Quality of Life
 

For the months of May and June...I Flew low 70’s. I feel so much better. Way better quality of life, and I have had so much more fun with friends and family. If you are burnt out, feeling stressed, I would encourage you to fly less and really enjoy your summer! I plan on doing just that in July and August.

I’ve been flying low 70s every month for a few years. It’s easy to do with pbs!

Gotta admit, I wish I could keep repeating my June schedule. I'm super junior but it was all commutable 3 days and 15 days off. Only 70 hours, but I'm not burnt out and spent way more time at home than work!

It is a good suggestion although for some pilots the mortgage would be a tight squeeze and/or they wouldn't be able to afford those toys if they only flew 70 hours... and they don't really care to see their wives/families that much anyways... 🤣🤣

Bad place to be and only to blame yourself😉

Not necessarily...... but I see where you're coming from tho.

Personally, I'm on the right track but some people do suffer financial misfortunes over which they might have had little or no control...

2020 goal is to get a contract that allows all of us to live comfortably off of 70 hrs without having to sacrifice other things affecting our QOL. No reason we can't have both pay and QOL.

Agreed.....

We better hope the next negotiating committee isn’t a bunch of pushovers

FOs okay, but CA at 70 hrs is still 200k+ year which puts you in the top 5-7% of earners. If you find yourself living paycheck to paycheck and can barely meet your mortgage being in the top 5-7% of earners, you’re doing it wrong.

They are not and have not been pushovers....They have never had our support ever....If we commit today to “ no pick up, no premium, no vsa , no extensions, no favors and do as MEA did and fly minimum, then just maybe they will have a voice at the table....slow our overly consumptive lives down now...live on 70 hrs now, disengage now and by 2020 we might get what we want or at least get what we need. While Alaska has never been a career airline it has been a decent job at 70 hrs or less....

And after taxes what is that?

Ever been divorced and have to pay alimony and child support while supporting your new family having remarried?

Ever been stuck fighting an insane medical bill after a family member recovers or dies from a serious ailment?

Ever been sued, rightly or wrongly and had a judgment against you?

Try taking care of a old/sick parent in a nursing home.

Try living in the desirable neighborhoods with good schools for your kids in the North East or in CA....

My point is that each individual circumstance is different and a person may not necessarily be "doing something wrong" to be struggling financially earning $200,000 or more...

Yes, there are high earning individuals who are irresponsible with their money, but until you've walked in a person's shoes, I would be hesitant to paint with such broad strokes.....

How how much money you need to make in San Francisco to buy a home - Business Insider

“San Francisco's housing market is so dire, people need to make over $300,000 a year to afford the typical home” -Business Insider, 2/21/18

They already are. They're still in the mindset that we should be paid 5th best.


Throw them all out I say.

Why can't it be? If everyone grows a pair & stops helping the company with their premium problems........

You’re right, those things are terrible. Those problems aren’t just pilots, that can be anyone. People have gone through those things and done that while making far less than $200k. My point is that even at min 70 hrs, we are in the top 6-7% of the population.

Being in the top 6-7% means nothing, if I can't afford to live for example in San Francisco where I'm based unless I am prepared drive 2-3 hours to get to work.

As I recall, your point was basically that if you are in the top 6-7% and struggling financially, "you are doing it wrong". I just wanted to remind you that there are many legitimate reasons why some high earning pilots may have money issues.

As for surviving that situation? Pilot or not, I am willing to bet the farm that while anyone earning 200k or more facing any one of those crippling circumstances may be able to survive from paycheck to paycheck; those who earn much less often don't stand a chance and among other things, typically end up losing their homes and/or declaring bankruptcy at significantly greater rates. It's just Math. (An inside VX joke I'm sure you'll appreciate lol)

Now you're just being "reckless!" :D

Hahaha
Deee Ceee in the building! 🤣😂🤣

How is this achieved with line bidding? I thought most lines were minimum 75 with the average AS line holder working closer to 85 Average (Just hearsay... from what I've heard).

Do you drop trips to other line holders? Are you top seniority such that you can bid more days off?

Trying to develop strategies for maintaining a healthy work life balance when line bidding comes....

Check DAL's pay rate and how much they "greenslip." Alaska can afford it. It's cheaper to pay 150% than to hire a pilot.

The only way to drop below the monthly min (75-78 depending on “flex up”), is pilot to pilot trades or drops. Not so easy if your a jr. slob with crap trips that no one wants... I commend MEA for doing minimal flying but it’s kinda like a senior CA telling a Jr. F.O. all about his new boat and cabin on the lake. Not so easily done at anything less than 20% seniority. Yet another thing that needs fixing in 2020.

I'm just short of 78 hours this month and have a little more than 78 hours with 18 days off in July. Both months were at 87+ when my lines were awarded. I usually bid 3-day trips, partial weekends even. I can drop turns and 2-day trips during step trading often.

I don't personally like to go to low 70's, because I'm hoarding cash. But, it's doable. You just have to try to trade for stuff that you can easily get rid of through p2p.

With that said, I do have a little seniority. I'm a 2006 hire and top 100 on the SEA FO list. So, step trading has been okay.

A Cartel of pilots working together to better ones SKD... pump then dump!
Scattered Vacation days
Carry-in
P2P

Getting a decent schedule shouldn’t have to be that complicated

Its good to know you have a system that can be worked. The Airbus folks are eager to learn the tricks the merger is forcing.

I think this is a reason to postpone the Airbus going to line bidding until the first of next year: we cannot swap vacation days yet, only whole weeks. With the Alaska rules requiring that pilots do these swaps well in advance, it sounds like we'll miss significant opportunities to make the holidays work if we have to go to line bidding in October.

I’m a 3 yr guy and have learned the many tricks to our line bidding. I get decent schedules for my seniority. 80-85 hrs and 16 days off. However, OCCP, you’re right, we should not have to use every trick in our bag to get decent schedules. I’ve been making a list of things I want improved upon to hand to my reps come 2020.

But I thought everything about Ala5ka was supposed to be superior to Virgin!

This!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No Scope No Vote 2020

Do you bid for lines that are in that high 80s range? It seems like you'd be better off bidding for something in the high 70s instead, and not having to deal with step trading.

We are in flex-up months. Lines average 85 hours. Lines in high 70's are few and far between. I like to bid 3-day trips on the same days every week... for example Thursday-Saturday or Sunday-Tuesday. These types of pure/consistent lines are usually high credit (85+). They might have a 2-day and a turn or two sprinkled in there. The 2-days and turns are easy to drop or trade for during step trading. Last resort, turns and some 2-days are easy to give away p2p.

If they would ever write consistent & pure 3 on / 4 off lines worth 75-78 hours, I would bid those and save them and myself the time with step trading. But, since they insist on writing loaded lines, some of us have to put in the extra effort to whittle away at them by any means necessary (carry-in trips, bidding lines with trips that are easy to give away, sprinkling vacation days here and there, etc.).

That sounds sooo much better than pbs[emoji849]

You surely know by now why PBS isa no-go with current work rules/payrates. The people that run Alaska Airlines dont like you and are not nice people

I get it. It’s just somewhat laughable that Alaska guys act like this step trading bs is some sort of awesome thing that makes them superior.

Almost every single aspect of this “legacy” contract is worse than what us loser vx’ers had. I hope most AS folks finally grow a f-ing spine in 2020. But judging by the pm’s I get I don’t think that will happen. They seem to indicate that they’re unhappy but expect the Virgins to lead the charge.

I never said step trading is awesome. But, that's what we have to work with right now. So, trying to make the best of it.

I hear you man. On a side note, It’s sad to watch this airline drive itself into the ground. Mgmt successfully pitted all employee groups against one another and no one gives a s h I t anymore. Just today on the VX side, they are cold calling Ca, fo’s, and inflight on their days off trying desperately to get people to jumpseat to random cities to work certain flights out before they cancel. Creating an airline people love....

Sad state of affairs for sure. Angle Lake displaying zero leadership once again.

No vision...

The PNW customer loyalty is going to dry up soon and that's when these bean counters will finally cash out.

Sounds like the horizon of last year.

They are short pilots? Then why are they cancelling new hire classes? Thats frustrating for those of us hired in Feb.

It’s frustrating but part of the reason is there’s going to be 40 ish percent or more on reserve in sfo once we get to September due to interior changes and painting. At least there’s no involuntary downgrades or furloughs yet