Need to rant a bit about this and I’d like it to be in everyone’s mind for the next CBA. Our new reserve grid is something that should never have been allowed to sneak into our contract. And I use the term sneak into because here’s the language:
PTO/UTO and Swap requests are authorized provided the applicable one (1)-day, two (2)-day, three (3)-day, and four (4)-day reserve grids are above their respective minimum for each Position.
Pretty vague. Here’s the application:
https://youtu.be/tohtvZfsmLU
https://youtu.be/_njcqbG9CP8
A very complicated and restrictive reserve grid that seemingly came out of thin air based on one sentence in our CBA. Very few saw this coming and I’ve already experienced the consequences of such poor language. Here’s my example from a lineholder perspective.
I’m a local and hate four days so I’ll fly anything else I can but I’m a junior lineholder so that’s what I get. No problem, I understand seniority and that’s how it shakes out in the monthly bid. Now the Sunday comes around before that trip and two 2 day trips pop in to Flica over the same footprint. Perfect! Extra night at home. I’ll lose some credit but I don’t care. I put the request in and it’s denied?! For what? Same footprint, a trade I’ve done a hundred times here at Jetblue in the past. Well not anymore. The LCR4 grid is below minimums so I’m stuck on the four day trip. One less night at home with the family because of a vague sentence in the CBA.
Full disclosure I voted yes for this CBA. If this sentence was made clear to me that this was how the reserve grids were going to work I would’ve taken a page out in the New York Times campaigning for a no vote. To me it negates almost all the positives of this CBA. Extra nights at home are priceless.
And before someone tries to blame the company for poor staffing, yes that would help. But same footprint trades didn’t even look at the reserve grid prior to the cba so staffing isn’t the issue here.
This post is long enough but the SCL reserve day swaps are a whole other disaster that deserve their own thread.
/rant