I can't stand it any longer.
This "Mil Leave" hoorah parade that our Chief Pilot and the Company's rep. are trying to display is strictly a one way street during the months of Nov. and Dec.
For those of you who aren't familiar, the normal process is strictly computerized. Provided you are more than 2 days away from your mil lv, you simply put your dates in the computer and it normally gets processed within 1 or 2 days max. Inside that window you have to coordinate through the duty officer. HOWEVER, this only works Jan - through Oct.
During Nov and Dec, this policy changes (unbeknownst to the military member as there is nothing written about the change). The only way to get your leave processed is to have a nice chat with the Company rep., Gen, Cap, Dr DT. The company is perfectly within their rights to do this. Also, there is nothing written on how long the company has to process the mil lv "notification" (not a request).
While the company wants US to be timely in our submission of mil leave, we would ask that the company reciprocate that timeliness. Two years ago, a fellow Guardsman submitted notification in early Dec and it sat UNPROCESSED for over 2 weeks. He finally had to call the duty officer 36 hours prior to get the mil leave processed. By the way, this did not touch Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Miraculously, a mere 30 minutes after the leave is processed that he gets a call from the company rep. To validate this mil leave, the individual's commander emailed the ACP, Chief Pilot and the DT as a preemptive strike to validate this need. There was zero response from all 3
individuals. I repeat, zero! Very unprofessional if you ask me.
Last November was a very similar situation. Mil leave sat unprocessed for 8 days and the finally received a phone call from DT. He wanted to make sure this member wasn't pulling the "trump card" as he put it.
There is no excuse for the delay and strong arm tactics that the company employs during this period. Rather than looking at historical data and trying to figure out a way to mitigate the pilot shortages, they employ the intimidation and fear tactics.
I know for a fact that several Guard units are migrating to missions that operate 24/7 365 days year. Military duty does not stop during Nov and Dec.
While our illustrious Chief Pilot has asked that mil leave notifications be submitted in a timely manner, our military members would ask that these notifications get processed in a timely manner as well.
And yes, FDX ALPA reps were notified and CC'ed on all correspondence.
Wind me up cause I'm just getting started.