Originally Posted by
GoHomeLeg
Ok I know this is probably going to open up a Can of worms so everyone forgive me.
According to the contract a definition of a captain " means a pilot who is in command of the aircraft and its crew members while on duty and is responsible for the manipulation of, or who manipulates, the flight controls of an aircraft while underway, including takeoff and landing of such aircraft and who is properly qualified and designated by the company to serve as and holds currently effective Airman certificates authorizing him to serve as such pilot."
The reason I bring this up is that it states in order to be a "Captain" you must be "in command". I believe this renders the Clause that a "Captain who occupies the right seat will be paid as a Captain" completely useless since that contradicts the CBA's definition of "Captain".
I also feel that this language would give the company the ability to "left seat qualify" pilots but only allow them to collect Captain pay if they were "in command of the aircraft".
I know the last place I worked at would have exploited this loophole to their benefit. Anyone care to tell me why this interpretation may not be correct.
Forgive me for chiming in, I'm the first to admit that I know very little about your CBA and associated work rules. I'm only quoting the above as it is the last post in a long line of threads addressing the same subject matter.
So, old guy here, Former Captain at a similar airline in the 80's and 90's. It was normal SOP to get called to fly the right seat occasionally while on reserve. There was no special "right seat Qual " involved, because we had a type rating and FO's did not ... If you have a type rating, you can occupy any seat you choose, because, well, you had the type...
This should work both ways, now that FOs get type ratings ... you're already a Captain, (otherwise, why the type rating) Upgrade for you guys should be like a two day transition thing, involving things like fuel planning, delegation strategies and judgement issues, instead of a whole "'nother type" really?? Sorry for venting, but many developments of the last two decades just seem really silly to me.
Be safe out there.