Originally Posted by
Mem9guy
The next time we have negotiating capital to spend, it should be spent on hard caps for all types of swaps and payrates so line holders will stop flying 100 hr months. That would have a bigger impact than continuing to jack around with reserve.
+1
Originally Posted by
Mem9guy
How are bucket systems a "concession?" They are simply a method of distribution. They do not affect the amount of flying being done by reserves.
I don't think buckets affect the amount of flying being done by reserves but I think it affects the amount of reserves doing the flying.
Originally Posted by
LeineLodge
WRT the seniority on reserve issue, the reason the discrepancy is so apparent right now is we are overstaffed in several categories (and in the slow part of the year.) Once they finally get rid of the overstaffing, which this latest AE did a good deal of, most reserves will be flying most of the time. There won't be guys "taking the month off", especially once we get into summer flying.
I get that junior guys don't like flying when they see senior guys not doing anything - I've been there. The point was made at the meeting that the more we spread the flying evenly (like going back to no bucket system, or making the buckets smaller) the fewer pilots will be required in each category, thus the most junior guy that's ****ed because he's junior and flying all the time, won't be needed anymore and he would fall off to be more senior in a lower category. Not being doomsday, just simply pointing out that staffing inefficiencies are a good thing for the group as a whole.
We all need to ask ourselves, especially the junior guys - Do I dislike the buckets because they are fundamentally hurting the pilot group? Or do I dislike them because someone else is getting a good deal and I'm not?
I'm personally in favor of completely getting rid of the buckets and days of availability groups and going to straight seniority. I'd also like to see a hard cap and/or bow-wave type system. Anything that allows the company greater access to our productivity should be minimized IMO. Anything else, like smaller buckets, is giving a concession to the company.
I don't really follow how getting rid of buckets reduces the headcount. However many pilots are take a month off is how many reserve pilots you can cut. If before you had two pilots flying 70 hours combined, now you have 1 flying 70 and 1 flying 0, so now you know you can get rid of one vs a system that had everyone churning about the same place.
And when RES was a straight RAW score system, seniority was a part of it and a major factor. It used to take 3 weeks for them to get to me. The whole point of the bucket system is as much as possible give the most senior pilot the month off and have the RES pilot work in his place. That's why they bandied about the "senior pilots want it" "everyone junior to #1 in category is junior and complaining only because they're junior" and termed it that the junior pilot would get "relief" within 5 days of work when he got to bucket 2. But that's not how it works but yet the bucket thresholds have remained unchanged from its inception no matter what peak or lull season we were in.
I really do not believe we should have a system giving people a month off and having other people fly in their place and say this is good.It's a perk for senior pilots that lets the company know just how fewer pilots it needs to operate. From what I can tell looking at ATL88B's vs A's and given more SCs and ALV+15, you can cut another 20 reserves off ATLM88B and be just fine, it'd match Captain staffing.