid that credit no matter what happens. How about you? Lots of vacation too for us.

What you HAD doesn't count.

 

[icehead]

Give me a break - Captain Wells is a USAPA committe chair. The five pilots you speak of (two on her crew and the other three subsequent crew) would not disagree with her evaluation of the aircraft lest they be labeled scabs and blacklisted by USAPA. On the surface it can be construed that they agreed with her assesment of the aircraft but in reality they were sheep.

The Magnificent Carnac http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynO7wX33PCI&feature=related

 

[Fixed Wing]

Like I said. The PRIMARY reason for the RAT is hydraulics, not electrics. The aircraft can indeed be flown with only battery power, but for a limited time only.

I don't have 7 A330 type ratings. I only need one. That's one more than you have. Or will ever have, I imagine, if your knowledge of aircraft systems is so woefully poor.

I'm sorry but just because you sit in the cockpit and monitor ECAM messages does not make you more of an expert on aircraft systems.
A type rating on an aircraft does not automatically make one more knowledgeable so I dont buy your "I have the rating you dont argument." There are plenty of accidents throughout aviation history that points to the lack of understanding of systems by those who have the ratings and you know it. I once had a crew member write up there was no fuel qty indication on the center tank on an A333 so I would appreciate you dont go down that "I have the rating" route.

 

[Pi brat]

I'm sorry but just because you sit in the cockpit and monitor ECAM messages does not make you more of an expert on aircraft systems.
A type rating on an aircraft does not automatically make one more knowledgeable so I dont buy your "I have the rating you dont argument." There are plenty of accidents throughout aviation history that points to the lack of understanding of systems by those who have the ratings and you know it. I once had a crew member write up there was no fuel qty indication on the center tank on an A333 so I would appreciate you dont go down that "I have the rating" route.

I'm just curious. What is your source of information on this incident and the A330. I'd like to hear the whole, real story as most of what I've seen has been theories and second or third hand rumors.

 

[Fixed Wing]

I'm just curious. What is your source of information on this incident and the A330. I'd like to hear the whole, real story as most of what I've seen has been theories and second or third hand rumors.

The only statement I will give is that my source is reliable. Other than that I will need to plead the fifth. For the record and to those who monitor these forums.... my statements are my opinion only and do not represent any of the parties involved.

 

[Phoenix]

I'm sorry but just because you sit in the cockpit and monitor ECAM messages does not make you more of an expert on aircraft systems.
A type rating on an aircraft does not automatically make one more knowledgeable so I dont buy your "I have the rating you dont argument." There are plenty of accidents throughout aviation history that points to the lack of understanding of systems by those who have the ratings and you know it. I once had a crew member write up there was no fuel qty indication on the center tank on an A333 so I would appreciate you dont go down that "I have the rating" route.

Hi Jerry, you are correct. The type rating really doesn't mean much in the big picture of global warming and saving the whales and such, but if you don't have a type then you can't be assigned as a captain to the trip or exercise captain decisions that require the captain type rating decoder ring.

Did 6 pilots refuse to fly a perfectly good airplane? Was all the crackpot maintenance and management really incapable of persuading 6 pilots that the plane was perfectly good?

Your position is a really sad commentary on everyone (except you? Were you off or unavailable during that shift?).

Stick with us. You are starting to grow on us.

 

[Pi brat]

The only statement I will give is that my source is reliable. Other than that I will need to plead the fifth. For the record and to those who monitor these forums.... my statements are my opinion only and do not represent any of the parties involved.

Oh well then! If your source is reliable I will just go with that since I know you and all! Really?

Are you a pilot? Are you a mech? Are you an Airbus engineer? Are you a trusted labor consultant? Help me build my confidence in you.

 

[Phoenix]

Oh well then! If your source is reliable I will just go with that since I know you and all! Really?

Are you a pilot? Are you a mech? Are you an Airbus engineer? Are you a trusted labor consultant? Help me build my confidence in you.

He has invisible friends in high places but he isn't Chip... but he did sleep in a Holiday Inn Express last night.

 

[Pi brat]

He has invisible friends in high places but he isn't Chip... but he did sleep in a Holiday Inn Express last night.

Yeah, yeah.........that's the ticket! Holiday Inn Express!!!!