Originally Posted by
gzsg
My understanding is we have a great deal of pilots who fly low or not at all and management hates this.
I'm not so sure. Remember that we can only drop a trip into open time if there are enough reserves to cover the flying.
Assuming that is the case, dropping the trip would save the money that the regular pilot would have otherwise been paid. If it's picked up by another regular pilot, then that pay is simply transferred to the other pilot and it's a zero sum game. But if it's assigned to a reserve pilot, than that pay goes against his guarantee, and Delta saves money.
If there is not enough reserve coverage to drop the trip into open time and no other pilot is willing to pick it up, then the original pilot can't get out of flying the trip.
Originally Posted by
gzsg
I've never checked, do we have a monthly minimum to retain benefits?
We do not.