Road kill,
I agree with you that these are two separate issues. The fact that reserve goes more senior system wide basically means reserve is now perceived to be better. This does not mean that the ALV+15 was not a concession - it was, but I have to agree with Sailing on this issue, I think it is a relatively minor concession.
For one thing many categories are often short on reserves in the beginning and middle of the month, not to mention the IROP issue which you bring up and that can occur anytime during the month- ALV+15 provides no help here at all and might even make things worse. If the company tries to carry fewer reserves thinking they will fly more hours they may run out of reserves more often earlier in the month.
Second, as Sailing mentioned there were some offsets that help to minimize hours flown.
Finally, as I have repeatedly stated this concession only affects a small portion of Reserve Pilots, themselves a small portion of all Pilots.
Where we really got our clock cleaned was the 30 day summer months. If you want to talk staffing, this in my opinion is the 800 lb gorilla in the room. Using 3.3% of only 10,000 pilots was and is an instant 330 pilot concession on our most demanding staffing months.
It amazes me how many guys are more concerned about ALV +15 which in my opinion is not even the same league as the 30 day months when it comes to staffing concessions.
FWIW I am a 73N FO and I bounce back and forth from line to reserve quite a bit.
Additionally I think the 5:15/day and paying the reserves the same as line holders will also help out.
In summary: I agree that ALV 15 is a concession albeit a minor one.
Just my opinion.
Scoop
