Manta From United States, joined Oct 2004, 41 posts, RR: 0 Posted (3 years 11 months 2 days 11 hours ago) and read 3047 times:
Greetings,
I've noticed on a few recent UAL flights out of ORD, channel 9 has either been music or not available at all - just silence.
On one particular flight I asked one of the F/A's if they could find out why Ch.9 wasn't operating. She returned and said the pilot can't turn it on.
I was wondering if that is normal practice on UAL. Is Ch.9 supposed to be ATC all the time, or do some pilots just not want you listening to their conversations with ATC?
It seems like a gamble every time I fly. I quickly check to see if Ch.9 is operational, and then once it is, I can sit back and enjoy the flight.
I'm just curious why Ch.9 isn't just set to ATC all the time and locked.
PA110 From United States, joined Dec 2003, 1894 posts, RR: 29 Reply 1, posted (3 years 11 months 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 3021 times:
Channel 9 has always been "at the pilot's discretion". It has been available on most flights I've taken, and I travel UA quite often. There was one flight from CDG to SFO where Channel nine was switched to Jazz selections midway through the flight (offered in the inflight magazine as an alternate choice on Channel 9). Some Jazz fanatic must have begged the captain to switch.
If you continue to antagonize your customer base, they eventually go elsewhere.
RoseFlyer From United States, joined Feb 2004, 5281 posts, RR: 17 Reply 2, posted (3 years 11 months 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 3017 times:
Channel 9 is available on the captain's discretion. Most flights have it, and many pilots will come on the PA and tell you that it is activated and tell you the flight number, or explain it in some way. It is a fun thing to have, but it is not a guarantee.
There are obvious reasons why Ch. 9 shouldn't be available on all flights. For instance on 9/11, it was inappropriate for passengers to be listening to ATC and all the issues happening. It is a nice feature to have, but sometimes pilots feel that they don't want it activated, sometimes it is inappropriate, and finally it doesn't work all the time along with many IFE systems.
I design airplane parts for a living and am that guy that mechanics hate and blame for everything... the Design Engineer
RyanL1011 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 3, posted (3 years 11 months 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 2955 times:
I had the chance to listen to "From the cockpit" on United back in the early 90s on a DC-10 flight from DEN to LAX on United, I LOVED it! I wish every aircraft out there had that capability.
Kaputt From United States, joined Dec 2004, 167 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (3 years 11 months 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 2918 times:
A few years back i had the opportunity to get into a united 737 cockpit before the flight. and the pilot has the option to turn on the "channel 9" if he wants to.
ORDflyer From United States, joined Aug 2004, 511 posts, RR: 0 Reply 5, posted (3 years 11 months 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 2918 times:
As others have said, it's "at captain's discretion" It's probably been turned on for about 80-90% of my UA flights over the years. It's a great feature, and something nice that does set UAL apart from the IFE of other airlines. I haven't come across many pilots that actively don't want it on. If its not on it usually seems to be a case of either being broken, or they forgot to flip the switch up in the cockpit.
To ensure the maximum possibility of having Channel 9 on, if I see a pilot before the flight I'll try and mention something like "will channel 9 be availalbe today for the flight?"...I've never been turned down yet. After flights when channel 9 was on I'll make it a point to say thank you for having it on and how much it improves the flight experience for me. I just like to make sure the pilots know that channel 9 is desired and appreciated by the pax.
Feroze From India, joined Dec 2004, 755 posts, RR: 1 Reply 6, posted (3 years 11 months 2 days 9 hours ago) and read 2904 times:
On a flight from SIN-HKG in 2003, the pilot and ATC in Hong Kong were having problems. ATC was routing the a/c direct to a specific 5-letter intersection, but the pilot could understand which it was. After four attempts (with ATC getting angrier and angrier) this led to a phonetic spelling of said intersection and the a/c changed heading. At this point, Ch 9 was switched off....
Carpethead From Japan, joined Aug 2004, 2201 posts, RR: 2 Reply 7, posted (3 years 11 months 2 days 9 hours ago) and read 2879 times:
I have experienced very few domestic flights without Ch. 9. Some int'l flights don't have Channel 9 turned on, particularly the 744s.
Yesterday, I flew from ORD-KIX and the captain had Ch. 9 on all the way. It was only the second time I flew through Russian airspace and the UA pilots had a difficult time picking up the Russian ATC's English. One of the transiting traffic had to relay some of the instructions. Not sure if it wasn't loud enough or just plain incomprehensible English, but I seemed to be able to understand it.
Lincoln From United States, joined Nov 2004, 3223 posts, RR: 8 Reply 8, posted (3 years 11 months 2 days 8 hours ago) and read 2837 times:
I've only flown on IFE-equipped UA aircraft twice as far as I can remember...Both were earlier this year. The T7 LAX-ORD it was just silence, the 744 ORD-LAX was silence. I pulled out the mag and noticed the "captains discretion" note so I flagged down a FA (I think it was before we even pushed) and stated to ask her "Do you know..." and she interrupted "No, we've already talked to the captain. He's not going to turn on Channel 9 for this flight" -- It implies she gets that question often
A bit of a bummer, to say the least. Though that was probably the best in flight service I've ever received in Y... and it came close to what I remember from F on NW (the (great) snack box was nothing by comparison, but the beverage service was...)
I was on an AS flight (either a 73x or a 75x, I'm pretty sure it was PDX-ONT) several years back and found the AS equivalent of Channel 9... (maybe it was EX-UA? They certainly didn't say anything about it). Very cool -- I've hoped to 'stomble' across it on every flight since.
Lincoln
[If UA actually flew where I wanted to go I probably would change preferred airlines. Alas, there is but one way in and out of PLN.]
CO Is My Airline of Choice || Baggage Claim is an airline's last chance to disappoint a customer || Next flts in profile
ORDflyer From United States, joined Aug 2004, 511 posts, RR: 0 Reply 11, posted (3 years 11 months 2 days 8 hours ago) and read 2752 times:
is there like a single switch in the cockpit that turns on and off ch.9??
Yep it looks like that is the case
"In the cockpit, somebody has to switch on the "observer's audio" switch, then turn up the volume on the 1st observer's audio select panel." http://www.airliners.net/discussions/tech_ops/read.main/374/
CaptainTim From Hong Kong SAR, PRC, joined Dec 2004, 393 posts, RR: 0 Reply 12, posted (3 years 11 months 2 days 7 hours ago) and read 2691 times:
It isn't on all the time, it has ahppened to me on many occasions and now befroe every flight, i head up to the cockpit and take a few pictures and ask if CH. 9 could be turned on.
the captain flips a switch and turns a dial clockwise to full
this is found in the radio section of the cockpit right under the dial that changes the frequency of the radio.
and yes.. on some rare occasions.. its very stupid jazz music or jsut plain silence.~~ its a pain when its off...
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UCLAX From United States, joined May 2003, 154 posts, RR: 0 Reply 14, posted (3 years 11 months 2 days 5 hours ago) and read 2611 times:
AA had it until the late 80s on their 767s and DC10s, along with flight deck video cameras connected to cabin screens turned on for takeoff and landing on their DC10s.
...those who wait for the Lord�s help...rise up as if they had eagles� wings Isaiah 40:31
N229nw From United States, joined Sep 2004, 1230 posts, RR: 35 Reply 16, posted (3 years 11 months 2 days 2 hours ago) and read 2502 times:
There was one flight from CDG to SFO where Channel nine was switched to Jazz selections midway through the flight
Hmmm, if that were me at that point (esp. if the captain says "Oh shit!" before he/she suddenly switches it to jazz), that's when I start to see my life flash before my eyes...
For real, I'm flying United in a few days. Looking forward to channel 9...
FrndlySkys777 From United States, joined Apr 2000, 25 posts, RR: 0 Reply 17, posted (3 years 11 months 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 2470 times:
Ah Channel 9, one of the biggest surprises and most rewarding experience of my first United flights. The experience only gets better when you can see other traffic! Anyway, it should also be noted that sometimes there is no traffic. I remember on a recent LAX-HNL flight there were only occasional callings on Channel 9 over the Pacific but once you're in touch with Honolulu Center you hear all kinds of calls.
QuestAir From United States, joined Dec 2004, 348 posts, RR: 0 Reply 18, posted (3 years 11 months 1 day 19 hours ago) and read 2324 times:
I've listened to channel 9 before, and that's one reason why I try to fly UA. I enjoy hearing "United xxx, turn right and maintain heading 190" and then immediately thereafter feel the airplane turning right.
Ordinduaflyer From United States, joined Mar 2004, 123 posts, RR: 1 Reply 19, posted (3 years 11 months 1 day 19 hours ago) and read 2263 times:
I'm a Ch9 junkie... In 2004 I'd guess that about 90%+ of my mainline flights had Ch9 turned on. I've asked a few times when it wasn't on, and the answer was (from the FA) typically that 'this captain never turns it on' or something along those lines of the captain choosing not to turn it on. I've also heard a couple times that the FAs don't like it when the pax are more "up to date" on flight stats (delays, etc) than they are because of Ch9...I've not thought to ask any of the FAs I know about it, so I'm not sure how accurate that is. Also...with a transatlantic flight, sometimes they'll turn it to the jazz in the middle of the ocean when ATC slows down and then forget to turn it back.
BH346 From United States, joined Jan 2000, 3265 posts, RR: 17 Reply 20, posted (3 years 11 months 1 day 18 hours ago) and read 2227 times:
I love Channel 9. We had it on ORD-KIX and it is an interesting route to listen in on since you go through Russian airspace. I spent most of the flight listening to Channel 9 and watching the moving map. However, on the return, KIX-ORD, they had it off.
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Drerx7 From United States, joined Jun 2000, 2951 posts, RR: 7 Reply 21, posted (3 years 11 months 1 day 18 hours ago) and read 2202 times:
Channel 9 is enough of a reason to fly United for me. Now that I have enough OnePass miles I can start flying other carriers again--UA has always been a choice of mine. Too bad no other USD carriers offer the service.
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