IMO we need to focus on vacation accrual. What good does it do to get a week of vacation awarded, use 3 hours per day (21 hours) then have to try and get 67 hours with the remaining days of the month? Every time I have tried to use vacation, I end up with trips stacked on each side and it just screws my cadence up with the trips I am trying to hold. We need more realistic accrual so we can use more hours per day. And we need to not be forced to work 88 hours per month without our bid falling off L7 and jacking everything up. Most of the time when I try to use a week of vacation, I still only end up with 15 days off for the month.

If we had proper staffing levels, there wouldn't be a need to worry about how much open time paid, because if you wanted to work more, you could pick up time for whatever it was worth. Is there a reason that regionals with legally enforceable contracts are getting paid 200% and up for their open time? Are other regionals getting threatening emails from their CP if they have to call in sick? They are loading as many hours as possible on everyone and then threatening pilots when they have to call in for time off. We should have minimum reserve levels for each day at the beginning of the month, and any trip that touches a day that is below minimum levels would pay 150% regardless.

I would recommend that everyone print copies of these emails and save any voicemails regarding this pilot pushing going on right now. I hope that I never have to use them, but I will be prepared to show how SW disregarded safety and intimidated pilots to fly when they were not fit if ever needed.