Bank Check Aviation

The Los Angeles Times has an article about pilots who fly bank checks
around the country each night. With the modernization of check
processing, these flights will be needed less in the future.

"AirNet's 128 planes, many of them speedy Learjets, are small enough and
nimble enough to pack and leave at a moment's notice. Safety is
important, but so are deadlines."If there's a runway, we'll fly. Ice? No
problem. Tornadoes? Go around 'em," said pilot Joe Pyka. "We had guys
flying checks to the banks during the hurricanes in Florida, even though
the banks were shut down. Nothing stops us."


Los Angles Times Article: http://tinyurl.com/3zeqc

Ron R wrote:
The Los Angeles Times has an article about pilots who fly bank checks
around the country each night. With the modernization of check
processing, these flights will be needed less in the future.

"AirNet's 128 planes, many of them speedy Learjets, are small enough
and
nimble enough to pack and leave at a moment's notice. Safety is
important, but so are deadlines."If there's a runway, we'll fly. Ice?
No
problem. Tornadoes? Go around 'em," said pilot Joe Pyka. "We had guys
flying checks to the banks during the hurricanes in Florida, even
though
the banks were shut down. Nothing stops us."

Yea, the world seems a bit different when you have a great de-icing
system, weather radar, flight dispatchers updating your weather/route
in flight on company freq.

-Robert

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
oups.com...

Ron R wrote:
The Los Angeles Times has an article about pilots who fly bank checks
around the country each night. With the modernization of check
processing, these flights will be needed less in the future.
It's estimated that in less than ten years such tranfser will be equivalent
to the Pony Express.


"AirNet's 128 planes, many of them speedy Learjets, are small enough
and
nimble enough to pack and leave at a moment's notice. Safety is
important, but so are deadlines."If there's a runway, we'll fly. Ice?
No
problem. Tornadoes? Go around 'em," said pilot Joe Pyka. "We had guys
flying checks to the banks during the hurricanes in Florida, even
though
the banks were shut down. Nothing stops us."

Yea, the world seems a bit different when you have a great de-icing
system, weather radar, flight dispatchers updating your weather/route
in flight on company freq.

And eventually all for naught.


--
Matt
---------------------
Matthew W. Barrow
Site-Fill Homes, LLC.
Montrose, CO

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
problem. Tornadoes? Go around 'em," said pilot Joe Pyka. "We had guys
flying checks to the banks during the hurricanes in Florida, even
though
the banks were shut down. Nothing stops us."

Yea, the world seems a bit different when you have a great de-icing
system, weather radar, flight dispatchers updating your weather/route
in flight on company freq.

Eh? I used to know a couple of check fliers about 20 years ago. They all
flew 150's and 172's. Has the industry changed that much?

--
Jim Fisher

Jim Fisher wrote:

Eh? I used to know a couple of check fliers about 20 years ago.
They all
flew 150's and 172's. Has the industry changed that much?

Maybe, maybe not. This article was talking about LearJets. I'm sure
others work differently, but I was responding to the article.

Robert M. Gary wrote:
Jim Fisher wrote:

Eh? I used to know a couple of check fliers about 20 years ago.
They all
flew 150's and 172's. Has the industry changed that much?

Maybe, maybe not. This article was talking about LearJets. I'm sure
others work differently, but I was responding to the article.

Depends on where the checks are going. If you're hauling large
loads of checks from L.A. to Seattle, you're probably going to get
better service from a well equipped turbine.

The check operations that I'm familiar with used to haul checks
around towns within a state. These generally used smaller piston
powered GA aircraft.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

wrote in message
oups.com...

The check operations that I'm familiar with used to haul checks
around towns within a state. These generally used smaller piston
powered GA aircraft.


There you have it. With a half dozen banks slowly taking the whole industry
over you're going from a point-to-point operation to a hub-and-spoke one.
Paper checks- just one more piece of the old world that our grandkids will
find impossible to believe ever existed.

-cwk.

Colin W Kingsbury wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...

The check operations that I'm familiar with used to haul checks
around towns within a state. These generally used smaller piston
powered GA aircraft.


There you have it. With a half dozen banks slowly taking the whole
industry over you're going from a point-to-point operation to a
hub-and-spoke one. Paper checks- just one more piece of the old world
that our grandkids will find impossible to believe ever existed.

Let's say, the rest of the world finds it impossible to believe, that paper
checks are still being used today in an industrialized country.

Standard personal checks have been replaced by Euro-Checks some 25 or 30
years ago in Europe. However nobody would even think about paying his phone,
dentist, mortgage, power, or whatever bill with a check. It's all electronic
transfer via direct deposit or automated withdrawel, even between private
people.
During maybe 15 years I probably used less than 10 checks total, mostly for
one-time larger purchases.

I was outright flabbergasted when 8 years ago I came to the motherland of
capitalism, working for one of the worlds largest high-tech(!) companies,
and I would get a piece of paper printed with funny numbers instead of money
in my bank account.
The small company where my father worked back in Germany introduced direct
deposit for all their employees somewhere in the mid 60th of the last
century. And believe me, that company was anything but progressive.

And two(?) years ago even the paper Euro check for ad-hoc purchases was
buried and now you only have something similar to direct debit, just with
the same guarantees and security as the former paper Euro check.

This paleozoic banking system of the US of A is nothing but a job guarantee
for the postal service and a permanent annoyance for anyone who has to pay a
bill.

jue

jue

In article bfmFd.8172$u47.5515@trnddc09, Jürgen Exner wrote:
Let's say, the rest of the world finds it impossible to believe, that paper
checks are still being used today in an industrialized country.
snip
This paleozoic banking system of the US of A is nothing but a job guarantee
for the postal service and a permanent annoyance for anyone who has to pay a
bill.

People use them out of choice in the US. When I lived in the US, I did
the majority of my transactions either with a debit card or automated
bill pay. However, I saw quite a large number of people still paying for
their groceries by check - they had the option of using debit cards, but
for some reason they didn't want to.

Still checks are useful for paying private people. I'd rather pay for a
used car off my neighbour with a check than show up with a suitcase full
of cash or have to arrange a bank transfer.

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"

"Dylan Smith" wrote in message
...
In article bfmFd.8172$u47.5515@trnddc09, Jürgen Exner wrote:
Let's say, the rest of the world finds it impossible to believe, that
paper
checks are still being used today in an industrialized country.
snip
This paleozoic banking system of the US of A is nothing but a job
guarantee
for the postal service and a permanent annoyance for anyone who has to
pay a
bill.

People use them out of choice in the US. When I lived in the US, I did

It's not just the banks, it's the people (companies) you're trying to pay.
Until pretty recently I could not pay my gas or electric bills by non-check
means, and I live in Boston, which is anything but a technological
backwater. Likewise, while banks charge a fee for processing credit or debit
card transactions, check deposits are largely free owing to tradition.

Still checks are useful for paying private people. I'd rather pay for a
used car off my neighbour with a check than show up with a suitcase full
of cash or have to arrange a bank transfer.

I know people who've shared apartments who use PayPal to reconcile all the
bills, but there's the whole inconvenience of getting people to set up
accounts. One of the more interesting ideas is to do it all through mobile
phones. Basically you punch a PIN and type in the number to send money to,
and the recipient can receive a confirmation message right away. Obviously
there's a million details to work out, but what's interesting is that it's
the first concept I've heard that handles the individual-to-individual
transfer of funds well.

-cwk.