Quote:
Originally Posted by Capn Bloggs View Post
That's pretty naive, Joe. Do you really expect multiple RPT aircraft could/would stick to their schedule plus or minus a couple of minutes so the flow would work with no slowdowns or re-sequencing?
Losing time in straight lines is better, fuel burn wise, than holding patterns. Nicer for the pax, too.
When I offer the choice of speeds and vectors or hold a large majority of pilots take the vectors.
Joe, even if everyone pushes back on time how does that account for different runways for departure and arrival, winds and Haughtney picking up 30 minutes over his 13+ hours in the air? Not to mention multiple aircraft scheduled to arrive at the same time.
The point is a dozen aircraft can end up all trying to land within a few minutes so there will be delays just because of the variables not accounted for by scheduling.
That would be easier to swallow if we didn't have schedules and slot times, and if we weren't sitting at the gate watching a clock wind down as part of a Ground Delay Program. If I were to push back outside -5/+10 of my COBT then my friendly controller would remind me that I'm non compliant and can expect up to 60 holding. If I am compliant, then I can expect the same holding/last minute slow down/now quick speed up, as before the implementation of ground delay programs.
It's simply not acceptable to be tracked from one side of the country to the other, with a slot time, and COBT compliant to then be treated as a shock/ surprise at 200 miles. As airline Pilots, we work hard to be fuel efficient, only to then throw that efficiency out the window with a ridiculously inefficient descent.