Originally Posted by
Alan Shore
Again, I just don't see it. These pilots are only able to drop trips into open time if there is excess staffing. During peak flying periods, the likelihood of that is usually slim.
You are completely ignoring the Swapboard "pickup" option and the Qualified Personal Drop (QPD).
Your statement assumes that trips will only be dropped from a pilot's schedule if there are surplus reserves available versus required in DBMS.
No matter how undermanned, a senior pilot flying high-time turns or sweet 2-day trips can easily get rid of them via the swapboard or having someone pick them up via white slip. The white slip limit of ALV+15 and the swapboard limit of ...only FARs!....enables this to happen.
Whether good, bad, or neither, the company does not like the idea that a pilot could drop his schedule close to zero for the month but still receive the benefits of a full time employee.
THAT said, I would vote against any TA with a minimum "must fly" provision to it (and I think that SWA has something like that, though I could be wrong). The bottom line is that the number of guys who will do this are relatively few, and whatever the company is losing in "productivity" with one guy, they are getting elsewhere with another. I think that they are willing to eat the "full time benefits for part-time flying" cost.
I truly don't think the company is even talking about this--sounds like more speculation to me.