Originally Posted by
CLazarus
Timbo, you gave an outstanding background explanation of why pilots would naturally hate virtual bases (especially ones senior enough to bid the trip in your example). I happily bid for trips with deadheads myself. But, it also underlines why management everywhere wants to find ways to make VBs happen. There is an awful lot of money being paid for senior guys to basically do nothing more than nap. Meanwhile, as we are all aware, this is an incredibly cutthroat business and the legacies face competitors everywhere with minimal labor costs and work rules that pale in comparison. In the long run, I don't think being consistently paid to do effectively nothing is any more tenable than the three man cockpit was. In good times we legacy pilots can get away with it, but when the next downturn hits I imagine it might be the easiest concession to swallow.
On a side note, I think Allegiant is a prime example of VBs or such taken to an extreme. I absolutely think management there does it to abrogate seniority and weaken the pilot group while maximizing shareholder returns. Definitely a cautionary model.
Disclaimer - I don't have a dog in this particular fight so please spare me any flames. I hope you guys reach a TA soon that is overwhelmingly approved.
Well if the company were losing money and about to go bankrupt, like they were when they cut my pay $100,000/yr and took $1.4 Million from my retirement plan, then I'm sure we could discuss the efficiencies and cost savings associated with virtual basing. But that's not the case today.
The DH'ng is not being paid to 'do nothing'. The pilots have to get to the airframe they are trained on. The company choses what airframes to buy, where to base them and where to fly them. Delta has the most diverse fleet of any Major airline with 10 types now and about to add two more!
.
(C100+A350).
They have to train pilots in every different fleet, and then they have to get them into position to fly the trips that THEY build. All the DH'ng expense is entirely self inflicted as a result of their fleet plan. Of course they would love to jerk us around and not pay us to get into position.
They buy all these different fleets because they can get them cheap, and/or better match the airframe capacity to the markets, and they are constantly moving airframes on/off different routes.
THAT is what causes all the DH'ng, and it is a cost of doing business if you are going to operate so many different fleets.
In fact, most of us who fly a lot of the international trips that begin and end with a DH do not even use the hotels, so we are saving the company quite a bit of money on the unused hotel rooms in some of the most expensive locations, like NYC, SEA and LAX.