Some of us were working on Xmas day....
 

Yes, while most of you were snug in your warm homes enjoying Christmas, I was flying in this crap.....

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1230345514.jpg

I'm flying from Orlando to Atlanta, then Atlanta to Bloomington tomorrow. I hope it all goes smooth.

I guess i should translate for the non pilots,..

Metar: is basically a local weather report at an airport.

260301Z: reported on the 26 of Dec at 3:01 Zulu, which in Salt Lake time is actually the 25th at 8:01pm.

33022G29: wind is from 330 degrees (northwest) at 22 knots, gusting to 29 kts.

1/4SM: forward visibility is 1/4 of a mile.

+SN: heavy snowfall

FZFG: freezing fog

VV001: vertical visibilty, 100 feet

M01/M03: temp/dewpoint in C. (@31/29 F.)

A2931: altimeter setting 29.31

the rest is about peak winds, windshifts, pressure rising and then another report 5 minutes later.

NOT exactly fun..!! This is why you hold and get ground stopped because of weather. We did get in after being #18 in the holding pattern for over an hour. The weather was constantly going up and down in visibility requirements. It would go up, and 3-5 planes would get in, then back down, and more holding. On the approach with this kind of visibility one pilot is heads down, one is heads up. Non flying pilot makes all the outside visual calls. At @100 ft off the ground, flying pilot pulls power back, looks up and 2 seconds later lands. And then of course a 20 minute taxi trying to find the ramp... ugh....

what plane?

So a few weeks ago the g/f was flying from NY to LAX on Jet Blue. It was a non-stop flight, but the stopped in SLC for fuel (!). Evidently the headwinds were pretty fierce. But what kind of contingency load do they carry for a flight like that? I would have though they'd have a good handle on weather and the computer would tell them how much fuel to load in NY.

Yipes. Nasty weather.

Oh, so that's what she told you....

No offense but, many people work on Christmas. Think of our troops. I have spent several Christmas's under the ocean. Now I provide power on Christmas for your Christmas lights. Just saying lots of people sacrifice their holidays so others can be with their families. We went with out power this Christmas but it was only out for a day. I thank the linemen who risk their lives working in the ice and snow with trees falling like rain. On Christmas eve every time I went outside I could hear a tree or branch breaking every 5 seconds. No power and it took me 2 days to clear the drive way only to reach a road that was blocked by a tree every few hundred feet.

I big thanks to all that keep things going 24/7 SmileWavy

Don't complain - I wish I could be back flying. Unfortunately I had to give it up several years ago because the industry was so stagnant and uncertain. I'd trade places with you in a heartbeat. I miss the flying terribly.

I'll bet your passengers don't miss you flying terribly :p

I don't miss you flying terribly. I live under the flight path. ;) :D

For once, I didn't have to work X-mas day:D
Glad you had a safe one!!

I thought the elves were done working once Christmas eve came around?

You have a better chance of winning the LOTTERY, then making all those connections.

This was a rant more about the weather than working on xmas. I certainly think of eveyone working on Holidays. I havent had an xmas off in 15 years. I am bringing people home so they can enjoy it with their families.

Legion, you should be fine as long as the weather is good in ATL, which it should be.

Milt, I thought about you specifically when I took off from LGB last week. (in full after burners)

Phile, i dont think its ever been a 'good' industry to be in unless you started 40 years ago and are safe seniority wise. Obviously now it not a good time to get back into it, but dont say never!

Nostatic, same thing happened to us. Flight planned for winds of 260/95 and we soon were in winds of 280/155. We ended up having exactly enough to get to SLC and an alternate, not the 1 hour fuel cushion we planned on. (we can over ride dispatch fuel order to a point) We almost had to stop in DEN, but didnt have to. Another 15 minutes of holding or such, and we would have had to divert. Basically, it depends on weight/cargo etc, and airlines tend to just put enough on to be legal based on weather, as they dont want to tanker fuel because of the higher fuel burn from the extra weight. What kind of plane was she on? the EMB, or the Airbus?

I only flew boxes, so no passengers to worry about complaining. :)

As far as the people underneath looking up at us and complaining - I always considered it jealousy.