IHeartMedia Aviation Expert Jay Ratliff talks about the week in aviation

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Day first one to one forecast in an air quality
alert until midnight. We have a Heat Advisor starts at
noon and lasts until eight pm.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Today.

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Today is going to go up to ninety five, feeling
like one hundred with the heat index isolated evening storms,
muggy overnight seventy one for the low ninety eight with
the heat index of one oh three tomorrow and a
slight chance of showers and storms. Clouds of showers and
storms possible over nineteen seventy two low and a mostly
foty Saturday with likely showers eighty three. A bit of
reprieve there from the intense heat at seventy five. Now

(00:33):
time for chuck with traffic from the UC Health Tramphing Center.

Speaker 3 (00:37):
At the Usting Gardener Neuroscience Institute, you can access the
leading brain, spine and nerve experts right here. In Cincinnati.
Southbound seventy one continues to run over a twenty five
minute delay from above Fields Eirdle until your pasts the
lateral northbound fourth seventy one. You can add an extra
ten into town. Northbound seventy five close into a fifteen

(00:58):
minute delay out of Florin into the cut in southbound
seventy five breaklights continue in and autam Ackman, Chuck King
bram On fifty five KR and C meet talk station.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
Hey, thirty fifty five KERRCD talk station. And being Thursday,
it's time for that meaning that discussion that all usually
kind of funny and fun opportunity to close out a
Thursday in a very positive note. Welcome back, my dear friend,
Aurheart media aviation expert Jay Ratliff. Good to have you on.

Speaker 4 (01:26):
I'll try to keep it fun and light and happy
and all those things.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
Well, let's talk with start with one on on your list,
and just to remind your buckle up when you're not
when you're not going to the bathroom or otherwise have
a reason to stand up on an airplane. See, there
was a United Airlines flight they had to divert over
to Memphis because turbulence caused some injuries on the flight
from Cancun, Mexico to Chicago.

Speaker 4 (01:47):
Yeah, they had one hundred and seventy two passengers on board,
seven crew members can kun to Chicago. But when they
encountered the severe turbulence and I'm told at the time
the seat belt sign was illuminated. The turbulence was so
severe that seven people had to be taken to the
hospital once the plane landed an emergency landing in Houston,

(02:10):
excuse me, in Memphis. But of course, you know, I'm
sure most of those injuries were probably the flight attendants
because there are always the last ones to be seated.
They've got a lot of work to do as they
kind of close out the cabin service or when they've
got a you know, because if they're in the middle
of something, serving drinks or what have you, and they've
got the carts out and the captain says, hey, you know,

(02:31):
we've got some turbulence coming or what have you. Yeah,
Or if not, you know, they're still trying to put
things together and things go flying. So anytime you encounter
severe turbulence, we can't really determine it in advance, and
that's really unfortunate. But it's the reason you and I
talk about all the time about keeping your seatbelt fastened
about you when you fly, because that will protect you

(02:54):
in that kind of situation. Turbulence isn't dangerous by itself.
There are times when the turbulence can be so severe
that the crew can temporarily lose control of the aircraft.

Speaker 2 (03:06):
But normally when you're at.

Speaker 4 (03:07):
Altitude, they'll regain that control quickly and it's just a
matter of you know, clear air and then you're okay,
and crew to crew will will report areas of turbulence
to air traffic control so they can try to wrap
people around those affected areas. But yeah, we just don't
know about it, which is why it comes on sudden.
It's unexpected, it's frightening. It freaks people out. Food goes flying,

(03:29):
and people alight go flying if they don't have their
seabelts a past.

Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yeah, there's nothing like the end on a plane with
a big turbaument for the plane just feels like it's
dropped half a mile in a second. It's like, holy cow.

Speaker 4 (03:40):
Like the floor opened up and you fell through it.
That's exactly it. Yep, with any luck, you've got a
mouthful of.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
Food at the time.

Speaker 1 (03:47):
Yeah, and it results usually in people folding their hands
in prayer after the whole thing is over with, because
Lord knows. Is it now? Is this something that is
becoming a more common phenomenon? I would think air conditions
or air conditions, and you know, they has always been
turbulence there always will be, Is it just because it's
more widely reported that it seems like it's happening more
and more or more people just not bothering the buckle

(04:08):
or seat belts, which results in injuries.

Speaker 4 (04:11):
Well, you know, if you listen to our friends on
the other side, they'll tell us that the climate change
is bringing about all of these issues of turbulence. However,
when facts are introduced to the conversation, you can go
back and look at several reports of some very serious
turbulent issues going all the way back to the global cooling.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
Crisis of the seventies.

Speaker 4 (04:31):
So you know, it's I would say that there are
parts of the of the planet that we do have
it's some increased turbulent reports, but I think a lot
of that has to do with more flights in the
air now than we've ever had, and because when you
have more flights, there's more opportunities. And I think that
when you factor that end, that pretty much explains why

(04:52):
we have the increase. But in all these reports of
climate change as the culprit, they failed to realize when
you do a comparison the number of flights in the
air now versus what we've.

Speaker 1 (05:04):
Had in the past, what in a stude observation. The
global population has gotten billion, has risen by billions. More
people have access to and can afford airline travel. Contrast
that with the way it used to be back in
the sixties when it was sort of that jet set
elite kind of thing where everybody wore a suit and
tied again on a plane. It was expensive and the
amenities were much better and the food was much better.

(05:26):
So it's opened up a whole lot of people to
travel and more people are doing it.

Speaker 2 (05:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (05:30):
But you know, when you look at it, eighty percent
of the world's population, they tell us, has never flown.

Speaker 1 (05:38):
How about that.

Speaker 4 (05:40):
Yeah, I mean look at the numbers, and you look
at all the you know, the third world countries, and
a lot of people that you know, they live where
they're at, they don't go anywhere.

Speaker 1 (05:50):
Yeah, that's a substantial number of billions right there.

Speaker 4 (05:55):
That number is probably eight or nine years old, but
they significantly higher number than a lot of people realize.

Speaker 1 (06:02):
A fair enough let's pausible. Bringing back to talk about
United Airlines flight attendants on strike, we have furious passengers
to talk about, and of course we always end with
a hub to lay. We'll find out if it's a
good day to travel more with Jay Ratliff. After I
mentioned Chimneycare, Fireplace and stove chimneycarec Dot comment's where you
find them online. They do everything. It's it's time to
do your safety check. Have them inspect your chimney. Flues

(06:24):
need to be inspected, most notably wood burners. The gas
stoves also can need repair and adjustments. You can have
carbon monoxide issues. It's not the flow isn't working properly,
the jets are clogged or damage, so they service gas
as well. They service the pellets stove. Those are self
feeding wood waste pellets. They sell both free standing and
insert versions of those. They service them as well. So

(06:46):
get the fireplace insert installed, get your free standing stove installed,
Get the tuck pointing and cap and damper replacement taken
care of. Get the chimney swept. May need to be religned.
They do re lining every single thing you can think
of it relates to chimneys, fireplaces, et cetera. They do
it and they do a great job. That's why they
enjoy a plus with the Better Business Bureau, locally owned
and operated since nineteen eighty eight. Schedule the appointment and

(07:08):
I really definitely encourage you to get your dryer event
cleaned out. They do dryer event cleaning, and if you
can't remember the last time your driy event's been cleaned out,
I'm willing to bet you it's clogged. I mean, your
drying time is up, takes long to dry your clothes,
and you got a fire hazard. That's just one more
thing they can do. So call them. The number is
five one three two four eight ninety six hundred to them,

(07:29):
Brian said, Hi, five one three two four eight ninety
six hundred online Chimneycareco dot com, fifty five car the
talk station men air quality alert till mid nine. Heat
advisory starts ittting in and last until eight pm.

Speaker 2 (07:42):
Today.

Speaker 1 (07:42):
We'll see a high of ninety five with a one
hundred degree heat index. Isolated evening storms are possible. We're
gonna get a few clouds over night, muggy in seventy
one is what they're saying. Ninety eight with a heat
index of one oh three tomorrow with a slight chance
of showers and storms. Closely clouds over night seventy two
love more showers and storms possible, and then they say
they're likely showers on Saturday. It's got to be mostly

(08:03):
fotty day. HI have eighty three though, that's better seventy six.
Right now, it's time for traffic.

Speaker 3 (08:07):
From the UCLF Traffic Center at the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute,
you can access the leading brains finding nerve experts right
here in Cincinnati. Setbound seventy five is getting heavier out
of Sharonville through the Lochland Split, close to a twenty
minute delay. Sethbound seventy one getting better. It's closer to
a ten minute delay now between Peiffer and the lateral

(08:29):
northbound fourth seventy one. It's an extra five from Grand
into town. Chuck Ingram on fifty five Kroc the talk station.

Speaker 1 (08:37):
Have you ever been in the cockpit before? Jay Rallivas,
he's a heart media aviation expert going to the program
every Thursday at eight third. We get a couple of
segments with them at least, and that's what we're going
to segment number two. I guess the United Airlines slight
attendants have voted to go on strike.

Speaker 2 (08:54):
They have.

Speaker 4 (08:55):
In fact, it's been out twenty years or so since
they've had to kind of go this route. But they're
saying that they've been trying for a number of years
to get a new contract, they've not seen any measurable progress.
So the union representing the flight attendants took a vote
to strike, and they came back with a ninety nine
point nine percent whoa to do so if needed. So

(09:18):
that shows the the unity that the union certainly wants
to move forward with. And you know, we've seen a
lot of flight attendant groups have taken this step voting
to strike, but normally agreements are reached long before any
strike takes place, and I suspect that's going to be
the case here. So a worst case scenario thirty day
cooling off period and then they could have the opportunity

(09:39):
for a strike. Now I'm almost certain if they did,
the Biden administration would step in immediately and say.

Speaker 2 (09:46):
Back to work. We're going to get this worked out.

Speaker 4 (09:48):
So on a worry meter of one to ten, I
might be at a three and a half or four.
I don't think it's going to be anything that if
I had a future reservation on United that I would
be worried about it.

Speaker 2 (09:59):
This before partaking time.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
He can make people work, isn't that, don't they call
that slavery. I know when Ronald Reagan, when the air
traffic controllers went on strike, Reagan just fired all of
them and hired the military to do the job.

Speaker 4 (10:10):
Those are government employees. They said, if you strike, this
is what I'm going to do. And at that point
in time, they didn't know that Ronald Reagan was a
man of his word and he would do exactly what
he said he was going to do.

Speaker 2 (10:21):
And yeah, a whole bunch of them.

Speaker 4 (10:23):
Found out, Wow, this guy met was serious. But yeah,
we've had I know it was Clinton that ordered the
US Airways employees back to work when they went on strike,
and they apported an emergency board and worked with him
to get something hammered out. And as pro passenger as
this administration is for all their problems, they certainly are
trying to do a good job at that. I suspect

(10:45):
they would do the same thing. But you know a
lot of times this is simply just posturing. It's just
part of the negotiations back and forth between union and management.
And I suspect the United is going to step forward
and take care of this because look, they know that
some slight degree could affect future bookings.

Speaker 2 (11:03):
So they don't want that to be the case.

Speaker 4 (11:04):
So what they're going to do is as much as possible,
especially now that this strike vote is out there and
could impact you know, future reservations, They're probably going to
move a little bit faster to try to get this
wrapped up.

Speaker 1 (11:15):
Okay, Well, you sound positive on a positive resolution and
that they will not go on strike. But I'm just
trying to.

Speaker 2 (11:20):
Just like, do we get to the next United story.

Speaker 1 (11:24):
To give it a moment. But I had this scenario
where the Biden administration, which purports to be a big,
big believer in union and supporter of unions, and of
course which necessarily means you would support a strike for
workers merely trying to get a fair wage, that they
wouldn't force the unions to go back to work. And
if that scenario were to unfold, I mean, we're talking

(11:45):
about millions and millions of dollars in losses for the airline,
right that.

Speaker 4 (11:50):
Could be Yeah, depends on how long it goes and
things of this nature. But we got to go way
back since the last time we've had a real work stoppage,
so to speak.

Speaker 2 (11:59):
But you know, one of the.

Speaker 4 (12:00):
Things that we're looking at as we move forward on
a lot of this is the idea of the current
climate right now.

Speaker 2 (12:06):
And there's a lot more stories that are.

Speaker 4 (12:08):
Ongoing about how flight attendants, some of them are homeless.
You know that we've talked about the American airline employees
that are based in Massachusetts that are paid twenty seven
thousand dollars a year when they start, they qualify for
food stamps. You have flight attendants sleeping in airports in
between their ships from one day to an act simply
because they can't afford certain things. It's it's just if

(12:32):
these were pilots, it would be sixty minute pieces and
it would be addressed immediately. But for the flight attendants,
we seem to be okay with it, and it's really
unfortunate that they're almost an afterthought given the fact that
they carry such an important role on board an airplane.
Because yes, the pilots are there to keep us safe,
and believe me, their training is unbelievable. But when you

(12:52):
recognize the training flight attendants go through, I mean, you know,
normally every year they've got to go through the survival
at sea kind of training where you are in a wavepool,
pitch dark, you go through everything is though it's realistic,
and I mean they've got to excel at that because
they're there to protect us in the event something goes wrong,

(13:14):
And those are not the people that you should be
playing the game of Oh, how little can we pay
them to do their job? Yes, I know that most
flights go off without a hitch, but we pay them
for the times when things don't go right and they've.

Speaker 2 (13:27):
Got to save us.

Speaker 1 (13:29):
Amen to that, and I always appreciate your supporting and
pointing out to my listeners exactly how important those flight
attendants are. Moving over problems with flight attendants, we go
from the positive of the negative. What possible benefit can
anyone think they're going to get by stirring the pot
of political division by wearing pro Palestinian lapel pins or
even pro Israel palette pins.

Speaker 2 (13:49):
Why would you do that?

Speaker 1 (13:50):
Why would an airline allow it?

Speaker 4 (13:52):
Well, you know, you and I talked about a month
and a half ago about Delta Airlines that had an
employee that was wearing a pro Palestinian pen, and Delta
Airlines thought, Okay, that's going to rub some passengers the
wrong way. So we're going to put a policy out
that says if flight attendants want to wear lapel pen
they can. The only thing they can wear is.

Speaker 2 (14:08):
The US flag.

Speaker 4 (14:09):
A lot of the Delta flight attends weren't happy with it,
but they understood it was the uniform dress code and
that was what they had to do.

Speaker 2 (14:16):
Well.

Speaker 4 (14:17):
United Airlines, they had some of their flight attendants there
are also wearing pro Palestinian lapel pins, and you have
customers that are complaining. Unfortunately, United management doesn't care about
what the passenger says. They said, it's far more important
Jay's words. But it's far more important for their employees
to have the freedom to properly express themselves than any

(14:39):
concern over the passenger.

Speaker 2 (14:41):
So it just but the part of it that bothers
me the most is, Okay.

Speaker 4 (14:47):
I get that you want to give your employees that
power to express themselves politically if it need be on
the job, which most businesses won't allow. But when we
had the Black Lives Movement a couple of years ago,
when it was at its peak, a lot of flight
attendants were wearing BLM support pins, and you had other

(15:07):
flight attendants that were wearing pro police pins. Those flight
attendants were told to take those pins on because they
could be considered insightful. So I guess the freedom to
you know, express yourself only goes if you're in line
with what United management thinks is appropriate, you know, if

(15:28):
it's consistent, and they would allow it both ways, Brian,
I would just say, okay, if that's what you want
to do, that's fine. But when you choose and pick,
pick and choose what you're going to allow and not allow,
and you line it up with where your political standings.

Speaker 2 (15:42):
Are, way way way wrong.

Speaker 4 (15:44):
And I'm sorry. Employees have a dress code's there's things
you and I have to abide by, and there's certain
rules we know. If you're going to be here, this
is what you got to have to do or not do.
The idea that you know, men can wear dresses or
the fingernail polish or whatever it might happen to be,
and that's going to be okay. Or wear whatever support
pen you want to wear, even though it may be
offensive to passengers.

Speaker 2 (16:05):
United says that's okay.

Speaker 1 (16:07):
All right, Well, people can make their choices accordingly, and
they probably will. You're gonna burn a few bridges doing it.
And if it's a few, that's you too many as
far as I'm concerned, we keep coming back.

Speaker 4 (16:16):
Remember, we keep coming back, so they treat us like garbage,
and we keep coming back, so I guess they figure, eh,
you know this will blow over soon.

Speaker 1 (16:23):
Orenough fair enough. And finally hub delays where we always
end our segment. How's it to travel today? Other than
being hotter than the hell out there.

Speaker 4 (16:31):
It's definitely warm for sure. New York and Houston could
see some minor weather delays thirty to forty five minutes.

Speaker 2 (16:37):
Brian, The heat.

Speaker 4 (16:37):
Doesn't really impact us that much unless you're on a
small regional jet, like when we used to have those
fifty passenger airplanes. During really hot days, it affects the
lift of an aircraft, which means you have you need
more runway to take off, so we would have to
leave a lot of passengers and bags behind when we
had this kind of heat. Now, the bigger the aircraft,
the less that's an issue. So you really don't have

(16:59):
to worry too much about the heat, other than the
poor people out on the ramp that are trying to
work through it.

Speaker 1 (17:04):
H Imagine being a bag and chandler in this heat.

Speaker 4 (17:08):
Yes, big time ticularly required uniform. You gotta wear with
the best and everything else.

Speaker 2 (17:13):
Yeah, they're cooking.

Speaker 1 (17:14):
I imagine they are anyway. Jay. Rather, it's always great
having you on the fifty five KRC Morning Shore every
Thursday beginning at eight thirty. You'll hear them again next Thursday.
Between now and then, best of health, Love to you
and your better half, Jay, take care of yourself, you too,
my friend. Thank you, my pleasure, eight forty eight, fifty
five KRC Detalk Station, that's my pleasure. Also to mention
Bud Herbert Motors. Yes, Bud Herbert Motors family owned and

(17:35):
operated for seventy five more than seventy five years, and
you'll be working with one of the Herbert family members.
And that's important because they're proud of what Bud Herbert
did so many years ago and that start this wonderful
company for lawn equipment and selling only the finest brands
in the world. And Bud Herbert's mode of the most
expensive tool you'll ever buy is a cheap one. That's

(17:57):
because they break and they don't last. And that's what
I found out. Went to the box store, I bought it.
I think it was a cheap one. The thing wouldn't
cut my grass. Halfway through it conked out so I
had to take it back, go through that hassle, and
thank you Westside, Jim Keefer, Sam Brian just called Bud
Herbert Motors. I did, and what amazing, amazing service I got.
I got my commercial grade Honda pushmar but I could

(18:17):
have chosen a John Deere, x Mark Steele and other equipment.
They carry all of that. The best brands around. And
speaking of the best brands right now, Budebert Motors running
at John Deere inventory reduction sales, So great opportunities to
get one of those superior pieces of long equipment from
John Deere at a discount, So you can learn more
about that online. Go to Budherbertmotors dot com. They'll deliver

(18:38):
it to you ready to go. They'll service everything they
sell and their product knowledge and experience is without peer.
Butdebertmotors dot Com tell them, Brian said, how would you
please five one three, five four one thirty two ninety
one five one three, five four one thirty two ninety
one fifty five KRC dot com getting quality employees to