PTB,
You continually assert that we have a restriction on commuting into long-haul flights that is both enforced by management and codified in our CBA. These are not factual statements. Any pilot here has the option to make that choice if they want. I don’t claim the intimate knowledge that you do regarding this “removal event” everyone has heard of. I heard it involved some military duty which when combined with the commute and pending international flight gave a management pilot who was made aware some pause for concern. Whatever the details, unless that pilot and this other senior jumpseater who were removed from their trips want to come on PFC and share their details firsthand, I think we’re all shooting in the dark. Even if you have the specifics accurate, what I do know is this event occurred during the tenure of JG as 777 Fleet captain (or whatever we called that position at the time). I’m pretty sure he was the person who made the decision to remove this pilot. Perhaps the non-probationary pilot just got caught in the frag pattern and was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It wouldn’t be the first time someone in a position of authority over-stepped their mandate. But, the bottom line is that this occurred years ago, JG is retired and I don’t think it’s valid to conclude that this one isolated event means we are all subject to the restrictions you claim.
The CBA language you quote to support your claim does not. It certainly doesn’t prohibit a pilot from scheduling a jumpseat that doesn’t comply with 26.J.2. The whole purpose of it is to give each pilot specifics on how to commute to work while receiving protection in the case of a failed commute. It’s not written to imply some kind of restriction applies to those pilots who either choose not to meet the criteria or can’t because of their commute situation. They just don’t get the benefit of the protection. The authors of that section were attempting to create a set of criteria that would allow as many of our pilots as possible to commute protected while satisfying the company’s desire to protect the operation. That’s it. As far as the 13:30 duty day restriction – that seems to match the operational (not scheduled) domestic duty restriction currently in our CBA. It also matches what most domestic hub-turn pilots are going to do the night following their commute anyway. They’re going to show an hour prior to a flight inbound to MEM, fly in, sit the sort and fly out to a layover. Why wouldn’t management agree to a commute plan/duty day that effectively matches what each pilot is limited to on any given night of hub-turning.
Your discussion of numbers of reserves vs trips may provide some rationale for a new, separate long-haul commuter policy we could negotiate but beyond that it really has nothing to do with reality. The simple fact is that given our flight schedule, very few of our long-haul commuters would be able to meet the requirements set out in the commuter policies of the major airlines. So, it makes no sense to say they we should be able to do what they do. Many of their long-haul pilots face the same limited options that many of our pilots have and as a result are not able to commute into their trips with commuter protection either.
There’s a very important distinction between the commuter policies at major airlines and the one in place at FedEx. Our policy was written to allow almost every pilot commuting to almost any domestic trip on our own aircraft to do that protected. Pax guys typically need a flight and one or two back-ups but that policy in no way guarantees them access to every trip in their domestic bid-pack. Our policy also allows pilots to commute to just about any domestic trip they can hold. Do you ever hear one of our domestic pilots talk about whether a trip is “commutable” or not? I haven’t. That can be a pretty significant distinction for pax pilots, both long and short haul types. Many pax commuters with seniority choose to avoid half their bidpack lines because they can’t get there the same day. Those who can’t avoid them have to commute in the day before. Same thing on the back end of trips that don’t give them a chance to get home that same day and would require an extra night in domicile.
Regarding your continuing claim that long-haul airline pilots enjoy a much more liberal approach to their commute, I have to wave the BS flag because you’re really talking apples and oranges. You’re cherry picking one commute scenario and making what I believe is a very broad and incorrect assumption that it applies to “95%” of pax long-haul pilots. To then extrapolate that assumption to every long-haul pilot at FedEx is equally incorrect. We don’t have access to the same flight schedules many of those pax pilots do. Our flights leave at completely different time blocks than their flights and the commuter flight options for a large number of our pilots are just not as numerous.
I don’t think you’ve bothered to actually consider various commute scenarios for all these “lucky” long-haul pax guys who can commute into their trips with protection. Maybe you’ve got some pals at other airlines who’ve found a niche that works great for them based on where they live and their seniority. But, not every long-haul pilot at those airlines have such picture-perfect commute. Certainly not 95%. I just deadheaded out of ORD on an AA flight to PVG that left at 10:30. My next one goes to NRT at 13:00. Can a Denver based AA pilot commute into those flights? Not the PVG flight. None of the AA or UAL flight gets him from DEN to ORD in time. So, he has no choice but to come in the night before. How about the later NRT flight? Probably – since he’s got one primary on his own metal and a UAL backup. What if he lives in SEA? Then he can’t get to either one. How about those AA pilots who choose to live in a smaller community like Norfolk, VA (very popular with quite a few FedEx pilots). Again, unable to make the PVG flight with a same day commute. The NRT flight? Maybe but he’s not on his own metal, using an offline A319 as his primary and an RJ for a backup that arrives with 4 minutes to spare prior to check-in time. Would that pass the sniff test for the Chief pilot if the pilot misses his trip? I can’t say for sure, but I kind of doubt it. I don’t think I would care to do that for every trip and I seriously doubt a Norfolk resident AA pilot would either.