On this point I wholeheartedly agree.


I hope my posts on this issue haven't given the opposite impression.



Let's hear it for the SUPER-Flex!


:)




.

RedeyeAV8R
 

You're right, the original intent of the post was asking why the Flexes were po'ed. Line guys going through training got improvements in the TA, LCAs/SCAs got improvements with this TA. It was cost neutral to the company because they made up the difference by taking from the Flexes. I know three very respected Flex instructors who quit in disgust over the TA.

No 'mine is bigger than yours' intended. Just tired of reading posts about how easy this is and how hard the line is. Been there, done both. This is harder. The one argument that holds true is the line takes you away from your bed at night.

This company has never and may never make profits like this again. A TA in this environment that is cost neutral in a section (Section 11) because it takes from a small group and gives to a larger group and you don't feel we have a right to bi-otch??? Are you running Hillary's campaign in '08?

And I'll match my skills on an approach and landing on a dark, monsoon night in Subic against YOURS anytime.

This isn't a contest. Of course a lot, if not most, of the flexes work hard at their job(s). But it's a question of fairness. And I'm sorry, but what the flexes are probably going to get in the TA is fair. The LCA's are also going to get exactly what they deserve. A raise.

That Depends on her opponent,:)

Sheesh...
 

Did I say I get rusty? Yep. Did I say I was aware of that and worked on off days to keep the skills up? Yep. Lighten up, Francis... Assuming all pilots are equal (they ain't - that's why God made the Air Force, so people who can't land on ships have something to do), I'm as good as you if I'm flying all the time. I don't hear Flexes bitching about how stupid line pilots are and how line pilots don't have any 'credibility' because they forget more than we know about operating the aircraft or the fact most forget how the systems work. We respect the job done by the hard working line dog, so I'm failing ot comprehend the animosity here directed at Flex instructors.

Also, not too different than RedeyeAV8R's post, I fail to see how you can celebrate the fact that Section 11 is cost neutral to the company because they took away from the Flex to give to everyone else...

Yech!
 

Oh, God, I just messed myself... If she's running against ZuZu the Circus Monkey, he's got my vote....

Sorry, he can't run for a 3rd term!!

I'm sorry, I just don't see it that way. "THE" Flex lost very little. And I don't even agree that Section 11 is cost neutral.



Anybody that has already quit in disgust over something that hasn't even been ratified is, in my opinion, worthy of no respect. Such behavior is childish. I'd be embarrassed to be associated with them.



.

No animosity, just honest feelings. Sorry, I don't see it. The whole flex deal has been a cash cow for years and years. I don't understand why the flex guys are so upset that they didn't make a further killing on this contract. And I'm not celebrating that fact. I'm just not mourning the fact that there weren't further gains for flexes.

The whole community suffers from a bit of a credibility problem. Don't get excited. I think almost all of the line guys realize that the vast majority of you do a great job. But the image suffers a great deal. It doesn't help that when a lot of you actually go out and fly you do a Lauderdale afternoon turn instead of an a$$ kicking, middle of the night tail dragger. I've always thought that when the flex and management guys go out and fly, the association should pick the trip that they do.

Disappointed
 

Wow. For someone who normal brings an intelligent, well researched argument into the fight, I'm disappointed.

Section 11.M.14 is gone and has been replaced with 11.M.7. First month back from the line = no fly day built into the sked. Second month in the schoolhouse = no fly day built into the sked. Only on the third month away from the line do the 2 fly days appear. Seems to me they recouped 3 days per flex per quarter from the last contract. Multiply that by the number of flex instructors and the daily pay to see what that comes up to...

Section 11.M.9.d is gone. Now offsite training counts as an R day for a flex where before it counted as 6 hrs for computing work days per month. If a reserve pilot goes away from base, it's computed at 6 hr/day. How can you not think that this is a raw deal or giveback for a Flex?... What was the dollar value of that increased productivity?

I have tons of respect for the guys who turned in their letters. The above items (and some other things that shall remain namelesss here) made it obvious the job done by the Flex instructors was not valued by the company, so they decided, in light of this, to return to the line. Regardless of the final outcome of the TA, the message from both sides of the table, and especially from MGT, was "Flexes don't matter, we can always get more."