Originally Posted by
gloopy
Then that is even worse for the company. Its far superior for scheduling if we are allowed to be out of contact for 9 hours and then need 10 hours after that versus waiting until 3 hours prior to acknowledge a trip and then needing 10 hours rest, which would automatically drop the trip.
19 hour long call isn't as convenient as 12 for the company, but its infinitely superior for them than untouchable/automatic trip drop due to legality long call.
This is actually a huge opportunity for "constructive engagement" or whatever. Maybe we can compromise and codify a 15 hour long call with a 5 hour rolling "leash" for acknolwdgement and add an extra 15 minutes a day pay/credit for vacation. Either way, its up to us and our reps to negotiate for improvements on this. Letting the company put out its own helmet fire by lining through our contract and penciling in its most favorable fantasy interpretation is something we simply cannot allow.
There is ample opportunity to provide relief to the company to keep the operation running smoothly (provided they staff appropriately) while obtaining substantial QOL improvemenes for our reserves and remaining legal per the FAR's.
I agree Gloopy. It would be nice for just once in a long while if we could get some gains in work rules. The "engagement" of the past seems to always tilt the wrong direction. Over the past decade the company has been able to obtain massive productivity gains while reducing staffing requirements (ie less pilots needed, less upgrades, less money). Wouldn't it be great if we found some leverage and used it to push things back the other direction? Hey, guess what....pilots could have better quality of life, more pay and the company still make tons of money in the new world order of a handful of players left in the industry. Just an idea I think needs mentioning. It doesn't have to be the company making 5 Billion a year figuring out how to make 7 Billion a year on the backs of it's employees quality of life.
Remember the days when work rules actually got better each contract? The Vulcan mind meld managements all across the industry have put on pilots believing we should be happy to just keep status quo or continue losing ground in bite after bite is sad. Anybody remember trip touching and how many paid days off that produced? Things have really bottomed out since then. Let's see if the outcome is sold as a win and turns out actually being a win or sold as a win not really being a win (devil, details and all).