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Buzzlightyear 01-19-2019 04:48 AM


Originally Posted by AFTrainerGuy (Post 2745104)
“What sorta scares me is if these guys making 300K+ either can’t subside on that income without floating for one year, or simply use the tired excuse that “they gotta make up for the last decade”, where does this leave us as a group when push comes to shove here soon and we’re offered cash over real QOL changes.”

You said it, they will vote almost solely on the cash it brings them and disregard soft pay, work rules and many other QOL improvements. Their thinking was shortsighted on the last TA and 13% are still thinking the same today.

mainlineAF 01-19-2019 07:03 AM


Originally Posted by AAfng (Post 2745936)
The excuses are priceless. Guys who have been at AA for years and are making bank are saying they NEED to float their vacation for when they take time off later in the year. If those guys finances are so tight that they HAVE TO float then man, they have bigger problems. I am not buying it. Funny how the junior guys, you know the guys not making 1/2 what they are making, can some how take their vacation shows that their excuses are just that - EXCUSES. They are just greedy and they are the same dudes picking up trips at straight time which is why there is very little premium. They are short sighted. Rant over.



Cheers to that. Don’t get me started on the makeup list. So dumb.

AFTrainerGuy 01-19-2019 07:18 AM


Originally Posted by mainlineAF (Post 2746009)
Cheers to that. Don’t get me started on the makeup list. So dumb.

Why I LOVE Reserve (living in base)

The makeup *****s keep me home

PRS Guitars 01-19-2019 08:19 AM


Originally Posted by OVBIII (Post 2745483)
I gotcha. Just so I understand it correctly; I wanted to bid 2 separate weeks...so in round 1 it awarded my highest preference and then quit. Such that in round 2 it’ll try to award me another week. And so on for each remaining weeks. Sorry I’m a little dumb at VMS stuff.

Just a heads up, your round 1 bid does not carry over. You need to now enter bids for round 2 and 3 separately. You can import your round 1 bid though. This year, we can apply conditional bidding to round 3. We couldn’t last year and many (myself included) ended up with 2 weeks in a row of vacation.

If you don’t care about your vacation, I suggest bidding first weeks of the month. This will give you credit and put you in a higher group if you sit reserve. End of the month on reserve is a waste...assuming you like to fly as little as possible.

One other thing. There is a list of remaining vacation weeks right next to the round 1 awards.

OVBIII 01-19-2019 09:04 AM


Originally Posted by PRS Guitars (Post 2746052)
Just a heads up, your round 1 bid does not carry over. You need to now enter bids for round 2 and 3 separately. You can import your round 1 bid though. This year, we can apply conditional bidding to round 3. We couldn’t last year and many (myself included) ended up with 2 weeks in a row of vacation.

If you don’t care about your vacation, I suggest bidding first weeks of the month. This will give you credit and put you in a higher group if you sit reserve. End of the month on reserve is a waste...assuming you like to fly as little as possible.

One other thing. There is a list of remaining vacation weeks right next to the round 1 awards.

Mucho appreciado, I put in all my requests for rounds 2-4. And you better believe most of my requests are first weeks of the month! Thanks again.

aa73 01-19-2019 09:21 AM


Originally Posted by mainlineAF (Post 2746009)
Cheers to that. Don’t get me started on the makeup list. So dumb.

Not really. Many guys use TTOT and TTS to dump their entire schedules almost down to zero... then rebuild using MU by choosing to fly smarter, not harder...for example only choosing the highly coveted 1-1s where you DH down on the last flight, layover and work a quick flight back... which pays 10:20 for what can be a quick 45 minutes of work.

My Md80 FO buddy in DFW flew only 220hrs hard time last year and yet made $220k by doing just this. He dumps his entire schedule every month down to zero and uses MU to rebuild a schedule where he may only fly maybe 35-40hrs of hard time yet get paid for 90.

MU is great if you use it wisely.

AFTrainerGuy 01-19-2019 09:38 AM


Originally Posted by aa73 (Post 2746097)
Not really. Many guys use TTOT and TTS to dump their entire schedules almost down to zero... then rebuild using MU by choosing to fly smarter, not harder...for example only choosing the highly coveted 1-1s where you DH down on the last flight, layover and work a quick flight back... which pays 10:20 for what can be a quick 45 minutes of work.

My Md80 FO buddy in DFW flew only 220hrs hard time last year and yet made $220k by doing just this. He dumps his entire schedule every month down to zero and uses MU to rebuild a schedule where he may only fly maybe 35-40hrs of hard time yet get paid for 90.

MU is great if you use it wisely.


I have absolutely no doubt that some are able to do it smartly and under the “work smarter, not harder” way of doing business. Good on them.

But I also have no doubt over 1/2 of guys in makeup are on the “work harder/not smarter” train too and are working 95-100 a month for exactly 95-100 a month

RhinoBallAuto 01-19-2019 09:41 AM


Originally Posted by aa73 (Post 2746097)
Not really. Many guys use TTOT and TTS to dump their entire schedules almost down to zero... then rebuild using MU by choosing to fly smarter, not harder...for example only choosing the highly coveted 1-1s where you DH down on the last flight, layover and work a quick flight back... which pays 10:20 for what can be a quick 45 minutes of work.

My Md80 FO buddy in DFW flew only 220hrs hard time last year and yet made $220k by doing just this. He dumps his entire schedule every month down to zero and uses MU to rebuild a schedule where he may only fly maybe 35-40hrs of hard time yet get paid for 90.

MU is great if you use it wisely.

The point wasn't that MU isn't useful... But rather if everyone avoided MU, and instead listed for PM, that would be smarter. Same effect, except for time-and-a-half. Only ones who miss out there are OOB.

aa73 01-19-2019 09:54 AM

Agreed on both posts above. But the truth is that 1) it’s impossible to get a high percentage of the pilot group to do just that, and B) every legacy (and most, I think) airlines have their own versions of MU where guys can put in for picking up trips at straight time. I know DL and UA have it for sure. Just another way for guys to rebuild their months.

Me, I’ve used MU occasionally in the past... rebuilding my month choosing smarter trips (the 1-1s for example.) But I’m also always in premium every month and on more than a few occasions when they’ve called me for MU I’ve gotten them to change it to PM depending on how desperate they were.

AFTrainerGuy 01-19-2019 10:13 AM


Originally Posted by aa73 (Post 2746116)
Agreed on both posts above. But the truth is that 1) it’s impossible to get a high percentage of the pilot group to do just that, and B) every legacy (and most, I think) airlines have their own versions of MU where guys can put in for picking up trips at straight time. I know DL and UA have it for sure. Just another way for guys to rebuild their months.

Me, I’ve used MU occasionally in the past... rebuilding my month choosing smarter trips (the 1-1s for example.) But I’m also always in premium every month and on more than a few occasions when they’ve called me for MU I’ve gotten them to change it to PM depending on how desperate they were.

Agreed. Wishful thinking that everyone would stay out and generate lots of PR and OG. And you know what, even though I think it’s stupid to work 95 hours for 95 hours of pay, it’s their right, so who am I to judge. Instead, I’ll just thank them, since it lowers the amount of days I have to work on reserve


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