Originally Posted by BM
can we please get away from the niff-naff and trivia of latch and cowling redesign,
- it would be good, wouldn't it? However, you know well that the chances of achieving what you call for are close to zero - King Canute sort of stuff, really, so why not try and improve the technical/operational bits to REDUCE the numbers of incidents? How many more cowls do you wish to see come off while you 'educate' management and the regulators? You also know that there are enough pilots out there either frightened to delay a flight or seeking managerial 'glory' by being
'the most punctual', so again, dream sheet stuff. How often do the 'attached' CAA pilots fly 4 sector days with 25 min turn-rounds so they actually KNOW what they are putting their signature to?
Your dreams are long-term, and, I fear, unachievable - a tech/procedural fix is much quicker. A pilot union that recognised the problems and did something about them would be useful too.
You are, as always, quite right about how to handle the delay. The only caveat is to log times accurately - paperwork, passage through security, crew transport/access to gates, baggage loading, fuel, catering, pax, ops cock-ups etc etc - all the hundreds of 'bits' that go wrong, and make SURE you have done your best to sort things out where your remit allows.