Originally Posted by
kolt66
People who are picking up open time trips after everything we're going through to try to get a new CBA are a disgrace and should be treated as such by their fellow pilots.
Question: Will refusing to pick up open time increase hiring and lead to more movement?
Answer: No. The company is already hiring as many pilots as physically possible, even buying sims and classroom space to hire even more pilots.
Question: Will refusing to pick up open time affect the company's growth plans?
Answer: No. The company has met all announced growth goals since Bill Flynn was named CEO.
Question: Will refusing to pick up open time hurt the company financially?
Answer: No. A traditional open-time ban leads to cancelled flights and increased staffing. This company is not traditional, and so far have not had any uncovered trips due to a lack of open time pickup. Refusing to pick up open time will not lead to increased staffing... the company is already increasing staffing as fast as possible.
(There have been cancellations due to last minute sick and fatigue calls, but that's the nature of the business. Open time or not, the only way to avoid these is to have nearby short-call reserves, and historically the company would rather accept the cancellation penalty-cost than invest in the cost of rarely used short-call reserves.)
Question: Will refusing to pick up open time make the company more willing to negotiate?
Answer: No. Considering the answers to the first three questions, there is no logical correlation between open time pickup and company motivation to negotiate a new CBA.
The costs are just staggering. The CBA that we deserve (and will eventually get, hopefully) will increase company labor costs by about $2 million a week. The company is saving that much every week right now. How many additional pilots does that money pay for? A lot, because we don't cost that much! The company is out-hiring their need for a CBA right now, and is saving money doing so.
What I do believe will motivate the company to settle the CBA is when they are unable to staff newhire classes with pilots that make it through training. But refusing to pick up open time will not lead to more newhire classes. The company is already hiring as many pilots as possible... we could all
stop picking up open time today, or we could all
start picking up open time today, or we could get a new CBA tomorrow, and the company would still plan to hire as many pilots as possible in 2019.