Originally Posted by
sandlapper223
Alright, so by crew members blocking their calendars, they deter others from soliciting trades and prevent paired crew members from viewing each other's preferences prior to the start of the trip? That's it?
I mean, if a crewmember wanted to trade or drop a trip, is there no system that allows this in say, a trade/drop/swap board type of system?
Again, apologies for the naïveté, but since we don't have the ability to see other crewmembers' calendar, I guess I don't know what I'm missing.
I was under the impression the uproar here was about transparency with respect to CBA "skirting" as it may, and the ability of others to identify these crewmembers, or at least deter them from violating provisions of the contract.
There is a much longer history behind the calendar blocking. Many years ago, the calendars were open on the old UNIX green screen. We were also going through a bitter time as the crew force unionized. The company wasn't negotiating with the first iteration of ALPA. At that time, the crews were asked to enjoy their time off and fly their scheduled month. Unfortunately, there were many that took extra trips at 150 and 200% pay. That also happened during the peak holiday season. So, for about 90% of a contract cycle, pilot's don't get overly concerned about the calendar blocking, but when we should be near the end of negotiations and we are headed into peak, it naturally causes quite a bit of uncomfortable feelings.
The explanations always given are about the crazy ex or something similar. But, just like the myriad reasons that non-members give for being non-members, it generally is about the money.
