AIRFIELD MARSHALLERS
 

Hi all,

What do you all think of the airport Marshallers??

Do they get in the way when you taxi,

Are they a big help or just a pain??

Cheers

When they signal for me to continue straight ahead with a constant motion then with no gradual reduction just give me the crossed arms over head (apply brakes), does my nut! India tends to be top when it comes to that...helps when i'm sure pax are all jumping out of their seats before we've even switched off the fasten seat belt signs, then we apply full brakes :hmm:

In most cases, rather a pointless function. In 14 years never a help, but sometimes a hinderance. Let's face it, we have flown the aircraft all the way from X (no line to follow), landed, found the stand, and now matey boy/girl is telling us how to follow a nice yellow line (which we can see) the last 30 metres or so. Well, if it wasn't for him/her I'm sure I would have hit the terminal thousands of times (or not). Or maybe marshalling is "Care in the Community", a job creation or a YTS Scheme.

At LGW, we only provide a marshaller when the stand entry guidance isn't configured for the aircraft type or where FOR THE CONVENIENCE OF THE OPERATOR, the aircraft is required to be positioned nose out. On many stands, positioning has to be within a tolerance of 600-900 millimetres to ensure that the aircraft is safely within the confines of the stand AND that all the services, fuel, electrical ground power, airbridge etc will fit. It's a LOT more than just not hitting the Terminal building!

Positioning an aircraft nose-out, especially when space is at a premium and several a/c of differing sizes need to be parked adjacent to one another (and taking into account minimum safety distances between a/c and order of departure etc etc) requires great skill and an excellent working knowledge of various aircraft dimensions, turning circles etc.

Some pilots just don't seem to get any formal instruction on how to comply with marshalling signals and make a right hash of driving the a/c. Our lads and lasses are very patient and are taught how to cope with these situations, but many years ago we did have one individual (now no longer with us) who ended up throwing his marshalling bats at a particularly dull pilot. Wouldn't happen today!

TheOddOne

Many times squeezing into VERY tight positions, marshallers are a tremendous help (JFK BA terminal, SEA and many many others). It's scary taxiing into the BA Terminal at JFK- tightest I've ever seen, and they are life savers. One of our 747s took 30' of fence out through just being a few feet off. On remote stands it isn't always clear which direction to park in unless a marshaller shows you.

Piltdown Man,

Bit condescending isn't it? Twice in the last few years I've watched a/c taxi straight past the stand they're supposed to be parking on... (B744 at LGW, A319 at LHR)

Obviously, YOU'VE never made a mistake in your life, ;) but for the rest of the mere mortals out there, surely every bit of help is appreciated?

Further, you can't see behind you, so how would you know to stop and shut down immediatley should something occur aft of the flight deck windows, without a marshaller / STOP signal from the stand guidance?

One the whole they are pretty good - JFK is a good case in point.

Had a very funny incident in France when I took a 767 to airport that was usually a 757 destination. Marshaller very quickly realised I would loose sight of him so started backing up rapidly - straight through an open door leading to an airside office :) He re-emerged a few seconds later looking a little red.................