TED74

As I stated far above, I was talking about NB category, which absolutely allows the mid-string PD. I was unsure about WB/international rules and said so. I also acknowledged MLOA can do things (like drop when days are black) that cannot be done with a PD. That's what happens when federal law overrides the FOM. MLOA days can also be pre-posted (as the company requests), and may not be denied, unlike PDs. 4-99-4 and 3-99-5 are mostly irrelevant to the post-award discussion we are having. But I did draw a neat little picture just for fun, so thanks for the suggestion.

The company has also exercised their option to only partially drop a trip with MLOA and get a mil pilot back on the portion of a trip (e.g., on Christmas) that itself wasn't covered by the MLOA days (and of course reduce pay in proportion). Naturally, the mil pilot can't do that with his own discretion...if he has to use a single day of MLOA to attend a mandatory function and an entire sweet 8-day falls off his schedule (and paycheck), he's out of luck.

As it turns out, many of the ANG units that employ our pilots have air sovereignty defense obligations that are 365-day commitments uninterrupted by holidays. Sharing in the burden of covering shifts on Thanksgiving, Christmas, 4th of July, Super Bowl Sunday etc. is part of being in such units. Someone has to be ready to launch the alert fighters and intercept an airliner when both pilots fall asleep "working on their bid", amiright? Not every mil pilot who takes leave over holidays is gaming the system and many are just trying to please two masters and a family at home. If it feels good to begrudge folks you don't know, whose situations you don't understand, have at it. I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt. As human beings with professional and personal relationships at their unit, it isn't surprising that they might get more satisfaction helping out the military side than showing up to be an anonymous cog at a Fortune 500 company like Delta.