Originally Posted by
757Driver
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Problem here is that those of us with 42 days of vacation face this dilemma a lot more than those with less vacation. In essence we're penalized by not being able to improve our schedule while those that are junior, can. I know, I know, boo-hoo for me and my 42 days but if I want to add some time during one of my vacation months then I should have the right to do so. My more junior friends do this at will and I can't? Complete BS, IMO and needs to be fixed with the next contract. Many of the guys at my seniority are dumping their vacation into their 401k just to avoid this and decreasing the staffing nullifying ALPA's attempt to do the polar opposite.
Is the company a bad guy in all of this? Of course, but ALPA can and should reengage until its corrected giving all of us a chance to make the decision for ourselves if we'd like to pick up time or not.
Not going to get to indepth here, as I will be attacked as being 'Anti Union' (which I am not).
That being said, there is a work around for being able to add a little flying during a vacation month. Or at least, it has worked for me.
I noticed that when I got my Schedule for Sept, I had 4 days of vacation at the end of the month, with the other 3 carrying over into Oct.
Well, looking at my Pay, I saw my PTC was governing (higher than my MPG). Therefor, anything extra flown would be paid full.
The key is knowing how and what to look at in your Pay Register.
Unfortunately, the majority of pilots do not. At least that is the impression I get from talking to them in cockpits, bars and at the last union meeting where it was a subject of discussion.
Something else a lot of pilots don't know is that they can move vacation days.. within the month and also into next month (after CCS has your PBS schedule loaded, on the 18th).
Both the company and the union don't make it easy.. as they both have their own agenda. It behooves us to understand all the gotcha's and loopholes and work it to your advantage.
As far as PBS.. yeah, needs some fixing but won't hold my breathe that it will happen. It doesn't honor seniority and it seems many are ok with that~
Would be nice if a PBS exploratory group was formed to look at possible solutions, compare other pilot groups PBS and offer our pilots some choices.
Motch