December 24, 20177 yr 5 hours ago, Buddy Spike said: Both are obviously better than our 1/1 (1 leg, sit 30 hours, 1 leg home) that only pays 11 hrs for three days, but it'll involve more work. What the fuck. How is that in your contract? Your union negotiating committee sounds like a bunch if clowns. You guys consider joining ALPA?
December 24, 20177 yr 7 hours ago, Jaded said: What the fuck. How is that in your contract? Your union negotiating committee sounds like a bunch if clowns. You guys consider joining ALPA? Same reason we have a 6 year JCBA post-bankruptcy contract. APA is a weak union full of arrogant pilots who think they're good negotiators. There is a push to join ALPA, but the BOD won't let it see the light of day (so far... there is growing momentum). The problem, however, isn't the the union itself, but the people in charge of the union and that wouldn't change with ALPA because we'd likely have the same reps. This pilot group is way too senior and used to pulling the ladder. The "I got mine - you'll be senior too someday" group doesn't look out for anyone but themselves. So they vote yes on higher pay rates while ignoring the crap the company can get away with in our open ended (and mostly unimplemented) contract.
December 26, 20177 yr I'm sure the answer is "it depends", but which airline allows for the most schedule flexibility? I admittedly know nothing about the airline scheduling process, but how hard is it to add/drop trips? For example, if I'm scheduled for a Mon-Thur trip, but my kid has some school shit that my wife wants me to attend on Wed, can I drop the trip and it's easily picked up by someone else? Do I need to find my replacement? Or do I need to put in for a day off months in advance and hopefully the chips fall my way?
December 26, 20177 yr Generally, if you get your schedule and don't like it, you can drop the trips you don't want if you do it early. If you wait until the week before, not as easy. You may not be able to pick up trips on other days to make that money back though.
December 26, 20177 yr As you said, it depends. At DAL, it varies wildly by base and aircraft, depending on the staffing. Aside from certain holidays, I'm easily able to drop or swap my trips/reserve days, in the winter. In the summer it can be a little harder (sts), again depending on staffing. It's much easier on my WB than it was on the NB. Some categories are staffed well and it's super easy, while others are perpetually short and almost impossible (cough...NYC). We have quite a few avenues to adjust your schedule. You can just drop trips, as long as there are enough reserves. You can swap trips with open time (trips with no pilots). You can swap trips with friends, or just have them take it off your line. You can also post it on a board for anyone to pickup. It was eye watering watching my SWA buddies manipulate their schedules, even when very junior.
December 26, 20177 yr 14 hours ago, BADFNZ said: I'm sure the answer is "it depends", but which airline allows for the most schedule flexibility? I admittedly know nothing about the airline scheduling process, but how hard is it to add/drop trips? For example, if I'm scheduled for a Mon-Thur trip, but my kid has some school shit that my wife wants me to attend on Wed, can I drop the trip and it's easily picked up by someone else? Do I need to find my replacement? Or do I need to put in for a day off months in advance and hopefully the chips fall my way? As a DL guy Id say SWA. That said, 3 plus years here and have missed zero birthdays (wife, 3 kids) and batting 50% on Xmas/Thanksgiving. In the situation you posit, getting mid week days off is far easier than weekend so assuming no holiday you'd probably be able to make it work here. There's been plenty of PBS hate thrown and I wont argue the point. But I do think it makes getting specific dates off quite possible, even as a very new guy.
December 27, 20177 yr Thanks. Sorry, more n00b questions here, but when they say "hold a line", is that basically the same trip/schedule every week?
December 27, 20177 yr On 12/24/2017 at 3:04 AM, nunya said: ALPA is not immune from letting management slip in clownish contract clauses! Letting management "slip" in clownish contract clauses? Hell they not only allow it they double down and try to justify how it's actually a good thing... The unions are full of guys/gals who become more interested in working for the union than actually being a pilot. Think Reps/Senators in congress... Then they become the smartest people in the room and the line swine just aren't smart enough to understand.
December 27, 20177 yr 43 minutes ago, BADFNZ said: Thanks. Sorry, more n00b questions here, but when they say "hold a line", is that basically the same trip/schedule every week? "Holding a line" means you have a schedule with a set of trips for the month. You know "I am flying X trip on these days, Y trip on these days, and so on" for the month. When you are on reserve you are "on call" during you reserve days so you may work, may not, or may sit short call. In the end you could work less or not at all while sitting reserve but your schedule is more up in the air and technically you are scheduled to "work" (be on call) more days during the month than a pilot holding a line. At Delta dudes holding a line typically (I'd venture to say on average though not the rule) means anywhere from 12-15 days of work during the month. If you sit reserve then you are going to be on call 17-18 days during the month. Pros and cons to both and just depends on your base, where you live, and staffing levels which one each particular person prefers (if they are senior enough to have a choice). Also there are different rules for each.
December 27, 20177 yr Slightly on topic What was the outcome of the great Gearpig mystery?I don’t know that we got it answered, we just locked down the troll account that took his over.
December 28, 20177 yr 9 hours ago, Toro said: I don’t know that we got it answered, we just locked down the troll account that took his over. This. Never got confirmation of who the "real" gearpig was. Disabled the offending account and combed the logs to make sure there wasn't any other funny business going on.
December 28, 20177 yr Since many of the online sources for this vid seem to be drying up (reminds me of the crusade against the Gold Bond Powder video...), here it is as an attachment. Delta_Captain_PA.mov
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