Originally Posted by slowplay

Can all you guys that are reserve tell me how many times you've broken guarantee in the last 12 months? Systemwide the average is less than 5%, and most of those were created through yellowslip situations according to the data we were provided.

The ALV system was designed for the Delta network of 2004/5. That network had about a 14-15% swing in flying from peak summer to trough winter flying. The new Delta network has a 22% swing from peak summer to winter trough. That left us very short of reserves in the summer and very fat on reserves in the winter. Our productivity is down from 66% in 2006 to 59% now primarily due to changes in the network and how our workrules interact with that network. SWA's productivity is at 72% by comparison.

I may be mistaken but it appears you're looking at ALV + 15 in a vacuum. It works in conjunction with a whole bunch of other things.

1. TLV got raised by one hour to 75-80 hours system wide. That means reserve guarantee should pay 75+30 on average (ALV-2). Anytime you go above ALV-2 you're costing the company additional money beyond guarantee. They'd rather split the trip or do something with someone that has guarantee to burn.

2. All known absences are now figured into each individual reserve guarantee. That reduces the amount of guarantee you have left when you're on reserve (2nd example you quoted).

3. The staffing formula requires additional staffing when reserves average over 60 hours. An extra body for a year costs way more than a greenslip.

4. Reserves have 6 extra X days off per year, reducing their availability.

There's some more, but I think I've made the point. ALV+15 will be used the most in short staffed categories with long trips. An example would be reserves that used to not be available for a 12 day NRT because they'd flown a turnaround at the beginning of the month.