attendance/reliability program
Good Afternoon,
(I have the same thread up in the "major" section of APC. I am reposting here to see if things look a little brighter on the cargo side.)
I hope it is not too strange to ask this question....I am now applying to regional airlines and what surprises me the most about the process is the attendance/reliability program in place at most regionals. You can pretty much expect to get a phone call after 4 sick calls a year any place you go.
A look through the forum paints a pretty grim picture going all the way up to the major and legacy (some improvement of course but still not ideal.) 7 calls will get you noticed at Fedex(I heard?), 5 at Jetblue, it seems that at Delta you may be expected to disclose the nature of your illness which goes beyond just a doctor's note. Surprisingly whether the sick call is legit or not does not make a difference. Whether you have hours in your sick bank or not does not matter.
Coming from 135, I totally understand that there is no operation that is 100% legal but I am not the kind of person who condone doing things that are unsafe. I do everything in my power to be safe, to the point where I have backed out of some 135 job offers due to what I find out about maintenance or about being required to be on call 24/7 (rolling rest).
I understand that sick calls are not meant for schedule adjustment and I personally have never called in sick if I am not sick. However, you can't always control if and when you get sick especially if your circadian rhythm is out of whack flying the backside of the clock. Honestly I think I have a better shot flying cargo because you are more unlikely to be exposed to sick people (thankfully boxes do not get sick--I know there are isotopes and other weird stuff but so far boxes have not gotten me sick )
The worst thing is when you get a killer sinus infection that could pretty much ground you for 2 months. These attendance program , in my opinion, may as well be renamed "pilot pushing" program. The stick is there waiting to smack you if you are out sick too often, regardless of the fact that we really should not fly sick . The union reps I have spoken to said these policies are not really enforceable, but to me being flagged for sick calls will land you on the radar which is not a good thing.
which is why I am here to ask you...what's the sick call policy like at your company? It will at least help me see if things are actually going to be better once I get to major/legacy, and help me find out who to target. In the meantime I can only hope I don't get sick too often at the regional and end up with disciplinary actions, making me even less hireable.
This post is not meant to be negative. Flying is awesome, and I could go on and on about that. I am just trying to resolve this issue and figure out how to go forward. I appreciate your input
Thanks!