| Delta Virtual Airlines Water Cooler | Airline Operations |
DVA Flight Schedule |
DVA3512
Captain, B737-800
Joined on September 04 2006
Western United States
54 legs, 146.3 hours
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Posted onPost created on
July 10 2007 15:41 ET by Barry Harmon
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Recent events have made me thinking about the DVA flight schedule, and what, to me, are inconsistencies in how it is handled. As an example I recently spent a couple of hours going through the schedule to set up a series of flights originating from one airport, flying multiple legs, and eventually ending at the same airport. Time constraints prevented me from finishing the flights for a couple of weeks. One of the flights was rejected because it no longer shows in the schedule. At first I thought "fine, no big deal" - but the more I think about it the more it really IS a big deal. The DVA schedule is supposed to be kept as current as possible, yet it is full of what are called "legacy" flights. In other words, non-current routes flown by non-current aircraft, but able to be flown by any current aircraft capable of making the trip. Smacks a bit of hypocrisy to me, since other non-current flight legs will be rejected, yet these "legacy" flights are considered valid for PIREP purposes.
Equity demands that all flight legs be handled consistently. The current system of some non-current legs being unacceptable for PIREP while others are treated as "legacy" flights that are valid for PIREP is inconsistent, and in essence penalizes those who don't have the time to fly them in an arbitrary "timely" manner. Either all non-current flight legs should be considered "legacy" ore none should. Anything else is hypocritical and smacks of favoritism to certain non-current aircraft programs.
In all honesty this isn't a new concern for me, but it is new in that is has me seriously considering my future here at DVA.
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DVA043
Senior Captain, MD-11
OLP
Joined on June 10 2001
Event Half Century Club
Online Double Century Club
50 State Club
DVA Twenty-Year Anniversary
Everett 1500 Club
Bi-Millennium Club
Four Million Mile Club
"Col. Panic"
Marietta, GA
2,347 legs, 9,466.0 hours
240 legs,
553.9 hours online
2,005 legs,
8,259.1 hours ACARS
75 legs,
196.3 hours event
2,383 legs, 9,600.9 hours total
91 legs dispatched, 66.4
hours
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Posted onPost created on
July 10 2007 15:54 ET by Luke Kolin
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Several issues here. First, if you create a set of legs to fly over a few days, then you should set them up as a flight assignment and you then have several days (5 or 7 I believe) to fly them. Even if the schedule gets updated in the interim, the flight should remain valid and approvable.
Second, I believe we are already consistent with how things are handled. If a flight is in OUR schedule, you can fly it. If not, then you can't. Legacy flights are not updated on a regular basis, therefore remain in the schedule day to day. Both are handled in exactly the same way.
Cheers!
Luke KolinSenior Captain, MD-11
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DVA3757
First Officer, B777-200
Joined on November 26 2006
Century Club
"Go Buffaloes!"
Western United States
108 legs, 270.0 hours
66 legs,
173.3 hours online
103 legs,
260.6 hours ACARS
2 legs,
7.9 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
July 10 2007 18:28 ET by Stephen Ayre
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In addition to that, the guys who run DVA like Luke do an awesome job with scheduling and keeping our virtual airline going. Just remember that everyone here has a life outside of DVA, so if it isn't an exact match to real world ops, cut em some slack. They work hard for no pay. Plus, this is the virtual word, right? Thanks everyone who works so hard to keep our hobby alive 
Stephen AyreFirst Officer, B777-200
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DVA4327
Captain, B767-300
Joined on April 14 2007
"Ride The Skies!"
Santee, CA USA
59 legs, 174.8 hours
24 legs,
71.6 hours online
25 legs,
63.1 hours ACARS
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Posted onPost created on
July 10 2007 18:41 ET by Nick Herring
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I agree. Thanks Luke and Terry!!!
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DVA2869
First Officer, B757-200
Joined on June 01 2003
"Mad Dog Dodge!"
Southeastern United States
60 legs, 127.0 hours
17 legs,
40.1 hours online
20 legs,
44.9 hours ACARS
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Posted onPost created on
July 10 2007 18:43 ET by Malachi Dodge
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./agreed Luke, Stephen
Barry did you happen to submit an explanation of your time constraints with your flight reports?
Malachi DodgeFirst Officer, B757-200
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DVA3512
Captain, B737-800
Joined on September 04 2006
Western United States
54 legs, 146.3 hours
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Posted onPost created on
July 10 2007 21:10 ET by Barry Harmon
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Sorry, but it doesn't wash. Either all flights in the schedule are "legacy" from the moment they're first entered or all should be purged when they are no longer considered current. Having two sets of standards (and despite all you want to believe, that's exactly what it is) for flights listed in the schedule does nothing but engender confusion and irritation to those pilots who fail to check if the flight they want to fly is still listed, or if they should just scrap their entire flight plan and redo it from scratch. To be bluntly honest it begins to move this pastime from the realm of "hobby" and into the realm of "work".
There is no enjoyment in that.
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DVA1763
Senior Captain, B757-200
Joined on June 29 2004
Everett 250 Club
Online Six Century Club
Seven Century Club
DVA Twenty-Year Anniversary
Oklahoma City, OK
723 legs, 2,015.0 hours
645 legs,
1,824.0 hours online
585 legs,
1,608.7 hours ACARS
10 legs,
44.8 hours event
740 legs, 2,044.9 hours total
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Posted onPost created on
July 10 2007 21:17 ET by Steve Pickle
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Barry, I think you are missing the point of the Legacy flights. We have the legacy flights in the schedule for the historic programs. If you will notice, most of the legacy flights are in a aircraft that DVA has as one of its programs. (i.e. the 727, MD-11, L-1011, DC-8).
If we made every flight a legacy flight, it would take the realism out of the VA. For instance, ATL-ANC is operated seasonally, if we had it operated in a 763 year round, that would be unrealistic, and take the fun out of flying the flight.
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DVA1094
Captain, B777-200
E-MAIL
Joined on February 17 2003
Quincentenary Club
Everett 250 Club
50 State Club
Online Quadruple Century Club
DVA Twenty-Year Anniversary
"N555PF"
Northeastern United States
583 legs, 2,024.7 hours
423 legs,
1,068.3 hours online
507 legs,
1,722.6 hours ACARS
1 legs,
1.1 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
July 10 2007 21:34 ET by Adam Hulse
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Barry, was it your flight number(s) that would not work, or the leg (ex. ATL-ORD) that wouldn't submit. If its just the flight number, can't you decide ahead of time where you want to go then that day find the appropriate flight number?
Adam HulseCaptain, B777-200
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DVA1320
Senior Captain, B777-200
COMM
Joined on August 29 2003
Online Six Century Club
DVA Ten-Year Anniversary
Everett Millennium Club
Flying Colonel
Three Million Mile Club
Arlington, VA USA
1,752 legs, 7,042.0 hours
610 legs,
2,627.6 hours online
272 legs,
966.9 hours ACARS
5 legs,
12.2 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
July 11 2007 06:14 ET by Daniel Ward
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| Barry, like every other VA out there we have our policies and procedures. You may not like or agree with all of them. Hey, I don't think anyone agrees with every one of them. We have kept the historic parts of the schedule intact for the reasons stated above. We have folks who still enjoy flying those aircraft Delta has retired from the fleet. That was a strategic decision on our part. For the remainder of flights see Luke's explanation above. I don't view it as a double standard at all. I don't fly the historic aircraft. But that is a personal desicion. We must be doing something right based on the number of ACTIVE pilots we have at DVA...
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DVA3672
Senior Captain, A320
OLP
E-MAIL
Joined on October 29 2006
B757 100 Club
50 State Club
Two Million Mile Club
Bi-Millennium Club
DVA Fifteen-Year Anniversary
US Capital Club
Toulouse Millennium Club
Online Fifteen Century
"Chris, NOT in Seattle"
Northeastern United States
2,534 legs, 6,223.1 hours
1,537 legs,
3,252.2 hours online
2,243 legs,
5,407.0 hours ACARS
4 legs,
6.0 hours event
2 legs dispatched, 19.5
hours
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Posted onPost created on
July 11 2007 09:31 ET by Chris Frasure
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| AND...you can always flight a historical flight with a current craft. Best bet is to find a flight on the ACARS server. I've been burned by this before too but not much can be done.
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DVA071
Senior Captain, B757-200
Joined on July 03 2001
Triple Century Club
Online Triple Century Club
Weston, MA USA
375 legs, 1,827.1 hours
310 legs,
1,535.6 hours online
159 legs,
991.1 hours ACARS
2 legs,
14.5 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
July 11 2007 11:44 ET by Geoffrey Smith
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Hate to point this out Barry but your only rejected flight was not a route (LGA-SLC) that has been served by Delta in at least the past month, if ever. If you check the DAL website, their is a flight number from LGA to SLC but it goes via ATL. Flightaware demonstrates that there has not been a direct flight between between LGA and SLC flown by any airline recently. It seems that the policy has been carried out as published and that the schedule data was not in error. When the schedule data is in error, such as the other week it had a flight from ATL to LOWW, but not the return, I looked up the return and indicated it in my comments and it was accordingly accepted.
I also highly recommend flying with ACARS whether online or offline, as you can search the schedule and have most of the information about your flight automatically filled out once you select the flight. You'll a) only be able to find flights in the system and b) it will warn you in advance if you are trying to fly an unrated aircraft, one of the other reasons a PIREP will be rejected.
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