Originally Posted by
symbian simian
"A Chief Pilot may discuss patterns of commuting problems with the
Pilot in an effort to resolve such issues by identifying the source of the problem
and assisting in developing alternative commuting strategies. Repeated
mis-commutes may be considered in evaluations of a commuting Pilot’s
overall dependability."
vs
"A pilot who keeps accurate records of his scheduled commuter flights and otherwise complies with the provisions of this commuter policy shall not be subject to discipline for missing trip pairings due to denied boarding."
Maybe they don't, but they can....
And that is before we start taking all the other requirements into account. Your contract could be better than ours on the whole, but there are things undeniably better in our contract.
In over a year of commuting to Blue, I've fortunately never had to use our commuter clause. However, I did have a discussion with a CP when I was new about the commuter clause and "punishment" for using it. From what I gathered, and this was a single data point FWIW, basically if you miss X number of commutes in a rolling 12 months period (I'd have to go into the FOM to find the actual numbers) the system will automatically trigger a dependability review. During the dependability review (which they said was 99% of the time a quick phone call and nothing comes from it) if you show that you met commuter clause for missed commutes that triggered that dependability review, then it was no harm no foul and they couldn't do anything, and the only punishment to you is the waste of 2 minutes of your life you were on the phone with them and whatever PTO or UTO you worked out with CS.
Personally when I'm commuting I put minimal effort in to satisfy our commuter clause and and forunately haven't had any issues. After talking with several CPs I can't imagine them actually making a big deal out of missed commutes as long as you put in minimal effort and meet commuter cluase to get to work on time.
All that said, I think the "dependability review" is BS and should be removed from the FOM once we combine everything.