Salut!
Enfin! La formation de nos 72 ATR nouvelle a commence!

Hello!
Finally! The training for our new ATR 72 has begun! After 3 days of systems training, my head is spining! I'm just happy that were moving forward and the process has begun.
The ATR 72 is a new aircraft for me. I've previously flown on the ATR 42 model as a flight attendant and I really enjoyed the aircraft.

So far topics covered in systems has been pnuematics, ice protection, hydraulics, aircraft general and so much other stuff. Our class is made up of 8 pilots and 2 dispatchers. The biggest challenge for us is that were the first group to go though the training and its a big learninig curve. Lots of questions by all, interspersed with moments of humor and gut busting laughter as we cause grief to out 2 instructors.

Over all, it's a lot of fun and I'm excited to be here.

EXCLUSIVE !!!! to Aircraft Dispatcher !!!!!!!!

I can also share with you our new colors, logo and aircraft paint job here for the first time is the NEW look for Island Air.



A press release was put out today 2100 GMT to show the world our new look.
I'm sharing it with you.

Visit http://www.islandair.com/ to see more.

ATR's?? Where???

So here begins my series about the ATR that my company is getting. I will blog about this until the day they become operational with Island Air.

The first of our flt crews are back from Houston. While there they attended ATR ground school and sim training. I was originally scheduled to attend the training. Crews were in Houston for about 4 weeks, but last minute changes by senior management had us sit this session out.

So as we roll into June, we're all wondering where the ATR's are at? The word is they are now delayed and not scheduled to arrive until August. Until then, the returning check airmen are busy putting together the first ground school for those pilots who want to bid into the new aircraft type. Ground school starts 25 June. No date set for dispatcher ground school on the new aircraft. Can't wait to work with the ATR's again, but this time dispatching them.

Changes are afoot!

I'M BACCCKKKK! After a almost year absence from this blog, I'm finally finding the time to begin posting again. Albeit I'm doing it late at night when the baby and everyone else is asleep. Anyway, I felt now is the right time to make this blog active again. To my original "7" followers of this blog, I say thanks for sticking around. To all those who visit or just happen to see my site, I also say thanks for stopping and reading. I greatly appreciate it.

As the title suggests, things are afoot where I work at. As noted in the local media and on various aviation news blogs, my company, Hawaii Island Air are going to get a "new" aircraft type. Since our aging fleet of Dash-8-100's are getting up there in time, we have decided to invest in ATR's! The company is going ahead and getting both models, the 42's and 72's. I've worked with and on the 42 models in the early '90's with another now defunct airline and i actually love ATR-42. Not to familiar with the 72's, but I'm sure it's not much diffrence.

So, I'll be deep in the transition of this aircraft within our fltops dept so I will do a regular series on this event over the course of the change over. I'll also write about anything and everything else that goes on in dispatch as well as at HNL and in aviation as well. Look forward to writing and taking pictures again and thanks for stopping by. Look forward to your comments on my blog. Till the next post...Aloha!

Busy...Busy...Busy!!

My sincerest apologies for the tardiness in keeping things fllowing on this blog. Having a newborn in the house just changes the dynamics of life. Not much time to be spent on the blog and other things.

I hope to have a couple of post added to blog in the coming week or so.

Again thanks for visiting my blog.

A bad day...err week...ahhh make that...

As with all operations a fluid as AIROPS are, we sometimes get caught in a downward spiral of endless delays, mechanical's and all the things that make civil aviation the thing it is today. We, meaning the airline I work for, just went through one of those "rough patches" recently. Now I love what I do and who I work for, but for the the past couple weeks, we in dispatch always seemed to be running an operation in crisis mode.

During one shift, I encountered several mechanical delays running into several hours of accumulated delays for all of our flights, a medical emergency at an out station and almost simultaneously an in flight emergency while the medical was going on, necessitating a return to field of our aircraft adding to the delays. I hate having to have our passengers delayed. Basically, SHIT HAPPENS!

Now, I hope at least for a while, that all this has passed and we can look forward to smoother skies for our airline. But for a while, man, it was a mental marathon with everything going on at once. Just glad to see everyone pull thru and take care of our passengers and get them to where they need to go safely, albeit a little bit delayed.