PG - Personally, I totally understand your frustration with getting sick from a fellow pilot and the real world implications in your life away from work.

Respectfully, I disagree that it if you are sick you can stay home and that is the “end of the story”. With this contract, it is very much just the beginning of the story.

I would bet many pilots have a dialogue with themselves or with their spouses while they are staring at the computer screen thinking about checking the box. They question if they will be required to get a note or have to see a doctor after the fact and do they really and truly feel bad enough to justify the hassle and scrutiny of hitting the submit button. It is a personal decision because this can affect their professional lives - the negative impact of using sick time stems directly from the company’s interpretation of your timing and decision making. If a pilot has had other disagreements with management that resulted in letters in their personal file, all the more reason not to use sick time and face more jeopardy. Even when pilots in good standing err on the side of caution and go to work, your plans are unfortunately the collateral damage.

Doesn’t it seem backwards that erring on the side of caution means going to work instead of staying home when you don’t feel well? That is how this business plan is structured.

Do you know if the Union tracks the number of sick trips and percentage of doctors note requests to ensure the company wasn’t overtly discouraging proper sick day usage? Maybe it’s only a threat to a tiny portion of us and our perception is not justified.

I’m sorry again that your family plans were impacted, but this seems like a situation that is here to stay. DR K