Watch my right hand.

Pay no attention to what I'm doing with my left hand.


So, really, what is the sin being committed here? Is it the use of automation? Is it the advantage some people have over others with particular types of automation? Or is it the saturation of company resources?


We casually toss around terms like "bot" and "hackers" and "rogues" and "cheaters", but what we really mean is that some people have used technology to gain an advantage. The truth is, if we all had the same "bots" or "hacks" to level the playing field, there would be no complaints. Those bots would be OK if everybody had one.


A recent complaint from The Company is that computer transactions are being conducted when pilots could not possibly be at a computer to conduct them. So what? That's been going on for at least 15 years, and they weren't complaining then. Who remembers MagicDisk? A precursor to a current product, it was meant to be a user-friendly interface to the "Green Screen", which at that time was the only way to access schedules, pay information, jumpseats, etc. One if its biggest selling features was its ability to log on to The Company's computer, synchronize your computer's clock to The Company's clock, and submit your Jumpseat reservations "on the hack", even while you're asleep or flying. The same feature was used to submit Trip Trade requests at the very second that Open Time becomes available for the following month. You didn't have to be at your computer to submit the trip trades -- Magic Disk did it for you.

Did The Company complain then? Nope. They made available a place in the locker room where Curt could display his product for all to see. Did pilots complain? NO. Anybody that wanted a copy of the program could pick up the floppy disk, install it, and send Curt a check. That's how he put his daughter through UC Berkley. He wasn't sneaky about it. He was completely open, worked with The Company, and The Company condoned it -- even the part that allowed me to reserve a jumpseat in my sleep and submit my trip trade request while I was airborne.

I submit that the issue of submitting those types of requests while one is otherwise occupied is a red herring. In fact, I think the restriction is unfair to people who are flying when Open Time becomes available. I think it's unfair to a pilot who is flying when the Jumpseat reservation he wants to make becomes available. I also submit that making those types of transactions while flying is NOT a violation of our Collective Bargaining Agreement. The CBA grants us access, and it does not place arbitrary limits on that access.

The biggest culprit is the Trip Trade system. You never know if your Trip Trade will be approved. You never know if your Trip Drop will be approved. You never know if your Request to Move or Drop an R-Day will be approved. And you never know how long you'll have to wait to get an answer. So you submit another request, and another, and another, until you run out of options or time. The system thusly gets bombarded with requests that have to be processed manually -- a problem of The Company's making that causes us all to suffer, and wastes bandwidth.


I think the real issue is the bandwidth which is consumed. Rather than fix the core problems, The Company is attempting to erode our access. They add layers of nuisance to the access to make it more difficult. They implement arbitrary policy through FCIF, e-mail, and the threat of disciplinary action.


And then they chuckle when we start going after each other with fingers of blame extended at our fellow pilots.


When I send a package via FedEx, I can log on to fedex.com and track the package. I can set my web browser to refresh the webpage every second. (My computer can't keep up with that, but that's not the point.) Never, NEVER have I gotten a warning from FedEx as a customer to stop using their computer resources so much. Why am I being harrassed as their employee?



They need to fix the Trip Trade system.


They need to add bandwidth.








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