They wanted the 737-900ER for us to fly. They wanted the one with the new LiveTV system in play, but they’ve had trouble getting the LiveTV system working just right apparently. It is supposed to be going live this weekend (finally) but the plane is still in Orlando so we didn’t get to fly on it.
Still, they took us on a great tour of Texas, and the flight was ridiculously awesome.
We buzzed the tower at HOU, and had the appropriate comments about WN to go with that. We flew around for another hour and got to see Texas and otherwise have a great time with the folks working the flight. Truly they double staffed the plane, plus had some “special” guests working as FAs. It was really quite amazing.
And now, without further ado, some pictures:
A welcome from Eric, the guy in charge of in-flight product.
Kerwin, in the middle, remembers me. I think that might be a problem.
Looking down on Galveston.
My little moment of fame – a photo with Allison (I think) and Chavon!
And then in the cockpit with the copilot’s hat on.
3 comments:
Great job, Seth. I've got to get me a fish eye lens. I like that shot (though I still think you should photoshop your shadow out!).
Here are mine from the flight...
http://picasaweb.google.com/lwscrs/ContinentalDOIV?authkey=mBmGUKlb4Xs&feat=directlink
(PS - as an aside, my "word verification" to post a comment looks alot like APPROACH. It was appych.)
Continental Pilot Union responds to Continental DO IV
From the Continental Pilot Union Chairman to the pilots
Feb. 08, 2009
I have spent most of my morning answering emails and phone calls from pilots who, like me, are in disbelief about another corporate showing of excess yesterday. Unfortunately this one occurred here at Continental on Flights 9920 and 9921. While I have no problem with promoting our airline and rewarding our high paying passengers, taking a couple of hundred bloggers on a couple of hour long joy ride around Texas seems excessive by any standard. At this time, with this economy and with the current public attitude toward corporate greed and excess, is this really the type of activity they think will improve our bottom line? Have they not learned anything from other companies’ bad press due their excesses with these types of events?
The insensitivity is even greater with 147 pilots on furlough. I hope everyone enjoyed the reported low pass over Hobby. It is very likely that one or more of our furloughed brothers was washing or fueling airplanes directly below in order feed his family. If this is even close to being true, whoever approved this event owes our furloughed brothers and sisters an apology. They also owe every one of us who continues to work under a concessionary contract an apology.
Worse, the concerns I have fielded from our Union pilots are not simply about the expenses of the affair, but also about the apparent lack of concern for cockpit security, for the professionalism of our pilots, our CBA, and the amount of alcohol consumed by passengers. Management should be aware that when they invite internet activists to an event, it does not take long for the pictures to be posted on the various web sites. Imagine my concern when I viewed a picture of a passenger in one of our jumpseats, in flight, wearing the captain’s hat and bragging about how much he had drunk. Further imagine my disgust that your management just inflicted an unpaid suspension on two line pilots for allowing a Flight Attendant to ride in the jumpseat. Hypocrisy is too kind a characterization of the company’s disparate conduct in these two events.
No matter the expense of the event the perceptions of waste and excess far outweigh any possible benefits. I will be making the MEC’s concerns known to management first thing Monday morning. Each of us should encourage management to reconsider these types of events in the future. If not we will certainly do a better job of getting advance notice of time and location. Our SPSC guys would love to attend.
Captain Jay Pierce
CAL MEC Chairman
WWW.CALALPA.ORG
Hey, Jay:
You guys don't run the marketing department. The guys that do know what they are doing. As long as they don't try to fly the planes the pilots shouldn't be trying to figure out how to get bodies on them.
The bitterness of your constituency is misguided and foolish.
Post a Comment