Originally Posted by
Planetrain
Where did he say in that post he was all for it and thinks it is a good idea?
I didn't. Its a test that can be pulled down. It was part of TA 1 and 2. Its something that is a half measure to bases back in places like MCO which are very big on things the pilots would like to see. It also has some very well defined boundaries for the test period. I would have liked more, but its sufficient.
As I said in a previous post, the TDY is the one that needs to be nailed down before its memorialized. The scheduling system here is not the one NWA had. Bases don't own time, there is no block or reserve positions, there is no max, and there is no requirement that a position becomes permanent if offered as a TDY for four months or longer. The NWA system was much tighter and some say more efficient. I do not see us ever going to it, so if we want something like TDY, it needs to be better designed to live in our scheduling system.
Our scheduling system is a global one, and TDY as designed does not work in our long term favor. Its a handicap to the AE system with no long standing benefits.
If memorialized as is, DAL could easily award positions only in junior bases and then TDY as needed to other bases. Pilot would "volunteer" for the TDY because of the inability to bid those other bases. Its a nasty move but if you want to look at the worst case in the current language, its there.