Book: The Global Airline Industry By: Peter Belobaba Flight Crew Activities During a Typical Flight Sections – Presented by: Nahid Boustani SYST. 660-Spring 2013

Typical Flight Phases

Flight Crew Activities 1 & 2 1. Flight Crew Sign in 1 hour prior to the departure of the first leg 2. Operations/Planning Airline Operations Control Center (AOCC) selecting the best routing in terms of time, fuel burn, ride conditions, etc. Flight plan: Aircraft type, forecast weather conditions, aircraft performance, loads and operating weights, aircraft mechanical condition, marketing constraints, airport limitations/curfews, alternate airports and company priorities.

Sample Flight Plan Sections Header Flight plan summary Aircraft type and registration The filed routing Planned cruise Mach/altitude En route ATC sectors to be traversed Waypoints Specific information about each waypoint in the filed route: flight altitude, winds forecast, course, Mach/airspeed/groundspeed, cumulative distance/flight time/fuel burn Fuel_ determining the fuel load Fuel requirements to destination (including reserves) Destination weather and alternates Off-optimum speed or altitude requirements (maybe driven by marketing or ride condition) Ferrying fuel to destination (due to cost effectiveness or mechanical discrepancies of the aircraft) Effects on landing and takeoff performance and the payload Takeoff Planning Load Available runways Maximum runway and climb limited weights Takeoff engine-out performance Significant reference airspeed or V-Speeds used by crew Alternate Airports certain weather requirements or routing limitations may impose takeoff, en route, or destination alternate airports

Flight Crew Activity 3 Pre-flight Exterior walkaround visual inspection Interior cockpit setup System checks Output 1: Mechanical logbook update Output 2: Minimum equipment list (MEL) Autoflight initialization and Flight Management System (FMS) programming to allow their use during the flight Initialization of the on-board data communication system Corroborating the fuel quantity, type, and distribution in tanks with the flight plan and on-board sensors Communications between the cockpit and cabin crew

Flight Crew Activity 4 Pre-departure Finalize the FMS and autoflight parameters by obtaining an update on weather and runways Receive confirmation of flight routing and planned departure time from ATC Performing “before starting engines” checklist fasten seat belt sign Public address announcements Closing the aircraft doors Completing the baggage and cargo loading and closing the cargo doors Connecting to the tug and communicating to the tug driver Arming the escape slide mechanism of the entry doors

Flight Crew Activity 5 Gate Departure Wheels chokes are removed and safe to release the parking brake Acknowledge release of the parking brake Call ramp control for push-back clearance Arrangements are made for Deicing the airframe Starting the engines Disconnecting the two bar and saluting to confirm the ramp area is clear Acknowledge the salute Call for taxi clearance Taxi out

Flight Crew Activity 6 Taxi-Out Receive load closeout Calculate finalized takeoff performance data Reset the stabilizer trim and set takeoff reference speed Complete taxi and “before takeoff” checklist Announce departure PA and flight attendants secure time

Flight Crew Activity 7 Take-off Issue position and hold clearance Receive takeoff clearance Engine throttle levers are pushed forward Call out each V-speed until reaching abort decision speed, V1 The take off is rejected if a critical problem is occurred before reaching V1 Communicate the problem to the control tower to close the runway

Flight Crew Activity 8 Terminal Area Departure Aircraft is accelerated to maximum low-altitude climb speed (250 knots below feet in USA) ATC provides radar heading assignments to achieve traffic spacing or efficiency objectives During climb-out the flight conforms to Standard Instrument Departure (SID) procedures