New Gate Podiums At Clt

[700UW]

MWM,

There have been F/As getting disciplined by the company and the FAA, you have to have at least the FAA minimum on board otherwise you are in violation. Rules are the rules.

In CLT the inflight supervisors have been calling the jetway phone trying to get the F/A to answer it and step off the A/C and then writing them up.

 

[Light Years]

Jim,

I am not so sure I agree. Not allowing a crew member to step on to the jetway to answer the phone or to call for assistance is rather petty. If the FAR minimums are 3 and you have 2 F/A's onboard (one for each end of the aircraft), where is the harm if the third person steps off the aircraft. you still have 2 F/A's onboard in the evnet there was an emergency or a need to evacuate the airplane. There was a time when the F/A's could walk up to the gate agent and tell them that the bins were full, or they had a dupe seat and no one ever tried to board an airplane with no crew members onboard. I don't see the harm in allowing a F/A to step off the aircraft as long as there were at least F/A's onboard to cover both the forward and aft extis and take care of any incidents that may come up.

The time that you're referring to was when there wasnt minimum staffing. Take a 757, when it was staffed with six F/As there was no problem whatsoever with one going onto the jetway to call the gate or even go up there. But with minimun staffing, you simply cant.

The airline and the crewmember would be slapped with fines if a F/A on a minimum crew has both feet outside the fuselage. Even if there's only one passenger on board. Petty, maybe, but most rules in this industry are, because they have to be. Minimum staffing is determined not only by amount of seats on the aircraft, but amount of door exits (this makes our 8 door exit 75's different minimum than most carriers who have window exits.)

 

[Bear96]

MWM,

There have been F/As getting disciplined by the company and the FAA, you have to have at least the FAA minimum on board otherwise you are in violation. Rules are the rules.

In CLT the inflight supervisors have been calling the jetway phone trying to get the F/A to answer it and step off the A/C and then writing them up.

That's strange. At UA we are told we ARE able to step a few feet off the aircraft to use the jetway phone when staffed at mins and that is in compliance with the FARs.

Wonder which is correct?

 

[Air conditioned]

... the inflight supervisors have been calling the jetway phone trying to get the F/A to answer it and step off the A/C and then writing them up.

Isn't that nice.

 

[ktflyhome]

No wonder you can never get a Supervisor to answer the phone. Always a voice mail. Wow. I guess that is more important then taking care of F/A's who really need something.

Thanks for the heads up 700W. I will make sure to spread the word. h34r:

 

[MarkMyWords]

700 -

I knew what the rules were, my point was that the FAA rules and regs were a bit petty. Are you any less effective if you are 5 feet away from the aircraft on the phone then if you were standing in the galley? Light Years is absolutely correct about the point of there being only FAA mins on board versus what used to be on each plane. Again, my point is, are we less safe boarding a flight with 2 versus 3 F/A's if someone has to step out on the jetway to use the phone. It is just another ignorant FAA reg.

Question for the F/A group......if you have thru customers does the whole crew have to stay on board, or can only 1 crew member babysit the thru pax? Used to be, on a thru flight, only 1 crew member had to stay on board.

My next question would be....if we only need 1 crew member for a thru flight, why do we need 3 for an originiating flight?

 

[jimntx]

That's strange. At UA we are told we ARE able to step a few feet off the aircraft to use the jetway phone when staffed at mins and that is in compliance with the FARs.

Wonder which is correct?

I noticed that "you are told" it's ok to step off the a/c to answer the jetbridge phone. Have you ever been given anything in writing from the company that says this is ok? Something you could show to an FAA Inspector?

The FAR says that minimum crew must be on board the a/c before boarding begins and must remain on board until passengers have gotten off the a/c. Now, some gate supervisor or, Flight Service Manager may decide to expand the definition of "on board the a/c" to include the jetbridge, but until they agreed to pay any fine I might be assessed, I ain't planning to risk my bank account on the say so of someone other than the FAA.

In my vast career of 2 years and 10 months as a flight attendant, it was my observation based on the experience of friends of mine that FAA inspectors tended toward a strict interpretation of the FARs--particularly after 9/11. And, it is the inspector doing the inspection that issues the fines. At times like that those FSMs and gate supervisors that preferred a more liberal interpretation of the FARs tended to get real busy at another gate.

 

[ktflyhome]

Correct. One F/A must remain onboard during thru-flights. Usually most Jr. Although now we must have 3 to begin boarding process again. Use to be, if were a thru-flight, Agents could begin boarding without all F/A's on board.

I know one thing, I "ain't answering no more phones". FAA is getting stickier. Just like I posted the other day. A F/A got suspened for 3 days because she had yet to put her new Em. Manual version in the binder. Had it on her, just not in the binder yet.

Also, they are really upping the drug and alcohole testing again. Got 4 out of 5 of our crew the other day when the trip was over. 4 out of 5???? This is what you call "RANDOM"???? First time I have ever had to blow.

 

[Bear96]

I noticed that "you are told" it's ok to step off the a/c to answer the jetbridge phone. Have you ever been given anything in writing from the company that says this is ok? Something you could show to an FAA Inspector?

I'm pretty sure it is in our (FAA-approved) manual, though I don't have it handy to verify.

 

[jimntx]

I'm pretty sure it is in our (FAA-approved) manual, though I don't have it handy to verify.

I would be exactly sure. Find it in the manual and be able to turn immediately to it if challenged by an inspector. The inspector that a friend of mine asked about the issue said, "On the a/c means on the a/c. The jetbridge is not part of the a/c."

And, yes if it is in your manual, you are safe. Funny that AA's manual would say something different on the same issue, but consistency is not necessarily the government's strong suit.

 

[ktflyhome]

I suppose it could be different. I know the FAA mandates an 8 hr. libation rule, but U imposed it to 12 hrs before departure. I have been told, but don't know that is definately true that there are other Airlines who kept it at 8 hours.

 

[Dilligas]

I suppose it could be different. I know the FAA mandates an 8 hr. libation rule, but U imposed it to 12 hrs before departure. I have been told, but don't know that is definately true that there are other Airlines who kept it at 8 hours.

Well at Northwest they ask the crews to toss the beer cans before walking down the jetway...

(ducking)

I know, I know.

 

[StewGuy86]

As stated in the F/A Emergency Manual under "Crew Duties"
Required Flight Attendants
Source: FAR 121.391.393

"If counted in the total minimum complement, a F/A who must contact the station may request the flight crew call on the radio or that a pilot use the Jetway telephone. The Jetway cannot be considered as an extension of the aircraft."

Petty and nitpicky? Absolutely. But is it a hard and fast rule? Definitely. Will an FAA inspector fine you for it if caught? Ohhh yeahhh.

 

[Light Years]

The above is the US Airways policy, or how they interpret the FAR. Other carriers may have a looser interpretation but an FAA inspector might not.

I find it neat the different terms between airlines. US folks call them "jetways", AA people tend to call them "jetbridges". A friend at UA said they are supposed to call them "loading bridges" or something, not sure if they really do.

Its also funny that other airlines will call a 757 "the fifty seven", 767 "sixty seven"- if we were shortening it we'd say "seven-five" or "seven-six".

 

[jimntx]

Question for the F/A group......if you have thru customers does the whole crew have to stay on board, or can only 1 crew member babysit the thru pax? Used to be, on a thru flight, only 1 crew member had to stay on board.

My next question would be....if we only need 1 crew member for a thru flight, why do we need 3 for an originiating flight?

The FAA rule for thru-flights is
1/2 the FAA minimum flight crew (rounded down) must remain on board IF passengers remain on board the a/c at an intermediate stop.

If FAA minimum is 2-3 f/a's (F-100, MD80, 737), minimum thru is 1.
If FAA minimum is 4-5. minimum thru is 2.
And so on and so forth.

If all the passengers deplane at the intermediate stop, no one has to remain on board, but as Ktflyhome noted, general boarding may not begin until FAA minimum flight crew is back on board.

The why of it all, you will need to direct to the FAA. They don't have to give the airline a reason for the rule.