Originally Posted by
pipe
Actually......
A pilot senior enough to bid the 767 will get WB pay. A pilot senior enough to hold Airbus or MD Captain at a high percentile today will be a 757 Capt in our brave new world. He'll hold WB pay for peak and Valentines Day rather than year-round (if he chooses to bid reserve at those times - which is great for commuters).
What this LOA changes is the threshold for "senior enough to hold widebody". It will now be a fluid thing with those near the edges living below the threshold most of the time.
I would think 757 guys can expect all staffing overages for both airplanes to be carried on the 757 list. Lower ALV most of the year. Hope BLG in the 60's is good 10mos/yr. 757 will be lowest rate AND lowest BLG. There's your B-scale.
It looks to me like the long-term bottom line is that WB pilot positions are being traded for NB pilot positions. I think that's about as simply as it can be put.
Pipe
I doubt the staffing level for the 757 will be that much different than it was for the 727. I also doubt the company will play the excess bid "card." They've done that once in the past 8 years. Takes a lot in time and $$ to constantly shift crews to different airplanes, and if they are excessed, they aren't seat locked and can bid out in the next bid (chaos.) Company still has to pay minimum BLG of 68/85 (not 60's for 10 months) unless we go into 4A2B. Fewer NB's on property in 5 years than there were 5 years ago. Do you think the WB fleet is going to shrink substantially? Do you know of a secret deal to bring on more NB's?