Originally Posted by
Thrust Hold
There is a reason the union sent out a comm recommending everyone review the Q&A from 23-01 and 24-01.
2. A broader picture.
There are basically four components in this System Bid:
i. Base Closures (e.g., 11CA)
ii. Reductions in numbers in crew positions (e.g., 77CM)
iii. Crew positions the Company is willing to go “fat” (Max>Min) (e.g., 67FM); those will only
be available to those pilots in crew positions that have pilots “subject to assignment” (e.g.,
11CL)
iv. “Vacancies” (77FM and 57FM)
All those buckets will run simultaneously in the System Bid processing based on a set of operating
principles found in Section 24 and the OIM.
If you are a pilot that is not initially part of the four above, it does not mean you are “protected” in
your seat, especially if you are relatively junior in that seat. More senior pilots coming into your seat,
though it may be static as to Current, Max, and Min (e.g., 67CI), may result in pilots in your seat being
“pushed out.”
Where a pilot ends up will be determined by system wide seniority.
The option for a senior pilot to "Stand In" bid depends on the seniority of the pilot(s) they're standing in for, not their own.
If the number one Airbus CA had a crazy idea to "stand in" for one of the 25 CAs being excessed, he goes with their seniority, not his. So he can't just decide to bid to whatever seat he can hold system wide and bid to 767 IND or OAK because there are no vacacncies in those seats and every CA in those two bases are senior to the 25 MEM 300 CAs being targeted. So yes, any seat in the system where the junior pilot is still senior to the pilots in the seats being excessed is "protected". Not a single IND or OAK 767 CA is in danger of being pushed out. The only way any different pilots get into those seats is if one of those CA bids out. Then that secondary vacancy would be filled by seniority.