Originally Posted by alfaromeo

If you are talking about the reserve system, then the MEC has a choice to make. This system was not designed in any way to be a "commutable" system. I am not sure if any pilot group has truly commutable reserve or even commuter friendly reserve but if I would like to hear about if it exists. It seems about 95% of the complaints about reserve are about commuting issues.

If the MEC wants to make the reserve system commutable they should start from scratch. If you try to hammer the current system into something it's not, then you will end up with a kludge. Better to start from scratch and design it from the ground up.

If the beef is with Short Call assignments, then that has been chipped away at and should continue to be chipped away. The randomness of the system can be brought under control.

Fallacy number one is that there are "no cost" items. If you want something, the company will make you pay, just like we do when they want something from us. Also, many "low cost" items are deemed that by people that have never costed out a contract or even been involved in negotiations in any fashion. Some things seem low cost but actually cost a lot.

The final note, is that we have been massively overstaffed for a long time now. Some things seem easy to write into a contract when you have way too many reserves. When we finally get back to normal staffing, you will understand how "low cost" becomes "high cost".

My first preference is to add more hours to the reserve guarantee. 70 hours was back from the past when the cap was 75 and it really isn't competitive in the industry now. Since the reserve system is designed around pilots flying a target of 60 hours on reserve on average, if you raise the cap and also raise the target, you will cost jobs. If you raise the cap and leave the target the same, the cost will be higher. Again, that is a decision the MEC will have to make. Getting paid more, makes the hassles of reserve go down smoother.

Making reserve commutable will help some people but also probably cost a lot. One more choice the MEC will make in the future.