Philly Phactor

[Dont call me Shirley]

FB update from a pilot friend this morning: "PHL ground stop because of a boat in the river." Don't know how long this lasted. I know that arrival patterns are sometimes changed at Logan if the is a large ship in Boston Harbor, first time I've heard of in Philly.

Boat or no boat, I heard yesterday was another bad day there, complete with 2.5 inbound delays. My cousin and her new hubby were on their way to AMS and got misconnected, losing a day off their honeymoon.

Don't know why I am bothering to kvetch here, PHL will never change. Unless the UPS complex gets relocated and a new runway built. Only slightly less likely than a new runway at SFO, another airport that cannot cope with IFR weather, due to runway spacing (or a lack thereof).


Anyhoo, does anyone know more about this boat and how long its presence gummed up things?

 

[Travelpro72]

If they put the entire PIT airport in PHL it wouldn't make a difference. Until they fix the priority that PHL gets as the red headed stepchild between DC and NY it will be screwed. What I always wanted to know is why can't PHL do double takeoff and landings like SFO? Have you seen how close they are? Even if they were staggered why can't they do it in PHL? Taxi space I'm guessing?

 

[BoeingBoy]

FB update from a pilot friend this morning: "PHL ground stop because of a boat in the river." Don't know how long this lasted. I know that arrival patterns are sometimes changed at Logan if the is a large ship in Boston Harbor, first time I've heard of in Philly.

If my memory is close, a big enough ship in the river intrudes on the G/S protected airspace for the west approaches using ILS or lower visibility.

Jim

 

[Newman]

I heard yesterday was another bad day there, complete with 2.5 inbound delays. My cousin and her new hubby were on their way to AMS and got misconnected, losing a day off their honeymoon.


A lot of PHL European connx just don't have enough time to begin with. An 85min DOM-INTL connection is difficult on a good day, throw in a few raindrops or an express crew delay and these psgrs get stuck.

 

[CGAft]

If my memory is close, a big enough ship in the river intrudes on the G/S protected airspace for the west approaches using ILS or lower visibility.

Jim



Boeing Boy is correct. Certain ships in certain shipyards or harbors require a change to the Field Conditions Report which changes A/C performance limits. Its just like a TAA that is issued due to a crane off of the end of a runway. PHL, BOS, SFO and HNL all affect the US operation.

 

[Iclubbabyseals]

Don't know why I am bothering to kvetch here, PHL will never change. Unless the UPS complex gets relocated and a new runway built. Only slightly less likely than a new runway at SFO, another airport that cannot cope with IFR weather, due to runway spacing (or a lack thereof).

While I agree about PHL, your ignorance about SFO is really reprehensible.

 

[Iclubbabyseals]

Boeing Boy is correct. Certain ships in certain shipyards or harbors require a change to the Field Conditions Report which changes A/C performance limits. Its just like a TAA that is issued due to a crane off of the end of a runway. PHL, BOS, SFO and HNL all affect the US operation.

Um, performance limits are hardly the problem. It is temporary, at best, and, while visual, is never an obstacle.

Sorry, but all I see is an attempt to remove captain's authority from day to day operations, increasing costs well out of any normalcy. I flew that day, countered the cretin call for what it was, and landed normally. The tempe idiots lost that day, at least, with me. It was visual, fer christsakes. Canning the VP of flight would be a positive step in the correct direction.

The morons in tempe want clerks making calls for issues they have no idea about what they pontificate. Hopefully, that will never happen on the east.

 

[BoeingBoy]

Guess you don't know that PHL had ground stops due to low ceilings/visibility and was landing west that morning...are you sure you landed at PHL and not somewhere else by mistake?

Jim

 

[Iclubbabyseals]

Guess you don't know that PHL had ground stops due to low ceilings/visibility and was landing west that morning...are you sure you landed at PHL and not somewhere else by mistake?

Jim

Mod- post deleted due to numerous insults.

 

[BoeingBoy]

Since you obviously didn't know that PHL had ground stops that morning due to low ceiling/viz, I guess we know who doesn't know what he's talking about... A real pilot would know how to find that info...playing with Flight Simulator on your computer doesn't count, BTW...

Jim

 

[LD3]

i am sure most of you may use this, but for those who dont: CLICK

 

[UPNAWAY]

Holiday ops was the best ever, so I am guessing the PHL factor was just fine.

 

[SparrowHawk]

Holiday ops was the best ever, so I am guessing the PHL factor was just fine.

Well that's certainly keeping your head in the sand.

PHL is the biggest blessing and curse to US Airways. On the plus side it has acceptable O & D. It US's most profitable hub and from a creature comfort point of view the physical airport is pretty nice.

However once you throw back the curtain things change. The pilots will tell you all you need know about airspace restrictions, landing restrictions etc etc ad nausea. The gap between B&C is to small to allow two planes to pass. The baggage belts despite upgrades costing in the millions still leave a lot to be desired.

Lastly is the workforce. We had union violence between the IAM and TWU a while back, There has been a persistent rumor dating back to before I ever flew that the ramp was "Mobbed Up" and many items "Grow Legs" or "Fall off the truck" as a result. When I say ramp I don't mean just US, I mean the whole blessed airport.

In short the so called Philly Phactor is a combination of things that IMO prevent US from being a much better performing airline. Sadly most of the issues are out of their control.

 

[CGAft]

Um, performance limits are hardly the problem. It is temporary, at best, and, while visual, is never an obstacle.

Sorry, but all I see is an attempt to remove captain's authority from day to day operations, increasing costs well out of any normalcy. I flew that day, countered the cretin call for what it was, and landed normally. The tempe idiots lost that day, at least, with me. It was visual, fer christsakes. Canning the VP of flight would be a positive step in the correct direction.

The morons in tempe want clerks making calls for issues they have no idea about what they pontificate. Hopefully, that will never happen on the east.

My comment has nothing to do with what you think about Tempe or Captains Authority for that matter. Any restriction you had was dictated by ATC, The OCC and the Ops folks that report the Field Conditions. Your Dispatchers are in PIT and so is CLP. If a restriction is in place it is reported as such by the Station. No, Captains authority doesnt control that.