Ramapriya wrote:

I've done a fair bit of international commuting and have always
noticed the pilots getting dropped close to the airport approximately
45 min or 1 hour prior to takeoff, whereon they simply embark the
plane and get down to business in the cockpit. I've not till date seen
even one pilot actually do a walkaround!

I haven't flown commercial for some time, but when I did, I used to try to get a seat
in the terminal where I could watch the action. When I flew Delta, I frequently saw
the first officer doing a walkaround.

George Patterson
If a man gets into a fight 3,000 miles away from home, he *had* to have
been looking for it.