Originally Posted by
fadec
This is the second post referring to the contract without explaining what I suggested would be non-contractual. What is non-contractual about VXing a few days before the trip?
DC8 pretty much summed it up. There is nothing contractually wrong with VXing days before a trip. I was referring more to your comment of being willing to leave at a moment's notice and being flexible with scheduling to make things work. I think you will eventually find that they expect us all to be flexible with the CBA. But they especially find their guys in every zip code that they know are extraordinarily flexible.
Just for the hell of it, here's a few thoughts on VXing to be aware of.
Trips that are "open" should be offered to the entire pilot group or appropriate base. To qualify for an open time trip it needs to fit entirely in your days off. i.e. The open time trip needs to begin in your base then get you back to your base before the beginning of your next normal pattern.
For example, you just happen to be in HKG and are trying to get to ANC. You call scheduling and say "Hey I'm already here and I see that there is an open position to AUH. I'll VX a day to keep myself from having to commute to base." That's not okay. That trip should be offered and patterned with a DH from a base to HKG then to AUH.
More than likely they would just rip a guy off his pattern to cover it, but I'm trying to illustrate a point. The one leg you are doing to help you get to work could easily make another pilot (who isn't trying to enjoy the summer, and would rather be working for whatever reason) 3-4 days of pay instead of the 1 you are going to get.
Additionally whatever you were supposed to do in ANC now has to be worked by someone else, who was doing some thing else, etc etc etc.
Please understand, fadec, I'm not trying to be critical. Just merely tossing some information out there is all. You will find all sorts of interpretations of everything out on the line. One of our biggest issues in this pilot group is guys making the system work for them without thinking about the knock-on effect it has for everyone else. I guess it is just a different philosophy of how we all succeed together. Atlas seems to have a higher percentage of guys that just want to take care of #1. But that's just my 2 Yuan.