If those rumors are true, then that is similar to the system Southwest uses. Those guys regularly can grab some extra flying (if they choose to) to add additional income. I've been told that, frankly, if all the Southwest pilots stopped picking up open time, the wheels would come off - the entire SWA staffing model essentially requires it.

Of course, good work rules (a 5+ hour min day and .7 hour duty rig when you convert it from SWA's 'Trips for Pay' system to hours) require Southwest to schedule their pilots productively when they do work, allowing more days off. "Approximately the last 5 years, SWA pilots averaged just over 18 days off per month" (AirTran Welcome packet sent to all the AirTran pilots during the merger). If you have 18 days off, you might be more willing to choose to go down to 14 days off to pick up 4 days of flying.

The trips are so unproductive this month here at Spirit (multiple 4 day trips which credit less than 15 hours in FLL), the line pilots drop them into open time for anything better, and, frankly, nobody wants to lose days off to pick those kinds of trips up, especially at straight pay. So the reserves have to cover them - losing a pilot for 4 days so they can fly 3 legs. What do you expect when you build trips like that?!

Seems to me, the company could build shorter trips (1 or 2 day trips are easier to fit into blocks of days off) or lower the 'optimizer' settings to let a bit of soft time to creep into the trips. Or, of course, they could actually build productive trips when we block at least 20 hours in 4 calendar days.

One way or another, you've got to have pilots work more. Either build trips that fly more, or offer contractually compliant incentives to volunteer to work more on days off. The current incentives are not cutting it. Asking for 'permanent concessions' (if 'captscott26' is right) is a non-starter.