Dear Guys 'n' Gals at BACE. Just heard the news about the 500 jobs to go. I hope you are all going to be OK on the flight deck, and the cabin crew too as they usually get the rawest deal. In view of this didturbing news I am going to take Homer's advice and wind my neck in as my problems seem trivial in comparison to the possibility of some of you losing your jobs.
On a lighter note I'm pleased - if you all are - that you are getting the RJ's. You'll find it an endearing aircraft to fly once you get used to its many quirks. I have to admit that since we have joined BA the aircraft is much nicer to fly. The main reason for this is that we don't have to put up with so many ADDs. At CFE, if there was a defect it sometimes ran for weeks. There were many reasons for this and not all attributable to the engineering department. Let me tell you that flying with no FADEC and no APU on a crappy day is no joke and at CFE it happened at least once a month. When you're on it you will remember my words, believe me!
The bad side of the RJ is that anything to do with valves is notoriously unreliable; it's not RVSM cleared so you can't make the most of its 35,000 ft ceiling; the APU (or fifth engine as the wags like to call it) is useless and if you're anything over 39 tonnes the climb rate is abysmal above 15,000 ft. Someone once decribed it as a difficult aeroplane to operate but very easy to fly. The main culprit is undoubtedly the overhead panel. In view of the fact that BA would rather we didn't fly aircraft, I'll be glad to see the back of it after four years.
However, it does have many endearing qualities: namely that it is virtually impossible to do a hard landing or strike a pod; it flies very well and is very stable. The whole plane is very overengineered structurally so if you get caught in a storm as I once did, just sit it out because I guarantee the wings won't fall off. Also, the flight deck is quite spacious even if the cabin isn't.
Good luck with it, guys. I'm sure I'll be seeing some of you up in the regions for a year or two as we'll be doing 'w' pattern five day tours whilst you're all being trained up on it.
Regards, SS