Originally Posted by
Bluedriver
As Excargo said, a very small percentage ever use the FULL drop to ZERO. As in, line cleared to ZERO, so to have a modest compromise of DT40, or DT50, or even DT25, something, to get everything else we want which would benefit nearly everyone, at the expense of a very small percentage of people who ever go to full ZERO. That's reasonable. That's moderate. That's looking at the big picture and greater good. That's looking for a more equitable distribution of ***OUR COLLECTIVE*** negotiating capital.
I’m not sure I adequately explained my position. I AM OPEN FOR THE BEST DEAL WE CAN GET, but I think that some people have misgivings and erroneous perceptions of DTZ. It’s not so much that only a small percentage use DTZ or that those people are running some sort of a scam that benefits them to the detriment of the rest of the pilot group as it is that practically nobody uses DTZ ALL THE WAY TO ZERO frequently. And when they drop - even when they drop to zero - it is rare for them to stay there, they are dropping for the purpose of rearranging their schedule into something else and what it mostly amounts to is a free market trading board.
And while I agree that DT 40 or DT 50 or DT25 might well be adequate (or even excessive) in the overwhelming majority of cases what that means is that the incremental cost to the company (and to the pilot group in bargaining leverage) is non linear; that is the incremental cost of reserve coverage for just DT50 will cost more - a lot more - than the incremental cost from DT50 the DT 25 which will still cost more than the incremental cost from DT25 to DTZ.
BECAUSE DTZ is rarely utilized as an actual drop to DTZ, and rarer still for someone to REMAIN at zero after the drop, the incremental cost is far less than the apparent cost simply because it is nonlinear. You can’t drop to zero without already dropping through 50 and 25. And few people actually STAY at those levels after a drop. NK pilots are money grabbers just like B6 pilots, and generally want to make money too. So ALVs (which are the only thing the company really gives a damn about) aren’t going to fall precipitously because you go from 50 to 25 or 25 to zero because few (if any) people actually drop and stay there.
so like I said, I’m open to the best deal we can get, but DTZ isn’t some plot by a clique of NK pilots trying to put something over on B6 pilots or their fellow NK pilots. The only ones getting screwed at NK historically are the first year pilots and except for the insurance and training pay, the recent TA has gone a ways towards rectifying that. We need to fix the reserve peoples ability to drop which apparently WAS screwed up by guys checkerboarding their drops to basically make themselves unassignable except for day trips (before my time but that’s what I’ve been told) but rather than condemn all future guys in reserve to no drops and no pickups it ought to be possible to craft some rules for limited pickups and drops without checkerboarding that the management can live with.
But like I said, I’ll go for the best deal we can get, but I think some people are coming down too hard on issues they only dimly understand. We have the time for a polite debate and learning from each other that will help us get the brstJCBA possible, but not if all we do is dug in our heels dogmatically on things we only dimly understand about each other’s operations.
My opinion anyway.