Luv2cattlecall From United States, joined Sep 2007, 1495 posts, RR: 2 Posted (2 years 1 month 1 day 13 hours ago) and read 7125 times:
I'm not sure if this belongs here or in non-av, so sorry if it's in the wrong spot.
Has anyone seen the new iPhone commercial with "Bryce" the pilot? In it, he claims he's a pilot and he avoided a three hour delay on a flight from ORD-EWR by pulling up the weather on his iPhone and finding out the cause of the delay - allowing him to "correct" the dispatcher (it's better if you watch it, I can't really explain it.) Given the "walk up to our cameras and spill your heart out" style of the commercial, somewhat like the "Sincerely, jetBlue" ones, one can easily assume that it is a real anecdote. My question is, how plausible is the whole thing? Is it really possible that a dispatcher could have completely overlooked the cause of the delay and had there been no iPhone in the cockpit, everyone would have sat there twiddling their thumbs for all that time? I've always had the impression that dispatchers are one of the unsung heroes of making air travel work, and that they tend to be mavericks in finding solutions to solve problems caused by traffic, weather, etc, so I'm definitely skeptical that the whole situation occurred. Also, since when is Chicago to EWR only 1:42? I've never seen it scheduled for less than two hours! Thanks everyone
PiedmontINT From United States, joined Jul 2005, 320 posts, RR: 0 Reply 2, posted (2 years 1 month 1 day 13 hours ago) and read 7092 times:
Quoting NeilYYZ (Reply 1): All I know is that my BlackBerry can pull up the weather channel and the radar map too. That doesn't make the iPhone special.
So does my Razr.. We were on a ground stop at DCA because of storms and I pulled my phone out to check radar from TWC. I find it hard to believe that no one in Bryce's dispatch office has access to the weather (even on another cell phone!).
This was brought up a while back and I mentioned in that thread that the best part of the commercial was when he mentions that he doesnt turn on the iPhone until the engines were off.. I guess he is a pilot for ATA afterall
Bond007 From United States, joined Mar 2005, 4506 posts, RR: 11 Reply 3, posted (2 years 1 month 1 day 12 hours ago) and read 7068 times:
Quoting Luv2cattlecall (Thread starter): Is it really possible that a dispatcher could have completely overlooked the cause of the delay
Well, it's all a load of tripe.
Firstly, he has about .01% of the information on his tiny IPhone screen that his dispatcher has. Also, most delays due to weather are handled by ATC restrictions. i.e. Ground Stops, TM programs, EDCTs etc... they don't get changed because somebody pulled a 3-inch weather radar screen up on their phone and then called them.
IMO it makes the dispatchers appear to be just waiting and doing nothing .... and the big ole pilots just call 'em and tell them what's happening. Clueless and very misleading to the public.
Jimbo
I'd rather be on the ground wishing I was in the air, than in the air wishing I was on the ground!
Coal From United States, joined Aug 2006, 1011 posts, RR: 4 Reply 4, posted (2 years 1 month 1 day 12 hours ago) and read 7036 times:
Quoting NeilYYZ (Reply 1): All I know is that my BlackBerry can pull up the weather channel and the radar map too. That doesn't make the iPhone special.
Same here. Albeit the iPhone has a much nicer design, and remember, PC's and BlackBerries are for squares and iProducts are for the cool, laid back people
Cheers Coal
Nxt Flts: B6 PBI-JFK | QR JFK-DOH-SIN | SQ SIN-PVG | CA SHA-PEK-DAT-PEK-SHA | SQ PVG-SIN
NeilYYZ From Canada, joined Jan 2006, 2647 posts, RR: 5 Reply 5, posted (2 years 1 month 1 day 12 hours ago) and read 7036 times:
Quoting PiedmontINT (Reply 2): So does my Razr.. We were on a ground stop at DCA because of storms and I pulled my phone out to check radar from TWC. I find it hard to believe that no one in Bryce's dispatch office has access to the weather (even on another cell phone!).
I agree, they're promoting a product based on a feature that pretty much every phone can do. Not only that, it's a pretty bad ad that is based on a very flimsy premise.
It may be too early to drink scotch... But it is NEVER too early to think about it...
With respect to reality, it's bovine fecal material. It's also an example of a manufacturer and an ad agency coming up with script that manipulates reality (and the perceptions thereof) so that an actor can say the dialogue, all in an effort to sell their phones.
OPNLguy From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 10, posted (2 years 1 month 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 6629 times:
Quoting Tbird (Reply 9): Bryce really is a pilot, he fly's for UAL and is a 767 FO...
Really? I'll bet he's popular with the dispatchers there. Give it another 20-30 years and folks will forget...
Quoting Tbird (Reply 9): the commercial doesn't say alot for UAL's dispatch dept or UAL's flight operations.
What, a commercial be factual at the expense of not being able to hawk the phones?
It doesn't also doesn't say alot for the average flightcrew member's understanding of dispatch/dispatchers, or of today's ATC and NAS issues. (Ask one of them to explain what an AFP is...)
Ikramerica From United States, joined May 2005, 18437 posts, RR: 60 Reply 11, posted (2 years 1 month 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 6588 times:
I don't like that commercial.
Here's the text that should have gone with the ad:
"I'm a pilot. One day when we were told we were going to be delayed, I got bored and took out my iPhone. I checked the weather and saw it was going to clear up at some point. So I called dispatch to annoy them and tell them my amateur observation. This really pissed off their trained experts who had already been studying the situation. They think it's obnoxious when pilots take up their time telling them things they already know, but I thought, maybe they missed something? And sure enough, a little while later, once the trained experts had determined no more storms were coming, they cleared us to depart. My iPhone didn't help us one bit, but it made me feel superior and important. And isn't that why I bought it?"
Of all the things to worry about... the Wookie has no pants.
N766UA From United States, joined Jul 1999, 6815 posts, RR: 51 Reply 12, posted (2 years 1 month 1 day 9 hours ago) and read 6480 times:
IPhones saves the day! Not only was the entire system TOTALLY UNAWARE of the weather situation, but iPhone single handedly avoided every last in-trail restriction and delay that the line of storms would have caused!
Screw Herndon, screw flow control, iPhone is here! GOD THAT COMMERCIAL SUCKS.
If God meant man to fly, He'd have given us bigger wallets.
OPNLguy From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 13, posted (2 years 1 month 1 day 8 hours ago) and read 6453 times:
Funny things is, up on the other end of that jetway-thingie, is the gate podium, where crews can (and do) use the company computers to look at the weather radar (from the FAA-approved source, which the stuff showing on the I-phone was not), and a telephone for use in conversing with his/her dispatcher.
The scenario mentioned in the commercial is also bogus..
He's going from Chicago to EWR, and has a 3 hr.delay, and by the miraculous use of his wunder-phone, he's able to tell his apparently clueless dispatcher that the "rainshowers" have already moved off (presumably east) of EWR, and his dispatcher then gets his 3 hr. delay to go "poof"?
Based on the weather depicted on the I-phone when this fairy tale is being told, what I see are not one, but two lines on thunderstorms (not rainshowers) in IN and OH running perpendicular to his Chicago-EWR route. In the reality that is today's National Airspace System (NAS), that means his 3 hr. delay would have been an AFP (Airspace Flow Program) delay for the airspace, and not the EWR airport itself. By the way, how about all that weather that just moved east of EWR--sure don't see any depicted on the I-phone.
It's entirely likely that ATC had one of these in effect...
...plus maybe one of these:
Note how they abutt a common point. When EWR is on the other side of a dual AFP line from ORD, the delays will be huge. Should the southernmost AFP get cancelled, flights that were originally intended to across the northernmost AFP can now get rerouted around southern end, and the delay can drop radically.
It's hard to know for sure to know what happened on the day supposedly mentioned in the commerical (since we don't know when that was, nor do we have the weather), but one thing's for sure, the weather depicted on the I-Phone during the commercial doesn't seem to match the operational situation mentioned in the voiceover.
Then again, the primary purpose of the commercial is to sell phones...
BR715-A1-30 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 14, posted (2 years 1 month 1 day 7 hours ago) and read 6322 times:
So the next time I am on a plane, waiting, delayed because of weather n' stuff, I will yank out my iPhone, then tell the captain to contact dispatch, because my wunder-phone says we are cleared to go.
FL1TPA From United States, joined May 2004, 258 posts, RR: 0 Reply 15, posted (2 years 1 month 1 day 7 hours ago) and read 6287 times:
Oh joy! I can't wait for the next ground delay or long taxi due to weather somewhere to get a smarta** with a freakin i-phone shoving it in my face saying "It's NOT raining there... SEE!"
Maybe a welcome change from the old "I just called my mom/dad/aunt/parole officer and they say the weather's just fine so why are you LYING to us?!?
I felt like the commercial was a big bucket of BS myself. Just apple trying to sell an overpriced phone.
FL1TPA
"Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffin' glue."
OPNLguy From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 16, posted (2 years 1 month 1 day 7 hours ago) and read 6238 times:
Quoting FL1TPA (Reply 15): I felt like the commercial was a big bucket of BS myself. Just apple trying to sell an overpriced phone.
"Ding!"
Quoting FL1TPA (Reply 15): Oh joy! I can't wait for the next ground delay or long taxi due to weather somewhere to get a smarta** with a freakin i-phone shoving it in my face saying "It's NOT raining there... SEE!"
Maybe a welcome change from the old "I just called my mom/dad/aunt/parole officer and they say the weather's just fine so why are you LYING to us?!?
Dispatcher From United States, joined Jun 1999, 238 posts, RR: 8 Reply 17, posted (2 years 1 month 1 day 6 hours ago) and read 6177 times:
You know, just to play devils advocate here, Bryce never claims that the change was a result of his observation or his call to dispatch. He simply states what he did and what occurred after it. While the uninformed viewer may put those two things together to mean that his IPhone saved the day, in reality, that isn't what he said.
On a side note, what's the problem some people on here seem to have with pilots checking out weather online while stuck in the cockpit? While I certainly question this guys judgment in using weather.com vs other much better resources available to the crew force on the web, what else would you have him do? Sit there like a sheep dutifully waiting for him or another member of his crew to turn into a pumpkin while his passengers miss connections and so on? It may be annoying to receive calls from people telling you something you already know, but every once in a while we all miss something and a heads up does save the day, admittedly, probably not in this case. All in all I'd rather have this type of guy, wanting to get going and actively searching for a way, vs the one who doesn't even want to leave the hotel or preflight the jet because there is delay program and he shouldn't have to be bothered with departing asap once the program improves.
OPNLguy From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 18, posted (2 years 1 month 1 day 6 hours ago) and read 6143 times:
Quoting Dispatcher (Reply 17): While I certainly question this guys judgment in using weather.com vs other much better resources available to the crew force on the web, what else would you have him do?
Funny things is, up on the other end of that jetway-thingie, is the gate podium, where crews can (and do) use the company computers to look at the weather radar (from the FAA-approved source, which the stuff showing on the I-phone was not), and a telephone for use in conversing with his/her dispatcher.
Of course, that doesn't exactly lend itself to hawking some outfit's cell fones. but then again, maybe that's just me...
AirTranTUS From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 19, posted (2 years 1 month 1 day 6 hours ago) and read 6102 times:
Quoting Dispatcher (Reply 17): You know, just to play devils advocate here, Bryce never claims that the change was a result of his observation or his call to dispatch. He simply states what he did and what occurred after it. While the uninformed viewer may put those two things together to mean that his IPhone saved the day, in reality, that isn't what he said.
Then why would Apple air the commercial? They want you to think that and buy their phone.
I don't think anyone is complaining about him using his phone to look at the weather ....
... it's the implication (which is obvious), that by seeing the radar on his screen, he called dispatch, and he saw something they didn't ... and therefore the delay was shortened.
Quoting Dispatcher (Reply 17): All in all I'd rather have this type of guy, wanting to get going and actively searching for a way, vs the one who doesn't even want to leave the hotel or preflight the jet because there is delay program and he shouldn't have to be bothered with departing asap once the program improves.
Yes, but there's the 'real' pilot, that sits in the cockpit, ready to go when the program changes, who doesn't call every 5 minutes telling you that the radar looks 'better' on his IPhone.... that's most of them, and the one you'd probably be happiest with.
Jimbo
I'd rather be on the ground wishing I was in the air, than in the air wishing I was on the ground!
KAUSpilot From United States, joined Jan 2002, 1858 posts, RR: 51 Reply 22, posted (2 years 1 month 1 day 6 hours ago) and read 6025 times:
The commercial is a load of crap. In the 121 world, if you take ATC out of the equation, you are almost never delayed for thunderstorms unless the are right on top of the aiprort you are taking off from. The forecast can call for raging tornadoes for the destination at your ETA and you will still take off. If the forecast holds true then you will hold for awhile and divert if it doesn't clear up. The delays are a result of ATC....I would love to hear newark ground's response to bryce when he told them they should be clear to go because the I-phone said so...fuh-gedda-bout-it.
Bryce may be a great guy, and I'd probably do the commercial too if they paid me enough, but the premise is faulty at best.
Dispatcher From United States, joined Jun 1999, 238 posts, RR: 8 Reply 24, posted (2 years 1 month 1 day 4 hours ago) and read 5870 times:
Quoting OPNLguy (Reply 18): Of course, that doesn't exactly lend itself to hawking some outfit's cell fones. but then again, maybe that's just me...
Quoting AirTranTUS (Reply 19): Then why would Apple air the commercial? They want you to think that and buy their phone.
I couldn't agree more, I was simply pointing out that the pilot didn't say precisely what the commercial implies. Of course Apple wants to cell IPhones, otherwise they wouldn't have ran the commercial. I see what the aim of the spot is, 'pilots are cool, pilots use IPhones to help them do cool stuff, if I have an IPhone, I'll be cool too'. I wasn't debating that. Do I think the commercial is misleading? Yes. Do I think the pilot should be characterized as foolish for doing the spot? No. Who knows what he actually said during the taping, I'm sure he had little to no control over the finished product. I am fairly certain he was paid well.
Quoting Bond007 (Reply 20): Quoting Dispatcher (Reply 17):
admittedly, probably not in this case.
No, not in this case ... which is the point.
I suppose you're right, in this case it is the point.. I concede
Quoting Bond007 (Reply 20): Yes, but there's the 'real' pilot, that sits in the cockpit, ready to go when the program changes, who doesn't call every 5 minutes telling you that the radar looks 'better' on his IPhone.... that's most of them, and the one you'd probably be happiest with.
I'm really not sure we disagree here either, although I'm not sure what you mean by a 'real' pilot. I have the sometimes good and sometimes bad experience of dealing with 'real' pilots on most days, most of them understand how the system works and go along with whatever it gives them, some of them understand the system and try their best not to fly at all (often successfully), some of them don't understand the system and through incompetence cause unnecessary delays, just of few of them understand the system and actively participate in moving things along as quickly as possible. I know which one I'm happiest with.
ZTagged From Niger, joined Oct 2007, 516 posts, RR: 0 Reply 25, posted (2 years 1 month 1 day 4 hours ago) and read 5852 times:
Wasn't there a woman who was nearly arrested on an ATA flight because of her iPhone? How come this pilot is allowed to use his?
I've seen the commercial, and I have to say, my trusty HTC Wizard can do the same damn job his iPhone can, with less effort.
Is it real? No. Is it plausible? Unlikely, but COULD happen if you had a smart-shit pilot. What's the meaning? You can check the weather on your iPhone to harass paid professionals.
Something awful.
26 Ikramerica: Of course. That was exactly my point. All the iPhone did was allow him to see some information in the cockpit. It did nothing to make his plane leave
27 OPNLguy: Actually, I'm a little disappointed that Mr. Clean doesn't "poof" out of the bottle and clean my kitchen floor for me...
28 TCFC424: I too hate this commercial, but perhaps I can piece together a general idea of what possibly could have happened that (while not what Apple is trying
29 Ikramerica: When I was little I used to beg my mom to buy the "scrubbing bubbles" to clean the bathtub. She finally did to show me that it was fake. I was very,
30 OPNLguy: ,,,not to mention giving the general public that all that needs to be done to solve the problems with delays like we've seen this year to equip each
31 Ebs757: Apple commercials make me want to cringe. All this bullshit on "Oh I couldn't live without it!" "Oh this thing is so simple and easy to use, did I men
32 Pilotpip: You guys are all missing a very important point: If Bryce were really a pilot, he wouldn't be able to afford an iPhone! Joking.
33 Modesto2: Sounds like someone has had the pleasure of EWR ground stops As everyone else has said, it's a silly commercial that lacks an ounce of truth and real
34 Aveugle: After I saw this commercial I was going to post a topic but I am glad someone else did already. Sure the iphone is good for entertainment purposes dur
35 CcrlR: What about other phones that have weather capabilities besides the IPhone? I have heard other stories where pilots use other phone types and still go
36 JayDub: As posted in another forum...(reposted with permission) Seriously, this poor guy is likely never going to live this down with UAL dispatch.
37 DL777LAX: you guys are just jealous you don't have an iPhone In reality: is a plausible explanation for what happened. So, apple over hyped the iPhone in this c
38 PlanenutzTB: So if your the Captain on a flight, it's OK to use your cell phone after the door closes? I love Apple products, but this ad is pure marketing BS.
39 OPNLguy: Keep trying... That delay would be from ATCSCC, and not the airline (we like things to run on-time). The other missing element is exactly what the we
40 Ikramerica: I can buy one at any time. But my Sony K550i is cool too, and much smaller, has a better camera, and can be used in other countries with local sim ca
41 DL777LAX: That was meant as a joke, hence the winking smilie.
42 Scottieprecord: I swear I've seen that same commercial on TV with a white guy as the "pilot." Anyone else seen this?? Either way, it's an excellent commercial. The ge
43 QXRamperMEII: Too late...already happened to me. We push back, get advised of a ground stop in MEM due to storms in the area. Go to the penalty box and wait. My Ca
44 PiedmontINT: Now that is how you stick it to those upity iPhone and Apple fanboys
45 BoeingOnFinal: Now that's funny right there Anyways, I think Apple is trying to reach out to the humongous crowd that is the general public, and not to the small an
46 Glareskin: Best summary I've read in years. This should really close the thread. So please, delete mine and close it.
47 Bond007: I think we're all aware of that, and nobody here really thinks the purpose was to market the IPhone to the aviation community with this commercial. I
49 NIKV69: My Lord you people will argue about anything. It's TELEVISION! It's a COMMERCIAL. It has one purpose and that is to sell iPhones. Which it probably di
50 Bond007: But that's the whole point ... and they actually do care. I was watching this commercial with some non-aviation folks this weekend, and it started a
51 Crjflyer35: It never ceases to amaze me how defensive and po'd people on a.net get when something like this is obviously a commercial.....but they have to act lik
52 NIKV69: Glad I am not the only one who sees it. This commerical has incited the same response on other sites and the "I know more than you" mentality has com
53 Bond007: Whether we agree with the commercial or not, we are hardly showing our "ego and arrogance" ... pleeeze. LOL. Actually, in most places outside of the
54 C172pic: Basically, in my humble opinion, if u think this commercial was misleading and a load of bs, u should write a complaint letter to Apple. I will! Let's
55 717-200: Man, I wish could have been on that flight so I could have been part of that ridicule of that I-Phone imbecile. Soon there will probably be an incide
56 FLY2HMO: May I suggest that the one or two of you that said you know the pilot personally ask him what really happened and then post the answer here? Oh wait,
57 Mhodgson: Surely a pilot with ANY phone, could also call 1-800-WXBRIEF and get exactly the same information from a trained and FAA approved meteorologist as wel
58 OPNLguy: That's precisely what the flight dispatcher is--the airline's in-house, FAA-approved person to deal with operational control issues... No, it's not,
59 Luv2cattlecall: Correction: You can only buy one (or max of two) at any time IF you have a credit card ready to go..no cash on iPhone purchases anymore. And to think
60 ChrisNH: Nice answer. That's like someone asking you whether it's going to rain tomorrow and you say 'Green.'
61 Acey559: I just want to know how a pilot in this day and age is able to AFFORD an iPhone! I'm joking, of course, so don't flame me.
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