Wild Pilot Rumour

[The Mr Fixit]

Howdy All

Got slagged for being an ginger beer on a pilot pen forum so I'll post a wild pilot rumour being spread by ground handling in Melbourne for the last week.

An A/C arrives at gate and can't be unloaded after talking to POCO the Captain makes announcement to the effect of " I am sorry Ladies and Gentlemen but due to the fact that there is understaffing in the ramp personnel your bags will be late being unloaded "

There is a knock on the flight deck door and in strolls the PLD, our own CEO, GD who is furious he asks both pilots for their IDs and resignation letters

Yes you can shoot holes in this from many angles but is there any truth in this rumour ?????

[Capt Kremin]

Sacked for telling the truth??!?

Sounds like a wild rumour to me. Wasn't the tin man in hospital getting a heart installed last week?

[tio540]

Might be an UM like Ricky Martin and the Doberman story.

:)

[Mstr Caution]

GD was not on board:8

[rexxxxxy]

GD has been in hospital last few weeks - not flying!

[FlyingBuddha]

Ok... Tio540 what's the Ricky Martin/Doberman story???

[control snatch]

This product makes my hair stand up

[Brian Abraham]

Arrived Melbourne on Emirates early December (3rd to be exact) and stood around in the baggage hall for an hour before bags began to appear. Then told it was due to no handlers to unload aircraft.

[rescue 1]

When will commonsense prevail and airlines/GHA's resource their manpower correctly and offer the customer good old fashioned service and pay their employees a reasonable salary.

I think there is an opening for some smart businessman...:confused:

[Pegasus747]

The correct version was that the plane landed in sydney and GD was sitting in 4A while they waited for an aerobridge to be connected.

Delay went on for ages as there was no staff available to connect aerobridge and the Capt made a PA to the effect that due to staff shortage they couldnt connect and deplane pax.

My info from a P/C pax on the day was that they all just glared at GD with beaming smile watching him squirm until the door finally opened.

Word is that if he had been sitting in 1A he would have climbed into the coatlocker to escape the tension and humiliation

[billyt]

Lack of staff(or interest) is not isolated to Sydney. Auckland is 10 times worse.

[Islander Jock]

Have arrived with Q at Perth on a couple of occasions and had to wait on the aircraft while they find someone to drive the airbridge or in the case of 717 push the stairs alongside.

[Skystar320]

Way off topic, but a aviation company may be heading down to Aus / NZ looking for experianced pilots for the AvroRJ / BAe aircraft.

Seems interesting....

[outboundjetsetter]

Skystar320... Any more info on the 'company' looking for the RJ pilots? what sort of ops do they have and what type of staff are they looking for?

[Lasiorhinus]

outboundjetsetter, dont bite. Skystar320 is a great source of unsubstantiated statements claiming outrageous rumours.
Havent seen any confirmation of any of them, yet, though:ugh:

[Going Boeing]

A Thunderstorm went through MEL Airport on 20Dec which caused the airport and ramp to be closed. When the airport opened again, all the aircraft, that had been holding, landed in quick succession and the aircraft numbers were too many for the available ground staff to handle - in particular the baggage handlers. Both the International and Domestic terminals were in serious gridlock - pax off the QF94 (15.5 hour flight from LAX) had to wait for over 2 hours for their bags). A B737 arrived at gate 24(Dom) and offloaded the pax, was cleaned and catered, then pax for the next service boarded and waited onboard for 2 hours because the bags from the previous service had not been offloaded or the next sectors bags loaded. There simply were not enough staff to cope with the workload. After approx 40 mins the operating captain phoned John Borghetti to appraise him of the situation and demand some senior management assistance in getting the ramp organised. Borghettis first question when appraised of the problem was "Is this part of industrial action". The captain assured him that this was not the case and was simply due to insufficient staff being available (ie too much cost cutting). I understand that all the other aircraft at the domestic terminal were in a similar position and as they could not depart, it threw the entire domestic operation into disarray. All the other ports suffered extensively due to the lack of aircraft to operate services.

The captain was upfront and honest in his PA's but he did not say anything that would give management ammunition to demand his resignation. If there has been action by management then the captains lawyer and AIPA's team of lawyers would be seeking a very large compensation payout.

[Ozgrade3]

There is no excuse for extended delays unloading non container narrow bodies. When I was at Impulse we had 7 mins to get the bags off, my crews averaged 5 mins, + 2 mins to get them on the baggage belt.

A 737 with 170 bags should take maybe 2 mins more.

Wide bodies are a little more complicated because of the extra equipment required, container dollies etc, and then having to move from bay to bay. The JCPL's have a max speed of about 10km/h, so it takes time to move from bay to bay.

Quickest you can ulnoad a full 747 is about 17 mins, .......if you have all the equipment handy.

By the way Emirites is hamdled by Menzies.

[Skystar320]

outboundjetsetter, dont bite. Skystar320 is a great source of unsubstantiated statements claiming outrageous rumours.
Havent seen any confirmation of any of them, yet, though

Err yes I admit the BAe 146 operations was a windup alert!!!!!

The 'deal' with the Dash 8/FK50 pilots went through

what other outrageous rumours have you heard?

[VeeoneCUT]

Only an hour's wait! Try London Heathrow you can circle the terminals looking for a vacant gate for an hour... just like looking for a car park space at a supermarket on a Saturday. Then when you find one, no unloaders - pax lucky to see their bags again.

Ignore Skystar320... posts nothing of any substance. Either a Spotter, Journo, or wannabe.