hawkxp

Title says all. Just got off MIA-DEN, NO ch9. Understand; union problems, "o mygod i'm going to get sue'ed for missing handoff", (who cares about) customers and all the other reasons.

But the question is: what are the best quick prods to give pilots as you exit aircraft? In 5-10 seconds what do you deem the most usefull comments to make to the ones who do not turn on channel 9?/

cblaisd

I usually say something to the effect "I'm sorry you didn't have Channel 9 on. I'm a private pilot and I love learning from the pros. It's one of the main reasons I fly United."

If it's a long flight, I'll write something to that effect on a business card (or a plea to reconsider) and ask the FA to give to the Pilot/FO.

lucky9876coins

The way I look at it, if a pilot doesn't want to turn on Channel 9, they won't. There's nothing you can do to convince them in a few seconds, since they're so angry at the airline (and as a result at the passenger), that there's nothing that can be done. If you want to try I would say something like "thanks for the safe ride, but I wish you would have made Channel 9 available." If you want to take it a step further maybe add "I know you guys are having management issues, but I'd really appreciate if you wouldn't let it out on the customers."

Of course actually getting a pilot to admit that that's the case is a different story...

That being said, most of the UA pilots I have spoken to think this Channel 9 "campaign" is a temporary "glitch." We'll see....

UnitedSkies

If the captain really didn't want to turn Channel 9 on, then unfortunately, there are strong enough reasons for him/her not to do so, and nothing you say will really help, I'm afraid.

hawkxp

Upon thinking about the flights:

DEN-MIA, ch9 on, pilots stood outside cockpit and thanked all passengers--enjoyed my anti-management button.

MIA-DEN, CH9 OFF, cockpit door closed and locked upon leaving.

I know which group that I wish gets RIFFED.

davidsfo

No. That's not right. Unfortunately, UA has left it to the whim of the captains to turn it on or off. It could be a general dislike of Channel 9, or a union action. The chances of a legitimate safety issue being the reason for turning it off is slim to none. UA should change the policy to direct the pilots to keep it on unless there is a "serious adverse safety impact." Of course, given the current tensions between UA mgmt and the pilots, this will never happen.

ryan182

I've had more than one occasion where it seemed like it was a simple oversight. As one might expect checking the Ch9 switch isn't top priority during the preflight stuff, I usually plug in my headphones on boarding, if its on super, if not ask the pilot if it looks like they aren't busy (this is far easier on the 757s) or an FA to ask. Probably 50+% of the time it comes on, I guess the previous pilot (or maybe several pilots ago) turned it off and no one noticed. If its an its off and its going to remain that way I don't think theres anything you can say on the way out to change that.

FlyinHawaiian

Just an observation; the last time we had a thread that discussed why certain pilots had Channel 9 on and some chose not to, the discussion went on for quite a while before the level of discourse required the thread to be closed. I'd rather not re-live that experience again. Could posters please confine their responses to the OP's question and not engage in the Channel 9 on/off debate?

Thank you,

FlyinHawaiian, Co-Moderator
United Mileage Plus Forum

EYEFLY8722

You are right on target! There is another issue, that is SAFETY related. Those of us who are pilots and/or frequent listeners to Ch 9, or the ATC communications when we are in the pilot seat, will know how important answering when called by ATC can be. Similarly, it is rather helpful if the pilot knows his call sign and relates it correctly. Over a year ago, on UA 757 pilot missed the call sign EVERY SINGLE time he responded to ATC. I reported him, and his actions, and was thanked by the Chief Pilot. I agree with the comments to the Pilot(s) when exiting the aircraft. And further agree that it does pay to ask the FA to either recycle Channel 9 or ask the pilot about it. If the Pilot is not inclined to make Ch9
available, the FA's usually will know about it. At least UA makes audio available; When will AA ever finish their plan to retire MD-80's and convert to more 738's or 757's?

joelfreak

I must say I LOVE ch 9. But, the actions you took, although correct, probably makes more pilots NOT turn it on, as they are afraid of getting reported...for them its just not worth it...I dont know how to really solve that.

heffa

On the way out I usually say something like that I'll fly AA next time instead of UA, where they either do not have Channel 9 -- just like on *his* flight. [I wrote "his" since I have yet not come across a female pilot that flies with Channel 9 turned off]

das

There are a lot of things besides Channel 9 that UA leaves to captain discretion, and given the captain is entrusted with protecting the lives of the passengers on board, I definitely respect a captain's decision to turn off channel 9 if he/she feels uncomfortable about it for any reason whatsoever,

That said, the majority of my flights have channel 9 turned on and I definitely appreciate those who offer it!

AdamUK

I think the best thing you can do is tell pilots who DO have Ch9 on how much you appreciate it. Better to keep those who fly channel 9 doing it, then trying to turn those who just don't want to play ball.

dhammer53

I realize that question refers to post-flight.
But why suffer through the flight?

I ask the pilot as I board the plane. I always get a yes or no answer right away.
Now if only the flight attendants would remember to turn on the audio after the announcements.

Beckles

That sounds like a terrible thing to say to a pilot to me. What if the pilot always turns on Channel 9 but just forgot to on this one flight?