Curious about this Open Time concept:

What is it?
Why is there such a thing as open time?
How much of it is available each month?
Does it vary from month to month? How? Why?
Is it available to everyone?
What are some limitations or restrictions on its use?
Does the union contract prohibit members from availing themselves of it?
If there is no such prohibition, why is there such animosity towards those who do it?
If there is a prohibition, how is it being enforced?

Y'all know I do not engage in flamebait or otherwise non-productive discussions since I would have to give myself an infraction or two. I'm merely curious about this as obviously this is an alien concept in the legal profession.

 

Open time is a page on our pilot's site which shows trips that are currently unfilled.
If I drop a trip that trip will go into open time. Likewise if I call in sick that trip will go into open time.
In previous times, there were always a few trips available. Now the common thing is to see "No trips found."
It is available to everyone but you can only pick it up in your current and qualified seat.
If you are on reserve, there are some limitations that won't allow you to pick up a trip before or after that reserve period but that's just so you'll be legal for your reserve period. You can swap an existing trip for a trip in Open time.
The union cannot say to pick up or not to pick up open time. - It's in our contract that you can and to tell people not to could constitute an illegal job action.

The animosity comes from people who are doing 150% work at no overtime rates. At a time when the company says we have too many pilots, that person is just proving the point for the company that we do indeed have too many pilots - so the company should furlough. If there was another attorney in your firm who said they would pick up your entire workload if your firm would fire you, how would you feel?

Also to add - trips available in open time really do help the quality of life issue e.g. - if my daughter's school play is on a certain day that I'm supposed to work, I can drop my trip and pick up an open time trip so not to lose pay but be home for my family. You can substitute any other reason for the family...

Hope this helps...

 

Open time trips are trips that are not assigned to a specific pilot. That is because the original pilot dropped it for vacation, military leave, called in sick, droped it for some more time off, or just traded it for another trip. The company also leaves some trips in the open time pool to "prime the pump" or because the trips are "disputed and can not be involuntarily assigned.

Why? It allows pilots to improve their schedule, make up for lost time, or fly extra this month.

The amount of open time does very by month, day of the week, and seat.

Very few limitations or restriction for use. No prohibitions as that could be construed as an illegal job action. As matter of the fact the union is afraid to come out and say that flying extra is wrong with people currently taking pay cuts.

Contentious now because the company says we are over manned and is threatening furloughs. Flying extra helps the company support that position. I don't think anyone objects to trading with open time to pick up a better trip as long as you keep your trade some what balanced.

 

All those things....mostly

Open time consists of trips currently unassigned.

Why do pilots like to trade with open time?

You probably already know we bid on "lines". We may not get the days off we want when we get awarded a flying line. Open time gives us a chance to get the days off we want without just dropping trips. When you trade into an open time trip has to be less credit, the same credit or up to 6 hrs more. Can't trade up more than 6 hrs per month. But there is another way to fly "extra"...

You can also pick up from open time without trading. But only if you have dropped flying in previous months and have a flying bank from which to draw.

In this time of cuts to most pilots' hrs of pay per month, picking up extra only serves to continue the pay cut as long as possible.

 

Senior pilots typically get the flying line and schedule they want. To include extra flying time (carry over) that extends into the next month and is, in one way, off the books.

It counts neither toward this month's or next month's hourly limit (BLG). So by flying big carryover trips and not dropping any other flying, you can get a paycheck that is up to 50% above those who do not get carryover on their lines.

 

Thanks. It appears to me that the genesis of open time is not nefarious like a disputed pairing. In other words, open time exists each month because a legitimate trip was dropped for whatever reason and thus made available to everyone eligible. So, given these relatively benign yet legitimate reasons, people who pick up open time ought not be vilified. Correct? It is not as if the company was setting aside a percentage of trips solely for open time.

Since open time is there whether anybody likes it or not, perhaps a system can be developed for a fair distribution, making it more equitable? Or perhaps the entire way schedules are set up could use a revision.

At the end, unfortunately, this world is "every man for himself." That is the antithesis of a union, but it is also reality.

 

I don't think it is the antithesis. I think one joins and supports a union because he thinks it will (in the long run) make life better for himself. Open time is distrubited fairly accept for the forementioned carry over addicts usually get 1st crack at it.

What I don't get is the guys who say they don't understand how flying extra now doesn't help the company but expect the union to ban it once furloughs happen. It either helps the company or it doesn't.

 

Actually it's up to 12 CH more for open time swaps. The 6 CH plus up limitation applies to trips picked up using OTP bank. Minor numbers with significant ramifications in our current environment.

 

You can see from the discussions ongoing that your above comment is, as you say, the reality. The very few times we appear to be or look like a union is when each "every man" compares what the union can do for him, and what he can do for himself independently, and determines that the best course for himself is with the union position.

Interest in helping the union body as a whole and possibly avoiding furloughs, even though it would mean personal sacrifice (which is the genesis of all the recent discussion on open time) is mostly lacking. For the majority, it is "every man for himself" at this stage of the game. Ops normal.

 

Does CRS freeze OT trips due to scheduling concerns/contract from the customer's side or is it a crew force thing? ...just wondering