Originally Posted by
Cujo665
As I said, the union should use the negotiating capital wisely. Taking a current 4 day trip, and adding an extra operating flight on day one in the AM to the Hub from a mini-base, and adding an extra operating flight at the end from the Hub to the min-base increases utilization. Why crashpad or hotel crews in base, if you can just start them & release them at the outstation?
Figuring out a way to have multiple mini-bases closer to where people live increases QOL significantly. It would cost them nothing if they did it something like the old Aspen bids. Do it at six months instead of 3 month cycles.
It can help the company as much as the pilots if done correctly. fewer bodies floating around on wasted pre-positioned overnights; guys getting to start & finish their trips from home.
The could do it with just changing the bid line. It would save them money, but not as much as if they got a deal with the union for real mini-bases. The old jetbridge swap LOA was great for guys to swap at outstations if they both lived there. I believe that LOA is still in effect.
Building a commutable trip on both ends (afternoon start and morning finish) is the same type of trip that would work with an early AM DH to the outstation. By adding the two DH's which won't actually be used, they get to make that line to/from a mini-base and save the hotel, and a few prepositioned overnights a month. That reduces staffing and hotel requirements too.
Is doing something to help get rid of lost overnights a bad thing? It helps both sides.
Look at Republic. roughly the same size pilot group. They have 13 bases all over the country rather than just 4. It makes it much more likely that a guy can be home based, which is a huge huge QOL improvement. They have a waiting list of several months to get into class, yet their upgrade time is one of the longest in the regional industry now.... why is that? Yes, their pay is roughly the same now, but they have very good reserve rules, no junior manning and very very limited airport standby. The work rules and living in base obviously have a significant value to the employees. With the shortage about to get worse, they need to get ahead of things soon.
I think those are the bigger reason. The virtual bases may be something, but I think it would be more trouble than they would get. How many people actually live in a base that is served by an Envoy plane they fly? It doesn’t happen a lot, but what if they change the equipment or more likely, AAG changes that destination to another feeder? I’ve talked to one person at Envoy that lives in an outstation base that said he has spent nights at home on an overnight. As much as I think it would be great if it worked, I just don’t think there are many this would work for.