The big project: Jepp vs. LIDO

There is one great thing I like about my pilot group here at the new company. We are united on several subjects. First, we would like a new contract and 99.47% are in favor of a strike in order to get it. Second, we all despise LIDO and view it as an unsafe and unnessicary change. I'll try and point out some of the differences between the two formats for you.

* thanks to Brian, I found a way to post a LIDO chart. *

As you can see, there are lot's of colors, but no briefing strip.



The biggest difference between Jepps and Lido is the fact that there is no briefing strip on the Lido's. Information that we use for the briefing such as frequincies, courses, intercept altitudes, airport and touchdown elevations and missed approach procedures and minimum descent altutudes are scattered all over the place as opposed to the Jepps where it is all comparmentalized into the Briefing Strip. The challenge with the Lido is to find all this information and deliver it in a clear and consice manner. There is a lot of wasted time hunting and pecking at the approach plate to find all the information we need to cover. I'm making good progress in trying to find a flow to the Lido's, but its a slow process.

On a side note, I feel I am ready for the upgrade to the left seat so I have put my bid in for it. Hopefully in a few months I'll be heading back down south for upgrade training. I'm hoping for an April or May class, but Captain slots seem to be drying up, so I'll keep my fingers crossed.

A Big Project

Recently I've been thinking a lot about doing something more than just being a line pilot. There is more out there than just flying a plane from point A to point B. I have always had a particular interest in aviation safety. I'm an avid reader of NTSB reports and as morbid as it seems, I enjoy reading about accidents and incidents. There can be a lot to learn from other people's mistakes. The industry seems to be learning quite a lot from past experiences and the safety record over the last decade or so has shown just that. There have been fewer major airline crashes in this decade than ever before. The worst loss of life accident since 2001 was the Comair crash in Lexington in 2006. This can be directly related to the industry learning from past mistakes. There is a saying in aviation that the Reg's (FAR's) are written in someone else's blood. For the most part that's true. Aviation has typically been reactive rather than proactive when it comes to implementing safety procedures. For example, FAR 121.438 (2) (b) No person may conduct operations under this part unless, for that type airplane, either the pilot in command or the second in command has at least 75 hours of line operating flight time, either as pilot in command or second in command. This Reg is a direct result of a Continental DC-9 crash in DEN in which a very inexperienced FO was paired with a very inexperienced CA. This Reg was a reaction to the crash.

In order to help continue the upward trend in safety, I've decided to get involved with my company's safety committee. I recently flew a trip with the chairman and happened to strike up a conversation about my wanting to volunteer. Little did I know that I'd get put to work right away. During our flight we talked about some of the things that are safety related that could use improvement at the company. I brought up the fact that the companies recent change from Jepp charts to Lido's has caused a lot of stress in the cockpit. Our training for the new charts was less than stellar therefore is causing some minor difficulties in the cockpit during the transition. Standardization has taken a bruising because these charts are radically different than the Jepps we all know and love. Our approach briefings have gone from a streamlined recital of information to a random babble of information bits. I proposed the committee come up with some sort of company standard briefing. This way we can all get on the same page, so to speak. The chairman thought it was a great idea and said "Alright, your our man. Get to work on it and let me know what you come up with". Great. I'm not even on the committee 30 seconds and I have a huge undertaking to accomplish. I'm not complaining, but it's a bit of a daunting task. I need to come up with something the entire pilot group will use. I need to find a way to standardize 1300 pilots. This oughtta be interesting.