Originally Posted by
Fly4hire
Your comment about pilots taking laundry from home is urban myth and hopelessly parochial. Why sell snow blowers in Minneapolis, we don't need them in Peachtree City?
Think about it - you do a 9 or 12 day trip, you pass through AMS or NRT every 3rd day. You have to have laundry in by 1200 (?) in AMS to get it back by 0900 the next morning. In NRT I believe it is 1200 to get by 1500 the next day. Depending on when you arrive or depart you might only get it done every other pass through. Assuming that most cannot pack for more than 5 days, and might be be up to 6 days between laundry, so when you do get it done on a AMS/NRT layover it might be everything you are carrying, or constantly be cycling 3 days worth through, but $50 won't even cover that.
At the inflated prices the hotels bill the laundry at, $50 (37EU) is roughly 2 uniform shirts, and a pair of trousers, and one change of underwear. Not even the best case 3 days worth.
This is why fNWA had these arrangements. That's why LOA 10 was incorporated. As to intent make sure you ask the negotiators who wrote it as opposed to the ones who survived to the combined MEC.
@ a $50 direct bill limit significant pilot out of pocket expenses will result from company imposed rotation lengths. Trust me we will be seeing more of the longer trips.
Allowing this to stand is a tacit concession.
NRT Regular Service in by 1000 back by 1600 same day
Overnight Service in by 1600 back by 1000 next day
Both of those are direct bill to DAL
If you go Express for faster service, the direct bill the regular service and the pilot pays the overage at checkout.
For Sailing: We have Asia patterns built that do not have a NRT layover until after Leg #5 / Day 6 of a pattern. You will have 5 days of dirty uniforms in your bag and 5 more legs to fly. 5 days of dirty uniforms is well in excess of $50 and is easily justified by having 5 more legs remaining in the pattern.
When we go to increased flying for the summer the patterns may actually increase in length by another day.
$50 limit direct bill per NRT layover is not realistic for very long patterns that don't have multiple NRT layovers. Perhaps $50 per any layover, not just NRT/AMS, would be better, but is probably overkill.
Side Note: AT one point, fNW tried to do away with direct billing at NRT. The hotel quickly asked them to reinstate it due to all the self-washed laundry being hung out to dry outside the hotel room windows on long poles in full view of the wedding parties at the wedding pavilion in front of the hotel ...