Originally Posted by
Santos Dumont
There seem to be two different scenarios. One is when they call you on a day off. I have answered the phone many times in those situations if I am truly available and willing, but sometimes what they have to offer falls outside my available time frame and I tell them exactly what you said (wife, etc...) No issues there, they know that you were nice enough to answer the phone while off duty. I'm not even sure if they are really trying to junior assign you when they call on a day off, or if they are simply asking for help.
However, when they get a hold of you on your last day of a trip, or when you are about to go home on day 5 of reserve, etc..., and they tell you "check your schedule, you are working tomorrow too," and you say "I'm not available" you will most likely get an UJR on your schedule. And I disagree whit the fact that it is a meaningless code, otherwise they will not use it at all. That code means that you don't want to help the company, so they probably won't help you either if you ever need help. Not to mention that I have heard cases in which the company easily turned a UJR into an UFW. I'm also very skeptical as to how far can the Union go to help.
During my first two years there I was never late for a show, never turned down a request to fly (even before the 300% offers), and never called in sick. But when I needed a day off for something truly important ... forget it. Even when I found someone willing to swap with me they still wouldn’t allow it. So, when I arrived in back in base after ten straight days of flying (made possible with a couple of long layovers) I wasn’t in much of a mindset to help them out when they called me at the end of that trip on a Saturday evening. They wanted me to do a Pensacola overnight or the flight would cancel. I felt bad about turning it down but I really needed to commute back home to take care of some things the following day before going out on another trip Monday morning. They told me that they were then going to give me a UJA. I suggested that they go right ahead and, in that case, to expect the same response from me the next time they needed a favor. The bottom line here is that, where crew tracking/line adjustments are concerned, it doesn’t matter how good of an employee you are at Mesa. Even the most stellar employee will not receive one single favor and should only be ready to be screwed by them at every turn. That’s just the way they operate. Even the chief pilot can only do so much. The treatment crew tracking dishes out to you comes from them only with top management’s given authority and blessing. And, as for suggesting the union might be able to do something to help get rid of a UJA? PLEASE .. are we talking about the same union, lol. Don’t expect the union to raise a finger to help you until you finally receive a termination notice. Then they’ll try to help.