Bucking Bar

It is 2/3rds a 757 with a bunch of new names for avionics. You'll be saying "Primary Flight Display Scale Annunciator" before you know it. With a bid in August, I wonder how many weeks I am going to get to fly it before my next displacement.

Rhino Driver

Funny, I've been thinking the same thing!

acl65pilot

As DAL4 stated, they are looking at displacements in Aug. Some are saying 40-50 767 drivers. What that does is allows the ER guys to fly a lot of domestic this winter. I know that crew planning is still working on the final plan. If it becomes any clearer prior to the bid we will let ya know.

Also, FWIW, no one has stated on the record that there will be no furloughs, or there will be furloughs. If you read the communication from our VP last week, it is very carefully worded.

Here is hoping for the best!

acl65pilot

BTW DAL lets say they take 50 slots out of the ATL 767 category. That would put us at about 320 on each seat. Looks to me to be about 110 less than two years ago. Almost like they are shrinking the category in to oblivion.
Are they slowly combining the 767 and ER guys.

From the chatter from VA. ave, that looks like a possibility. Also if you note the new bulletin that is out to maintain currency in theater every two years. IMHO another precursor to a big ole ER group. What are those boys up to??????

PilotFrog

I thought this was supposed to be protected in the contract. We are turnining into Continental.

acl65pilot

There is a big arguement with that. They might just reduce it to min staffing, but I know for a fact that two years ago, their long term goal was a combine group.
I have been told repeatedly that they cannot do this by the contract hawks. The way I see it, they could just have the 767 category with no staffing and no flying in it. Thus, no need for a min staffing by the PBS staffing formula.

Alfa and others. If there is a part of the JPWA that states that they cannot combine or eliminate the category, I would love to see it. Or what DALPA is using for the arguement that they cannot reduce it.

forgot to bid

If you were DAL, it'd make sense to combine ER and 767 but from a pilots standpoint, how fewer pilots would we need if it was combined? Or would it go down at all? I fear it would.

We're not Continental yet, but we're running in that direction. When holding 767 means you hold domestic and international on the 752, 753, 763 and 764, then we're flying like CAL. Once we burn the work rules in our contract and concede our lives to the airline, hate DCI with a passion and hate each other just as much, then and only then are we really Continental.

Honestly though, you could/can see this coming. The CAL people we brought over must have been chuckling when they saw domestic and international split much less that we once had seperate categories for 732, 733 and 738. I'm sure they said "we'll change that." Heck, maybe the MD88, MD90 and DC9 will become a combined fleet! What does your type say? DC-9? Well then do we have a trip for you... right after you finish this CD...

acl65pilot

I cannot see them putting the 9 with the 88/90. Same type but too many differences. I mean that is a disaster waiting to happen.

In theory the staffing would go down. Reserve would suck. No thanks, back to the 73 for me if that happens! I would hate 24 hr reserve with all of that domestic thrown in.

forgot to bid

What if we removed the FMS from the MD-88? Then we could say they're essentially the same except one has a brighter gyro.

We could do what CAL does and draw round dials on the big 737NG efis screens to make it look like an analog 733. I wonder if they do that with their 764s to match the 757s?... ... no. Just looked it up.

I'm just trying to take the inefficiencies out of the system. Both in staffing, training and of course in the time it takes for a pilot to fill out an ASAP and COR.

acl65pilot

I would not admit that during a downturn!