Originally Posted by
Vernon Demerest
I have no problem with field standby. To preserve our evening Europe banks at EWR/IAD/ORD or mid day Pacific banks at SFO or LAX or South America evening departures at IAH, it makes sense. A few shifts of airbus and 737 field standbys make sense as well. It should pay 5 hours towards monthly reserve guarantee and an agreed upon number of crews for each equipment type in each base per day should be set and agreed upon monthly when the system schedule committee meets with the company.
As a RSV puke, I tend to agree. Generally I’m pretty comfortable with the idea that I’m here to keep the wheels on. If you’ve ever been in a boarding area when an hours-long crew delay is announced, the first thing out of every passenger’s mouth is “how do they not have pilots ready to go for a situation like this?” Fair question.
I like having a backup plan to keep the operation running to schedule. FSB, short call, & multiple reassignments all go with the territory. I just think we need to be compensated better for it. Guaranteed add pay for FSB? Credit toward guarantee? Or just set RSV guarantee to average line credit each month. Improve compensation & maintain utilization. I’d be happy with that, but maybe I’m in the minority.