jb747's last operational flight

[Justinf]

Bugger I miss this by literally two days.
Happy retirement JB.

 

[LadyC]

I believe I was travelling on one of @jb747 last flights on QF36 yesterday (unless there are a few of you retiring with the initials JB?). The first officer asked us to critique the landing - 10/10!

 

[Melburnian1]

I believe I was travelling on one of @jb747 last flights on QF36 yesterday (unless there are a few of you retiring with the initials JB?). The first officer asked us to critique the landing - 10/10!

The latter is not a task I would be capable of assessing, as from memory jb747 commented once that a 'soft landing' (as perceived by passengers) was not necessarily optimum. It's one area I'll leave to aviators.

That flight, by the way, was 72 minutes late arriving if I recall, a function of QF35 inbound being delayed.

 

[jb747]

I believe I was travelling on one of @jb747 last flights on QF36 yesterday (unless there are a few of you retiring with the initials JB?). The first officer asked us to critique the landing - 10/10!

You should have sent me a message. I would have come back and said hello.

That particular F/O is pretty adept with his PAs. The reason for his comment though, was that I'd been requested by the company to do a GLS auto land on 34 if the opportunity arose. That would serve to qualify it for general use. I wasn't all that keen because it meant giving away one of my last landings, an also because that runway is uphill, and that means the auto land system has more opportunity than usual to get it wrong. On the other hand, I was curious to see how it would go. In the end, we did the auto land, and as you felt, it did flare nicely. Now I've got to send some paperwork to the company....

The latter is not a task I would be capable of assessing, as from memory jb747 commented once that a 'soft landing' (as perceived by passengers) was not necessarily optimum. It's one area I'll leave to aviators.

That flight, by the way, was 72 minutes late arriving if I recall, a function of QF35 inbound being delayed.

There's nothing wrong with a firm touchdown, as long as the runway is wet....or short.

No, but it was about 30 minutes late. A function of....some missing passengers (found), ATC, and then congestion at the holding point. We pedalled as fast as we could, and got back some time, but 2 tonnes was all I was willing to expend for that.

 

[LadyC]

The latter is not a task I would be capable of assessing, as from memory jb747 commented once that a 'soft landing' (as perceived by passengers) was not necessarily optimum. It's one area I'll leave to aviators.

That flight, by the way, was 72 minutes late arriving if I recall, a function of QF35 inbound being delayed.

I do believe the First Officer was having some fun but also letting the passengers know that the captain was soon retiring.

And the flight was late arriving. There was a lot of rain in Singapore and I think there were a few flights that were delayed in departing.

 

[LadyC]

You should have sent me a message. I would have come back and said hello.

I didn't realize it was you until we had disembarked but I'm more of a behind the scenes person anyway. You look too young to be retiring!

 

[mikenz]

I hope you enjoy your last roster JB and thanks for taking the time to answer our questions.

Do you get the opportunity to request who will fly with you in the coughpit on your last flights?
And a more general question (I appreciate this is now wavering back to the 'ask the pilot' thread), when do you find out who you'll be flying with?

 

[jb747]

Do you get the opportunity to request who will fly with you in the coughpit on your last flights?

If I had chosen to do a trip from the normal Melbourne allocation, then yes, I could have requested a specific flight crew. But, they've actually built a special trip for me, mixing Melbourne and Sydney flights. So, in that case, I just go with the normal allocation. The trip will actually have two FOs. One for the first three sectors, and a different bloke for the last. It's not impossible that it could change, or a swap could be done, between now and then. It's actually quite difficult to bid for a specific sector. The allocation computer is likely to give you what you asked for, but at the expense of two months of horrid roster.

And a more general question (I appreciate this is now wavering back to the 'ask the pilot' thread), when do you find out who you'll be flying with?

I can access the flight crew names for any flight (not just my own) using a QF on line system called CiS. We use that to keep track of our flying hours. Past crews show up for a while, and future crews to the end of allocated rosters. Cabin crew don't normally show up, but they will when a flight is your next one. It works in reverse for cabin crew.

 

[Melburnian1]

Forgetting for a minute that you may have special skills or experience that some or all in similar positions may not, at airlines that fly internationally (not just QF) does management (with its eye on the cost base) tend to have a neutral, a supportive or a 'we'd prefer you stayed on' attitude to flight crew who retire as early as possible, who retire in mid stream (half way between the minimum sanctioned age or at the maximum allowable age such as 65 or 70 where mandated?

(I'm assuming that there are no adverse externalities such as SQ has encountered at various times in management wanting to reduce the number of FTE in your occupation due to an oversupply of 'heads.')

 

[jb747]

Forgetting for a minute that you may have special skills or experience that some or all in similar positions may not, at airlines that fly internationally (not just QF) does management (with its eye on the cost base) tend to have a neutral, a supportive or a 'we'd prefer you stayed on' attitude to flight crew who retire as early as possible, who retire in mid stream (half way between the minimum sanctioned age or at the maximum allowable age such as 65 or 70 where mandated?

There is no feedback, so who knows? I expect that they are well aware that going to the actual age is extremely unattractive to most of us, and I assume (or hope) that they plan accordingly.

The younger pilots are all happy to see us go, as there has been a decade of stagnation for most of them.

 

[Melburnian1]

My goodness. In some organisations in which I've worked, there is immediate feedback one way or the other from someone in 'management' and sometimes discussion with the potential retiree. Can be pleasant but sometimes the entity badly wants one to stay on. Flight crew must cost a huge amount to train, but it's loss of expertise honed over many years when there's no suggestion that skills are atrophying with advancing age that would be of concern were I a shareholder of an airline.

Retirements on medical grounds are a different situation.

 

[flyer89]

There is no feedback, so who knows? I expect that they are well aware that going to the actual age is extremely unattractive to most of us, and I assume (or hope) that they plan accordingly.

A colleague of yours that we know Ross M. had to retire medically last year (one of many to have to do so I believe) so it’s good you get to go out on your own terms at least.

 

[Quickstatus]

@jb747 ,
Re stagnation of upward mobility at the airline,
How many change seats with your retirement?

 

[fresherbill]

Happened to be on Sunday's QF36 with JB in charge. JB, thanks for being such a great sport. The folks near me must've thought I was some kind of rock star to have the captain come and say hello.

As soon as I walked off the plane all the questions flooded into my head... but I guess that's what the Ask the Pilot forum is for!

 

[jb747]

My goodness. In some organisations in which I've worked, there is immediate feedback one way or the other from someone in 'management' and sometimes discussion with the potential retiree.

I understand that there is some sort of post employment interview, run by a third party. I expect that it's boycotted by all of the pilots.

Can be pleasant but sometimes the entity badly wants one to stay on. Flight crew must cost a huge amount to train, but it's loss of expertise honed over many years when there's no suggestion that skills are atrophying with advancing age that would be of concern were I a shareholder of an airline.

Taking your last point first. Whilst one's skills may still be perfectly acceptable, there is no doubt that they do deteriorate with age. Anyone who thinks otherwise simply isn't looking all that closely. Experience makes up for that to a large extent, but eventually you'll meet a crossover point. It was always my intention to be gone well before that point.

Rumour has it that the number of retirements has spiked a bit of late. There are certainly some aircraft types that they are already short on, even with the training pipeline full. The 330 would be the most problematic. The same rumour machine says that some are being asked to delay their retirement. But, it's only a rumour, so who really knows?

 

[jb747]

@jb747 ,
Re stagnation of upward mobility at the airline,
How many change seats with your retirement?

That's very much like asking the length of a piece of string. A year ago, they probably had too many 380 Captains, but by my count they've lost around 12-15%, without any replacements, so I'd expect that the numbers are probably short again.

In a perfect world, in which all aircraft types had the correct establishment, the loss of someone from the highest position could initiate a ripple of one training slot on every aircraft, and every rank...and then one employment position as well. At the moment it might be a little simpler, as they're trying to reduce the numbers on the 747, so it could simply mean one Captain moving from there to the 380. Relative seniority will come into play if the 747 person isn't actually senior enough to get the slot, but in the current situation I expect the resultant ripple will only be a couple of slots deep.

 

[Quickstatus]

Did any of the secondments to other airlines on a leave without pay arrangement return?

 

[jb747]

Did any of the secondments to other airlines on a leave without pay arrangement return?

As far as I know, most have come back, but not all. One is now in the RAF, involved in the training for the A400.

For the ones who were with Emirates, they've forgone 380 commands to come back. Most found the experience interesting, but tired of Dubai. Some have relinquished Jetstar commands and come back as SOs.

I haven't spoken to anyone who regretted the experience, but equally they all seem happy to be back.

 

[Quickstatus]

What’s attractive as a SO instead of command?

 

[Himeno]

As far as I know, most have come back, but not all.

Are the returning QF pilots part of the reason for the reported shortages of flight crew at EK and CX?