- Debriefing – The Regional this Thursday was a little light on flights due to pilot vacations and admin duties and such. However there were enough flights to make it a very interesting evening, again with significant traffic and low viz on approach at KISP. BVA Ops and UALR Ops are interacting more and more these days - such that we are now able to plan enough to staff APPR and TWR at the destination airport on a regular basis. More importantly we continue to make an impression on operations such that we are now coordinating future events as well as working to tighten up our mutual operations. Here are some highlights:
· The destination airport for next week has already been chosen, and while we won’t be sharing it until the day of the event as usual the fact that it has been decided already is a huge improvement over the stance BVA Ops used to take. This is a monumental sign of inter-department cooperation. While I can’t tell you the destination, I can tell you that you should expect mountain approaches.
· It is very likely that we will be testing dual center ATC coverage within the month hopefully leading to true regional jet operations. Once the date of the dual-center test is known we will announce it and look for all possible UALR pilots to participate. A strong showing for that flight is critical to the future growth of UALR and BVA both.
- Server com problems – We continue to narrow down the source of com lag problems. During the regional com problems appeared only sporadically and were really experienced by perhaps 1 or 2 pilots. In debriefing the event with BVA Ops we’ve learned that Ops had been testing a possible source of com problems at the very moment that we experienced them. It seems that com problems might be related to a specific add on aircraft – in particular the Captain Sim C130. One particular BVA pilot uses this add on aircraft and it had been observed that the appearance of this aircraft coincided with the appearance of the com problems. During the regional, Ops had this pilot log in and out with his aircraft and observed that com problems started the moment he appeared and resolved the moment he logged off. Once we can get that pilot to stop flying his C130 we will be one step closer to resolving com problems. In the meantime please continue to make sure you have a clean connection and a clean system prior to logging on for the regional flights.
- ATC Response time – That being said however it’s also clear that there is an issue with a significant number of pilots not paying attention to calls from ATC, and not just UALR pilots but BVA pilots system wide. Certainly a number of cases can be chalked up to poor com quality, but not all of them. It’s astonishing to monitor ZBW and find that nearly 80% of the instructions from ZBW have to be repeated at least twice. While that may be acceptable for a newbie pilot or another airline, it is NOT acceptable for UALR. United Regional is intended to be the best of the best, the most professional, the most efficient. Certainly one could say that many pilots are doing several things at once while they are flying and their attention isn’t always on their aircraft and their coms especially on long hauls. Certainly aircraft automation makes that possible. However, that will stop as an excuse as of now. If you are operating as a UALR flight your focus should be on your aircraft, and ATC and readbacks are expected to be fast, accurate, and free of requests for repeats unless absolutely necessary. Having ZBW constantly repeat instructions is rude, unprofessional, sloppy, distracting, and potentially hazardous. UALR pilots should strive to make ATC free of repeats.
- Departure times – A number of flights have been departing early. While 10 minutes early is fine, a half hour early is not. The purpose of the departure time is to ensure that all aircraft arrive at the destination simultaneously and thus overload the approach controller. If aircraft are departing early that spreads out the traffic such that critical mass on approach isn’t achieved. With this in mind, and in conjunction with ATC Ops we will implement the following operational change for next week. This modification will also serve to simulate reality one step further:
· Gate time (report to your aircraft time) will still be 8:30pm EST. Certainly you can report to your aircraft earlier, but all pilots are asked to be in their aircraft by 8:30. Please note that clearance approvals do not expire and you can call for clearance as much as half an hour prior to your departure time.
· Departure time – The departure time shown on your departure ticket is a pushback time. In real world operations an aircraft has use of the gate for only a limited period of time after which they must clear away from the gate. Our departure time is intended to simulate that. All aircraft are expected to pushback no later than their departure time.
· Wheels up time – While wheels up time is not shown on the departure ticket it is assumed to be within 10 minutes of the departure / pushback time. It is also a “release time”. In other words it is the time at which the aircraft can be released into the ATC system. Aircraft that enter the taxiway prior to their wheels up time can expect holds until ATC is ready for their release.
- Victor and Juliet flight levels – Remember that the maximum altitude for a victor airway route is 17,000 eastbound, and 18,000 westbound. If your route calls for a victor airway your requested flight level cannot be above these maximums. If you file your flight plan above these levels you can expect a complete re-routing from clearance to a Juliet airway route.
- Flight Officer’s Conference – The next flight officers conference will be held at 7pm EST on Sunday July 11th at KPNE. The topic of focus for this conference will be Holding Patterns. We will have ATC coverage at KPNE exclusively for UALR officers as well as the ability to pause mid-game and walk through what it is we are doing. This training is important not only for Captain’s proficiency but also for some of the UALR events coming later in the summer. Please bring your ERJ145 and your wits. Candidates who are approaching readiness for their Flight Officer’s checkride should schedule asap in order to be able to attend the conference. Remember the conference is for flight officers and captains only.
- Other BVA events – There are two BVA events coming next month that UALR pilots would want to participate in. Specifically the Domestic Journey which happens to fall on a Thursday evening on July 15th, and the Hyper Tension Convention on Sunday July 25th. During the DJ we will design a dispatch that essentially runs interference for other aircraft in an attempt to make the approach our usual hair-raising occurrence while roping in other unsuspecting aircraft to the situation. UALR pilots will have to be at the top of their proficiency in order to participate in said interference-running. For the HTC we will have no special plans at the moment except to participate. However this may change. There may be room for us to apply our usual modification to this event as well and Ops will certainly keep you apprised. For the moment, if you haven’t signed up for your slot in the HTC yet please do so.
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