Southwest now buying used jets from other countries!

Ralphy1

Ralphy1

Well-known Member
It is shocking to me to think that an American carrier would do this to keep fares lower than the competition. I would certainly pay more to feel that I was flying on a plane purchased new and only used by the same Airline...
 

I may be completely wrong on this, but I think this is quite common for airlines to do this. I have certainly heard of it, particularly when it comes to freight.
 
Who cares about freight? I am concerned about my arse!
 

I was told that usually at the top of the main door frame on an aircraft, is a plate with details of the planes ownership. Sure enough, I've spotted several plates with the names of leasing companies on them. Once I couldn't see a plate and I was asked by a member of the crew what I was looking for. I asked him about the plane's ownership and he happily told me the name of the leasing company.
Do they come with a warranty? Well, they certainly come with a "certificate of airworthiness."
The idea of leasing doesn't worry me - having drunk with a number of pilots, I'm more worried about them.
 
Capt Lightning said:
I was told that usually at the top of the main door frame on an aircraft, is a plate with details of the planes ownership. Sure enough, I've spotted several plates with the names of leasing companies on them. Once I couldn't see a plate and I was asked by a member of the crew what I was looking for. I asked him about the plane's ownership and he happily told me the name of the leasing company.
Do they come with a warranty? Well, they certainly come with a "certificate of airworthiness."
The idea of leasing doesn't worry me - having drunk with a number of pilots, I'm more worried about them.
Click to expand...

Not everyone that says they are an airline pilot is one. This has always been a favorite bar pickup line for many years by a lot of nitwits. It's like telling people that they are an FBI or CIA agent or operative. Nobody that is one tells strangers that they are one when they first meet them. I am proud of what I do for a living and it really pisses me off when guys try to pass themselves off as a pilot.

As for Southwest buying planes from foreign companies. I have no inside information about that. There are a few airplane "bone-yards" sitting around here in the U.S. with hundreds and maybe thousands of planes that have either been taken out of service or were ordered and not delivered. Southwest flies an all Boeing 737 fleet. Any plane that is flown for the first time and is to be put into service for passenger use and is to be considered airworthy, must go through a qualification flight. This requires a pilot with a flight crew of at least two pilots on-board and an independent examiner from the FAA to rate the plane as it is put through the various maneuvers and tests, including bringing the plane out of a stall situation, which is considered by most of us as the most dangerous of all of the tests. Yes, we have lost a few good men while going through this flight.

Check this out.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...undreds-planes-left-die-American-deserts.html
 
Oldman, I'm sure there are a few people who try to pass themselves off as pilots, doctors etc. just as there may be some pilots who try to pass themselves off as sober. I stayed many, many nights in hotels that were used by flight crews, and I've seen quite a few regulars who checked in wearing their uniforms, and a few minutes later were in civvies propping up the bar. I've no evidence to say that they weren't fit to fly when they were next scheduled, but I've wined & dined with quite a few and they can't all have been frauds.
 
I am aware that some pilots do drink. We are not Saints, that's for sure. Some will tell you that they drink because of the stress, so they need something to calm their nerves and let them get some sleep. As with most airlines, we had a booklet that pointed out what was expected of us among other issues that were discussed in the pages. United has a zero tolerance for using drugs or drinking alcohol eight hours before a flight. (This is also an FAA rule.) We were always subject to random tests for alcohol and/or drugs. I remember deplaning in Salt Lake City and being led to the crew's lounge where I was handed a cup and told to use the men's room. The water had been shut off and locked out, so the test could be controlled. The specimen was immediately checked. That was the one and only time that I was tested.

I made a commitment to myself to never drink or use some medicines, like cough or cold remedies, the night before I flew. I flew with a young F/O once that had taken some cough syrup just before boarding. We had been in the cockpit maybe 40 minutes before taking off and he was already yawning and I could see his eyes were drooping. I asked him what was up with him. He said he took some XYZ cough syrup just before boarding, which is also against company policy. That put me between a rock and a hard place. We are supposed to rat out our fellow associates when we discover an issue like that, but I decided to forego doing that and instead gave him a lecture after we landed some five hours later. Of course, I was taking a chance for not reporting him. Had he been a "plant" by the company, I may have lost my job, or at least been disciplined somehow.

I am more concerned about pilots that use drugs, especially pain killers. We see them as the silent killers. I think that a lot more of railroad engineers have been caught using drugs than pilots, but it's not like it's a contest. No matter which uses them more. Both are dangerous and puts the passengers at risk.
 

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