Originally Posted by
Herkflyr
And the seventh short call will be implemented only when FAR 117 is implemented, which reduces the short call time to 14 hours. For domestic guys, yes it is a concession. For anyone who could fly anything outside the CONUS, it is an improvement, as they can currently sit short call for 24 hours--then fly a full duty day to Europe!
Old system: six short calls; for anyone subject to potential international flying, the short calls could be scheduled at 24 hours each for 144 potential short call hours...AND for international ops, time spent on short call does NOT count against any duty day limits.
New system: seven short calls at 14 hours each equals 98 potential short call hours, AND all time spent on short call is included in a pilot's duty day, regardless of whether he is flying domestic or international operations (no more 18 hours on short call, then you get to fly an allnighter to SA or Europe).
DISCLAIMER: FAR 117 will be very complex and I am simplifying some things. However it seems to me we are better off in the aggregate. The bottom line is that there will not be any carveouts for international vice domestic, and time spent on call WILL count towards duty day regardless of where you may or may not fly.
This post just ****es me off. Are you for us or against us? The new FAR's will make what we are currently doing illegal because it is dangerous so you feel we should give a concession to keep from hurting the company? Again, who's side are you on? The domestic side will flat out being hurt by this. If it was really a make or break item for the company, we could have left the domestic side alone. I'm really tired of hearing about our 12.5 percent raise. It is a 4 percent signing bonus raise followed by a 6.5 percent raise. It's a 10.8 raise rounding up. If you get part of the raise from profit sharing, you don't get to count it. So we get a 7.8 percent raise + 3 percent COLA. We then get two more COLA. We actually gave up scope allowing more regional jets to get this. We failed miserably. I was a hell no vote. The more I think about it, the more it bothers me. Our increase in health insurance next year will easily eat my 3 percent. I'm disgusted. I initially thought a 40 percent raise on day 1 was fair. Then I decided that I was probably being unrealistic so I cut it in half to about a 20-25 percent raise on day 1. I never in a million years thought my own union was going to agree to a 10.8 percent raise in exchange for allowing more regional jets. The fact that our union can't admit it made a mistake really bothers me.