Originally Posted by
Flying Elvis
Well, if you're going to count things that didn't exist as a loss, that's fair. We'll call it lost opportunity cost.
But you'll then need to count what you didn't give up as a gain.
- You gained health privacy safeguards. I'm not sure how to put a dollar amount on that, but if you were to pay a private company to recover those safeguards, you'd be broke.
-- With that, you gained career security. Again, hard to put a number on that, unless you're the one med-down for 3 years or the rest of your career trying to get reinstated because of something your non-AME PCM mistakenly wrote on your records that the company AME found and reported to the FAA. Couldn't happen? I'd say that if it happens to even one pilot over the life of this contract and all the rest of the contracts the provisions would remain in place (indefinitely), it's not worth the cost.
-- With that, you also gained freedom from intimidation and second-guessing as to whether you should call in sick (or whether your pairing mate should call in sick instead of making you call in sick for the next rotation).
-- With that, you also gained the benefits of DAL, instead of pressuring pilots to work more, staffing correctly, or to pay you and your fellow pilots a "failure to staff correctly" bonus (green slips).
- You gained 12 hours a year more at home. Say it with me... "Hol.." "Holi.." "Holiday." No, not "Hollandaise."
-- With that, you gained about 130 more pilots on property, or the consequences of not hiring those pilots (again, green slips).
- You gained better schedules and literally millions of dollars in green slips for FOs of all seniorities instead of allowing DAL to make up for hiring insufficiencies by slick scheduling slights of hand which violate seniority and harm all FOs.
-- With that, you gained more Capt slots for those who would rather be a Capt than push up to the green slip trough like some of their more senior compatriots, and better category seniority for those already there.
I could continue and will at a later date.
Just curious, are these the items you feel are so onerous on the medical records issue?
A pilot who is required to verify his sickness under Section 14 F. 4. may be required to provide the Company with a written authorization for release of medical information (release), provided the release is limited to: 1. the specific sickness for which the pilot claimed sick leave, 2. the day(s) on which the pilot claimed sick leave and the consecutive day(s) off immediately preceding and succeeding the day(s) on which a pilot claimed sick leave, and 3. a Company designated doctor or other health care professional(s) and the Director – Health Services and the Senior Vice-President of Flight Operations.
Regardless of whether a pilot has a current First Class Medical Certificate, the Director – Health Services (DHS) may review the medical records of a pilot: a. who receives an FAA special issuance medical certificate, b. who seeks to return to flight duty after being absent for at least four months for medical reasons, or c. when there is reason to believe he may not meet the physical standards. 2. A pilot undergoing medical review under this section will give the DHS access to all medical records requested by the DHS. 3. The DHS may require a medical evaluation of a pilot holding a valid First Class Medical Certificate. This medical evaluation will be limited to the nature of the First Class Medical physical standard(s) in question. 4. The DHS and the ALPA Aeromedical Advisor will confer on the choice of the Company Medical Examiner (CME) prior to sending the pilot for evaluation, if the pilot releases the pertinent information to the ALPA Aeromedical Advisor. 5. The DHS will select the CME. 6. Medical information provided by the DHS to the CME will be limited to medically relevant information provided by doctors and treating facilities.