Disputed Pairing

[contrails]

I know what a pairing is.
I know what a dispute is.

But what is a disputed pairing?

I made this thread its own because it is a bit different from just the Pairings thread in this section.

Who is the dispute between and why.

[Ewfflyer]

If I understand it correctly, it's between two pilots. If A or B doesn't get along with either, they can reserve the right to not be paired with that crewmember. I'm sure one of the 121 guys will step in soon

[contrails]

That doesn't seem right because there are disputed pairings in the FedEx forum and something about them seems to be disputed, not related to the crews flying those pairings.

[FighterHayabusa]

I gathered it was a pairing on a certain line that, while "legal", wasn't exactly in the spirit of the law and someone is given the authority to mark it as "disputed"

For instance someone might dispute a pairing that included 4 hours duty, 8 hours waiting in the airport, 4 more hours of duty and then a "rest" of 8 hours before starting again because that "rest" includes 3 hours of stuff and maybe 5 hours of actual sleep.

[Herkdrv]

From the cargo forum:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rottweiler View Post
1. What is a disputed pairing?

2. If someone doesn't pick up a disputed pairing, won't a reserve have to fly it anyway?

3. If a reserve gets assigned a disputed pairing, will he/she get the same blanket party from his fellow pilots? In other words, can a reserve turn down a disputed pairing?

Thanks, just trying to understand.
Onerous or otherwise unsafe pairings are disputed by the union's scheduling improvement group (SIG). A disputed pairing can't be assigned to any line unless specifically requested for by the pilot in their request for secondary line construction or from open time.

Yes the reserve will have to fly the DP.

No, if you get the trip on reserve you fly it, fill out a sleep log and submit a report back to the union.

The reason we don't want non-reserves to fly them is because if, after 2 months of being disputed, pilots continue to voluntarily fly the trips from open time, the union loses the ability to dispute the pairing any more. It then can get built into normal lines from then on.

Picking up the DP voluntarily undermines the work of the union SIG.

[FlybyKnite]

To add a little more background, the Scheduling Improvement Group (SIG) and its pilot teams review all the pairings that the company builds and then uses those pairings to build the pilot bid lines for the month.

From our disputed pairing email:

The SIG/PSIT takes the issue of pairing disputes very seriously. Pairings are not disputed because the SIG/PSIT considers them to be merely "inconvenient." A pairing will be disputed when identified by the FEDEX MEC as having been constructed with unsafe, onerous, or otherwise objectionable flying.

Disputed pairings should not be available in any bid pack lines and should not be assigned to any Secondary lines without a specific request, by pairing number, from the crewmember in the 36-hour request.

Pairings not specifically requested will then fall into the Open Time bin where they can be picked up by any pilot. Therein lies the real rub: the SIG says please don't fly them so we can negotiate getting them fixed next month vs the guy who simply sees an trip he can fly.

The specific reasons that pairings are disputed varys: pushing duty limits, circadian rhythm resets, unreasonable turn times, doesn't pass smell/common sense test.

ALPA's founders chose "Schedule with Safety" as their motto, and that is the SIG/PSIT's standard when reviewing and build bid pack lines. And it is the opinion of many that flying these disputed pairings undermines that premise.

.

[Stetson20]

Great info! So do these disputed pairings usually get flown? It is a source of friction between line holders and reserve crew? Very interesting to a career military guy- I've got a lot to learn!

[JetJocF14]

Originally Posted by Stetson20

Great info! So do these disputed pairings usually get flown? It is a source of friction between line holders and reserve crew? Very interesting to a career military guy- I've got a lot to learn!

Its not a source of friction if a reserve pilot flies it because he has no choice. He's on reserve. Oh I guess you could call in sick after you've been assigned the trip but that looks very fishy. It is a big deal when regular line holders pick up these trip out of open time. As mentioned before this totally undermines the union and the sig people that look at these lines after the company has built these trips. These trip are usually unsat do to inadequate rest followed by a grueling day of flying. The company is playing a crap game. Hopefully you don't roll a 7 at the wrong time. There is more to it than that but you don't need to know that now.

Bottom line is regular line holders that believe in the union do not fly these trips or trip trade into them. People that care only about themselves and there wallet do. Haven't flown one of these trip when on reserve but as Captain rest assured all the F/O will do is position reports and jerk the gear............