deadreckoning

I agree 110% with the OP. I'm thankful to be here but if DAL calls i wouldn't think twice about leaving. The RSV rules here are horrid.
I guess its buyer beware coming to AA.

Al Czervik

Nothing against slice, cheddar or aa73. I think all of you have sent me pm's helping me or answering questions I have posted. The one commonality is that you have all been here for quite some time. Its tough to see the outside when you've been inside so long. The OP is correct in a lot of ways. Regional contracts blow this one out of the water. I love it here but I think a lot of guys are pretty far from grasping how much better others have it right now. I know management, contracts and "top dog" come and go. This is where I want to be and I would never leave. We just have a loooong way to go.
I hope EVERYONE realizes that.

AFTrainerGuy

Very rarely chime in, but here goes. Been here since early 2014. Had calls other places but want to live out my days in NC so I went with AA/LUS.

Things are nowhere as near as some describe. Sat Reserve entire time here except one month (I live in base and don't understand why you would actually fly for your hours vs stay at home and make 76 for carrying a phone). In 30+ months on property, I still have less than 500 hrs total in the AB. I have never been exposed to a contract violation and never been flown into a moveable day. Schedulers have never been anything less than genuinely friendly with me and company has worked with me numerous times to moves days around. Genuinely, I'm happy here and wouldn't leave no matter who called. As long as everything stays the same (yeah right), I will enjoy my last 15 years in the top 15% of the company seniority wise.

With that said, we have a LOT of work to do. We probably make 15-20% less than our peers in the same category/status/longetivity due to work rules and profit sharing. Hourly rates only mean so much.

I think a lot of the anger is managements implementation of this less than industry leading contract. They cherry picked everything that was beneficial to them and have kicked the can on "our" stuff. Bad on them. BUT, bad on APA too for not having language AND doing nothing to enforce it but strongly worded letters and missed opportunities.

APA or ALPA. I don't care. I think we should replace EVERY member of the BOD. Unfortunately, this place is like Congress, where it has a 10% approval rating but everyone thinks "their" rep ain't the problem. Newsflash, they ALL need to go and we need new blood and a fresh approach. We couldn't do worse.

Sliceback

The OP is correct in a lot of ways. Regional contracts blow this one out of the water. I love it here but I think a lot of guys are pretty far from grasping how much better others have it right now.
---------

Without going over it again, point by point, with regards to reserve he appears to be mostly, if not completely, wrong.

Regional airline contracts? The regional new hires have been dismissive of the claim. I ask guys to post the contracts because I haven't seen them and no one is providing them.

If guys want to get into details pros and cons of specific contracts they can call the contract negotiators, past or present. If they're not too busy they'll go into the details of the better, and worse, sections of the various contracts at the majors.

swaayze

More accurately one moveable per month, plus one additional IF it's a 31 day month. And now we have the Golden/Moveable tool where we can put them in the most advantageous blocks each month.

I have done reserve for 2.5 years now, mostly short call as I live in base, and I think I've had one or two "M" days moved and been flown into a day off 2, maybe 3, times.

But....I'll believe the chartered jet claim on April 1st. 😂

Sliceback

Golden/moveable tool!?!? Where's that?? I'm bidding reserve at times and missed that one. For long haul pilots that's huge. Find a block of five days on call, drop a M in the middle, and you're basically off for those five days. Any placement that creates two days on call if almost a guaranteed two days off. And if you're LC they might burn two of the SC conversions right there and give you the hour's worth of pay.

Based on your comment about flying into days off about once every 120-180 of your days you'll get get flown past midnight, up to noon, of the first day off. We're not saying it doesn't happen but it's not the extent the OP made it out to be.

Clint

I’ll chime as a new guy and say that with no perspective, it’s not that bad. Going into the airlines, I have ALWAYS expected that it would be a while until I could hold my choice of domicile, and I would have to commute and get a crash pad until that point. Right now it sucks – I commute to a crash pad and sit and wait for a call with no control of my schedule. I know plenty of dudes who live in domicile and love sitting around getting paid to do nothing. I think it also depends on time of year, what you’re flying and where you’re at. I fly my ass off and talk LGA AB guys who are sitting around in their crash pads.
Summary: It sucks, it could be much better, but it's about what I expected for now.
1 moveable day in a 30 day month, 2 in a 31 day month.
To moved, you need to be given at least twelve hours notice prior to the start of the DFP, it can’t be added or removed from a DFP that has already begun, and you have to be notified by 1000 if it affects your current day of availability. Also, the day can only be moved once, them it’s locked in.
I’ve been flying since May and I have yet to have a moveable day moved by the company (but I have moved them myself to benefit my schedule).

Clint

Nope. The movable tool will not let you place DFPs in any manner that the schedulers can't arrange. The contract doesn't let them put movable DFPs in the middle of immovable DFPs, so the tool won't let you do it.

Sliceback

^^^^^ bummer. That would have been a gold mine.

But you're talking about dropping an M into a block of duty free days. I'm talking about dropping an M in the middle of five days on call.

Varks

Airline number 4 for myself. Yes some stuff was better at those previous places but I'd rather be here.
If you think reserve is bad now you would be shocked at what it used to be. It is not perfect but it is so much better than the old system. I routinely get assigned into days off. At least once a month. If I volunteer to work on a day off I get over guarantee and/or overtime over guarantee. If they choose to work me into my day off wether moveable or not then I don't get any extra money. Pretty weird isn't it.
I work more days here than at my last regional airline. I can hold a line but choose to commute to reserve because it is more days off. The lines I can hold work 20 days or more if you commute. Reserve is 18 days. At my last regional 15 was the minimum days working. Reserve was 20. My all time record at AA was working 23 days and that was when I lived in base. 3 day 10:20 credit.
We are a very naïve group of pilots. Most have never flown at another airline so they don't know how good it can be. Another problem is some of the flying here is really good.