Item 1. LOA 14-03; Short Call: The Company and the Association reached a tentative agreement this week on LOA 14-03. This LOA modifies the requirement for contact and acknowledgement of an assignment for the first two hours if placed on Short Call after a hard no-fly day to read:

Exception: A pilot who is converted to short call on his first on-call day following a non-fly day will not be required to be available for contact during the first two hours of his short call period as follows …

This agreement removes the restriction on a pilot to exercise this provision if a short call is placed on his schedule less than nine hours prior to the start of an on-call day. The net effect is that all pilots converted to short call on their first fly day, after a hard no-fly day, will be able to use this provision. Previously if a short call was placed on a pilot’s line after 1500 the day prior, he could not exercise this option. This is an improvement to your contract based on the feedback we received from you.

Am I reading this correctly to say that the union has negotiated back a small portion of a large QOL benefit that they gave away during FAR 117 negotiations? Prior to FAR 117 negotiations, the two hour option was available to a reserve on any short call day. I don't mean to sound snarky, but are we really calling this a win? If I'm misinterpreting somehow, my apologies.