Originally Posted by
kwri10s
Dude, you keep missing the entire point of the discussion. None of this has anything to do with the boxes. If they are checked or not checked. It does not matter. If you are deviating, however you checked the boxes, and you are standing in the departure gate for the scheduled DH, if you can get a ticket on that flight, then you can call scheduling and do final check-in. Once you do that you are no longer deviating. You have all the protection in place just like if you did not deviate. If you cannot get a ticket on that flight, then you are still deviating as you cannot join the scheduled DH.
Scheduling does not want to fix the problem if the scheduled DH changes, so they are telling the young guys they are on their own. Nothing new here, Scheduling has been trying to get us to solve offline transportation cancels, changes, WX, MX, etc for years. If something changes on your scheduled DH, you just call Scheduling, let them know and then go get lunch while you wait for them to fix it.
I understand the point you are trying to make and as I have said, you
may be right. However, there is also language in the contract that says that once you deviate, you are on your own.
My point is, and maybe I'm not doing a good job explaining, there are two boxes on a two leg deadhead so that you can choose to deviate on one, or both legs. My devils advocate position is if you deviate on both legs and then later get a ticket for the second scheduled leg and that leg gets cancelled for wx, maintenance, or any other reason and you miss the trip, don't expect the company to take your side.
According to Alders position and backed by a few others, I could have a trip that DH's from MEM to ATL to start revenue flying in ATL. I could deviate on the one and only leg of my DH and then later decide that I want to take the scheduled flight and all I have to do is show up to the gate in MEM and check in and I am protected. That position also states that the company is now responsible for getting me new tickets and rescheduling my pairing if anything happens to the MEM to ATL flight. I don't think that CRS and the company would agree.
Instead of telling people it doesn't matter which boxes you check and to just show up, maybe we should tell people to check the appropriate boxes and only deviate on the legs you really want to.
Here is the section that has been quoted;
iv. Final deviation check-in may be accomplished if the deviating pilot joins the Company scheduled deadhead(s) and, as a result, he will arrive at the point of origin of the pilot’s first revenue flight or standby period as if the pilot had not deviated. Upon arrival at the departure gate of the scheduled deadhead flight, the pilot shall check-in with VIPS,
or CRS if VIPS is not accessible, and indicate that he is in position for the scheduled deadhead flight. Once this check-in has been accomplished, the pilot shall no longer be considered as deviating, for the purposes of subsequent delays, revisions, and all trip services.
Alder keeps highlighting the "or CRS" to make his point, but the sentence goes further and states "if VIPS is not accessible." It doesn't say if you decided not to deviate as you indicated to CRS earlier. That language also says "joins the Company scheduled deadhead(s)." If you deviate on all segments of the DH, you have told the company that you aren't joining their scheduled DH.
For the multiple time I will state again that Alder and others
may be right. But they have also stated that is not how CRS is interpreting it and CRS is trying to place it on the pilots. IMO, it is only a matter of time until someone gets bit by this and has to attempt a grievance simply because they told the company through VIPS, as required in the contract, that they were going to deviate on both legs when in fact, they only wanted to deviate on the first leg.