Originally Posted by
LeineLodge
Great idea!!! Let's get rid of the ALV+15 limit while we're at it and let everyone fly to the FAR's!
Except for those benefiting from it, most pilots did not like Trip Parking. What you're proposing would be far more detrimental than that, or any of the other work rules that have gone bye-bye over the years. I MIGHT be able to get behind 1.5 over 80 (I was fnwa btw, as I assume you are on the 744) but it would have to come with a cap - not limited solely by FAR's. 80 is just too high of a premium trigger, and would incentivize far too many of us to help Delta reduce our headcount.
The point is, there is a balance to be struck, and we will naturally all have our personal opinions on it. After the stagnation of the past decade+ I have little interest in anything that will further reduce Delta's staffing requirements.
The GS system definitely favors seniority in category, but as others have mentioned on here, it is more affected by your bidding strategy. The senior guys get more GS's because they are more likely to be OFF when GS's are flowing. All other things equal, the junior guy has to get his G#1 before the senior guy gets G#2.
If a pilot chooses not to chase the bigger payrate for better seniority in-category, he benefits by having better bidding options and the ability to set himself up for more GS's. He also has the option to bid up a category for the higher payrate, but probably fewer pay hours in a given year... If you say we shouldn't limit ourselves at all, then option #2 gets pushed back even further. IMO, after seeing both ways of doing things, I don't want to go back to 1.5 over 80. The current system seems to un-stovepipe things a little bit more, creating more options for guys vertically throughout the list.
Nobody is telling you how much you can make. I'd argue that if you live in base and know how to game the system you could make more as a senior NB FO rather than sitting wherever you do on the whale. We have 73NB's making more than the A's they fly with. There are plenty of ways to skin the cat...
Probably a better, and more comprehensive argument than what I formulated above, but I find it very difficult to take the 1.5>80 calmly. Every change to a contract is designed to reward/incentivize or discourage certain behaviors and actions. This one is such a grotesque, obvious attempt to pull the blanket one way, it reminds me of the Age 65 argument.
On the surface, there is a certain appeal to the simple argument "1.5>80", especially when guys are jealous about pilots getting GS (which are designed to reward an exception). That's about it. Once you start scratching the veneer, this is obviously a attempted robbery.