Hew J; I’m beginning to get suspicious! You say that you’re not BA…. Ok. You also say “wrong job” You claim to have been in this business for nearly 40 years. Since I believe that all the airlines that have been around for that number of years recruit CC no younger than 20 or so, it would make you about 60…but ok, you say you’re not CC.
Now since you claim to have witnessed all these terrible things, you would have to spend your time flying the line in the cabin, but since you’re not CC how did you manage that? Flt crews spend 99% of the flight on the flight deck, so even if you were the Flt engineer (pretty much an extinct breed these days) you would not spend that much time in the cabin. How have you managed to personally witness so much wrongdoing? I doubt that the CC would continue with their nefarious activities if the skipper or F/O were watching.
The seat belt issue is open to interpretation. I personally leave the seatbelt sign on (as opposed to auto) until we have cleaned up after departure and are climbing away. This helps CC in the event of a problem that requires an expeditious return landing. The use of the seat belt sign is at the captain’s discretion and is NOT restricted to just turbulence. If the CC request the seat belt sign on and they have a valid reason, it goes on. That becomes a lawful instruction…. period.
The issue of DVT is very new and needs proper investigation so claiming that passengers have been trying to avoid DVT in the dim and distant past is rubbish.
CC use of lavatories for stowage, well that could be reasonable if you knew the full story, i.e. a light load and lots of serviceable loo’s or a partial failure that required it to be restricted to crew use only. That particular one has happened to me on several occasions. You say that you have seen it a lot, ok how many were left and what was the minimum required for the cabin?
A/C cleaners are no different than any other cleaner; they all do things that they shouldn’t. You can hardly blame CC for that.
Are you seriously suggesting that we should turn the A/C around mid Atlantic for a blocked sink? The passengers and company might have one or two things to say about that. Your suggestion that the CC do nothing is un-workable. (Another indication that you’re not really familiar with line ops)
Edit for typo (discretion)
Last edited by max_cont; 30th Apr 2002 at 17:10.