Originally Posted by
NuGuy
... If you've used 50 hours or less in each to the two preceding sick leave years, no note is required at all, no matter how much you use. If you've used at least 100 hours in one shot, such as a surgery or other major illness, provide a note, and none of that time counts either.
We do have a rather onerous "good faith basis" system where the Company call call you if they have reason to believe you're not really sick, but if they send you to the Dr, they pay for it, and the sick call doesn't count towards the above limits. They have to call you within 3 days of the start of the event, and they have to tell you exactly why. If you used 50 or less hours in the preceding sick leave year, they can't do that at all.
For clarity (I'm sure it's just a typo) but the second statement here is the correct one. DL's new contract provides that a pilot with 50 hours or less of sick in the previous sick year (Jun-May) "will not be subject to any good-faith inquiry by the company"
Also, Genuine question: what about Disability at WN? Do you have STD? I believe at least one major airline with a "sick bank" style system does not have any STD, leaving you without any earnings until transitioning to LTD at 6 months - which if you have accrued a large sick bank may balance out. Is that an issue at WN? At DL, we immediately transition to STD upon exhaustion of remaining sick hours. STD pays 50% of the
average of your highest 12 consecutive bid periods out of the previous 36 (which is why some pilots try to have a 'big year' once out of every 3 years). Also, the new contract provides a floor for New Hires who may have an unfortunate event before having much earnings.
Question for Lewbronski, just for understanding of Apples/apples comparison of your 30% more block hours number. What number are you using for average block hours per month across all active pilots at WN (including SLI/CPO/SWAPA/Project pilots/etc)?