Holidaymaker flies aircraft to his holiday destination.
"Mildly" Eccentric Stardriver
Positioning, in uniform. Owing to a crewing mix-up, there was no pilot. I rang, and offered to operate. Nope, over total flight hours in last 28 days; couldn't operate till the following day. (we were working hard). The pilot who should have got off, having finished a week away from home, was told to operate, and have another night in the hotel at destination.
Perhaps more to the point, do you guys refrain from a glass of wine with a meal before traveling on holiday or deadheading, on the off chance that you might have to step up to the flight deck within the next 8 hours?
Seems like a refreshing dose of common sense. In earlier times I can remember doing ferry flights in normal clothes. I am equally impressed that Easyjet ops can make a decision that quickly. The whole thing reflects well on them, including the open communication.
Surely when an off-duty professional pilot gets a phone call saying “we’re short of a pilot, can you fly today?” they make a grown-up assessment whether they’re fit and able to fly, and if not for any reason, they say “sorry, no, unable.” Depending on their employer thay may have to explain why: “sorry, no, I’m drunk.” OTOH, if by an outside chance they’re sober and willing to fly, that’s when they turn up in civvies.
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Perhaps more to the point, do you guys refrain from a glass of wine with a meal before traveling on holiday or deadheading, on the off chance that you might have to step up to the flight deck within the next 8 hours?
Surely when an off-duty professional pilot gets a phone call saying “we’re short of a pilot, can you fly today?” they make a grown-up assessment whether they’re fit and able to fly, and if not for any reason, they say “sorry, no, unable.”
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I've flown in plain clothes as well, once while ferrying, the other time I was called from a standby before my standby even begun. I was in a shop, fetching groceries when the dispatch called. Apparently they called somebody before, an hour went by, something happened to this guy so the ops were running out of time and options.
License not being on your person is not a problem. If you get a ramp check and don't have it on you, the ops have a copy of it and can email it to whoever is interested to see it. A much more important piece of kit is the crew member certificate/and/or any proxy cards you might need to pass through security.
License not being on your person is not a problem. If you get a ramp check and don't have it on you, the ops have a copy of it and can email it to whoever is interested to see it. A much more important piece of kit is the crew member certificate/and/or any proxy cards you might need to pass through security.
Certainly when travelling on "my own dollar" I'm not going to sit in my seat like a coiled spring, refusing a glass of wine or a beer, just in case.
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I have reservations about him identifying his family as passengers. In any problems in the cabin they would be valuable hostages/targets. He did not have to point them out. No problems, this time.
The Dft did at one time briefly consider banning crew relatives in the cabin.
The Dft did at one time briefly consider banning crew relatives in the cabin.
So this Captain took his licence and ID just in case they were still struggling when he arrived for the flight.
Join Date: Sep 2007
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Photocopy
In fact, I believe most large U.S. airlines have a procedure in the operations manual allowing operation of the aircraft without the proper uniform. You don't want a plane parked because someone's suitcase is stolen overseas. You are supposed to get an authorization message from the ops department. Or, so they tell me.
I've certainly left my uniform in the closet of an international hotel on a trip that alternated operating legs and deadheads in civilian clothes.There are similar procedures for operating with faxed or emailed copies of licenses and medicals if the originals are lost or stolen downline although this may only apply to domestic operations.
A United pilot showed up for a flight in civvies a couple of years ago:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-a...-idUSKBN15R0RC
This is a recent change and may not be as well known as some.
#PSA
Join Date: Aug 2008
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Ages back while on B-737 we deadheaded as crew from FRA to GVA in civvies to start the first leg of a 4 day European rotation early next morning.
We arrived in GVA - our suitcases didn't.
Next morning suitcases were still missing.
We decided to operate the flight in civvies - made an announcement ( lunch in FRA, dinner in GVA, suitcases gone ... ) and flew the flight in civvies before ending the rotation in FRA as suitcases were still MIA.
They turned up a few days later having been sent to Damascus, of all places despite having a DH label on them for GVA..
No complaints, everybody happy - except for us as we missed a night-stop in Ankara.,
Join Date: Jun 2001
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In FAA land we can no longer use a Photocopy/EMail from Crew Records etc. A temporary certificate has to be requested on https://www.faa.gov/licenses_certifi...rmen_services/
This is a recent change and may not be as well known as some.
#PSA
This is a recent change and may not be as well known as some.
#PSA
Inevitably, someone has an incident or is unavailable to operate and the policy gets 'clarified'.
On some international sectors deadheading crew are required to be in civilian clothes for security reasons, on others they must be in uniform for crew status in customs and immigration.
I have reservations about him identifying his family as passengers. In any problems in the cabin they would be valuable hostages/targets. He did not have to point them out. No problems, this time.
The Dft did at one time briefly consider banning crew relatives in the cabin.
The Dft did at one time briefly consider banning crew relatives in the cabin.
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Mine is always in my wallet. Not because I need it, but because I might need it. Just like my health insurance card, backup credit card, AOPA card, etc.
Have flown in jeans and T as was positioning with uniform in hold and operating pilot fell ill. ID and a hi-viz was all that was needed.
Saw an EZY FO going to the aircraft in alpinestars leather jeans and boots but with work shirt and tie (forgot his kit bag on day one)
i nearly did the same commuting by motorbike once but found some trousers in lost and found box!
Saw an EZY FO going to the aircraft in alpinestars leather jeans and boots but with work shirt and tie (forgot his kit bag on day one)
i nearly did the same commuting by motorbike once but found some trousers in lost and found box!
The only time I tried to ferry an aircraft in jeans Spanish security didn't let me past until I listed myself as a jump seater....