FDX - Any Good Reasons for Calendar Blocking?
08-26-2012, 07:55 PM
#61
trip trading freak
Joined APC: Oct 2010
Position: MD-11
Posts: 673
Originally Posted by Chainsaw
Ok package, that is funny. My comment was directed more at the guy who said he "wouldn't want to run into a calendar blocker" or "talk to a calendar blocker". The whole social leper thing came to mind. I guess it is the scarlet CB now, not A anymore. That being said, I will say that sani wipes can coat, soothe and relieve!!
Originally Posted by Gunter
"But some enjoy watching crewmembers squirm as they ask about their calendar over dinner. Maybe they hope to run across blockers for their entertainment at what should be a relaxing occasion. This behavior begins to define a person."
I was just saying, I don't seek them out and try and make them uncomfortable, but I do ask them why when we are out to dinner.
Sani wipes are mini miracles in a pack! A soothing sanitizer!
08-26-2012, 09:24 PM
#64
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jul 2006
Position: MD-11 Capt
Posts: 330
Originally Posted by av8rmike
The 'step required' is I pull up the trip in Trip Recap in VIPS then click on the guys employee number so I can open his calendar, then cut & paste his/her employee number from their calendar and go to the email to send them a PDO request. Sometimes if the trip isn't that far out, I'll cut & paste their employee number from their calendar and go to get their phone number. In this case, I like to look at their calendar and try to call them when they're least likely to be sleeping.
That's how I do it because that's how I do it. I really couldn't give a rat's if there's an easier or more convenient way, this works for me. It has the added benefit of highlighting calendar blockers which then prompts me to immediately move to the NEXT trip I wanted to bump. You want to be a schedule blocker, fine. I won't be PDO bumping you. Personal choice, kind of like how I go way out of my way to buy American at every purchase I can...
That's how I do it because that's how I do it. I really couldn't give a rat's if there's an easier or more convenient way, this works for me. It has the added benefit of highlighting calendar blockers which then prompts me to immediately move to the NEXT trip I wanted to bump. You want to be a schedule blocker, fine. I won't be PDO bumping you. Personal choice, kind of like how I go way out of my way to buy American at every purchase I can...
Go to the park with your kids, have dinner with your wife....do anything but get away from the computer....
08-27-2012, 05:13 AM
#65
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Sep 2006
Posts: 329
Originally Posted by 42GO
You really need to get a life......
Go to the park with your kids, have dinner with your wife....do anything but get away from the computer....
Go to the park with your kids, have dinner with your wife....do anything but get away from the computer....
08-27-2012, 05:45 AM
#66
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jul 2007
Position: Gear Monkey
Posts: 3,193
Originally Posted by AFW_MD11
....The way I see it - if you want to PDO bump a certain trip - you bump it - why does it matter who is currently assigned said trip? or whether they block their calendar or not? ....
Just clarifying --- but you do contact the pilot currently on a trip and "ask permission" before you PDO bump ---- correct?
Before asking --- do you attempt to look at his string of trips to understand how your request may affect the rest of his schedule?
08-27-2012, 06:35 AM
#67
Organizational Learning
Joined APC: Nov 2005
Position: Directly behind the combiner
Posts: 4,948
Originally Posted by DLax85
Just clarifying --- but you do contact the pilot currently on a trip and "ask permission" before you PDO bump ---- correct?
Before asking --- do you attempt to look at his string of trips to understand how your request may affect the rest of his schedule?
Now, I consider getting bumped from a trip and still paid to be a good deal, but you might be surprised that some people didn't want to be bumped. In some cases, the pilot had plans for the layover, and wanted to fly the trip. In some cases, the pilot didn't keep a Memphis crashpad, and it would have been a hassle for him to not take advantage of the layover hotel. For those reasons, I always looked at the calendar before asking.
And if the calendar was blocked, I moved on to my next choice. After all, getting bumped from a trip is a good deal, and I'd prefer to give the good deal to someone who's not hiding anything.
I also look at the calendars of those with whom I fly in order to get an idea of their recent experience. How much have they been flying recently? Have they been to WXYZ lately? Since they just finished their CMV1, they might be able to give me some gouge.
I once received an e-mail at the beginning of the month from an FO that I was scheduled to fly with near the end of the month asking me if he could have both of the landings so he wouldn't go non-current. Who among you would not look at that pilot's recent schedule for some insight as to how he had gotten into such a bind? I also looked at the calendar of the pilot one number junior to him to see if he had encountered the same problems getting FO legs instead of RFO legs. It came in handy when we had a face-to-face conversation about it over dinner.
The fact that stalkers and angry ex-wives might look at calendars doesn't mean that everyone who looks at a calendar is a stalker or angry ex-wife. There are plenty of legitimate reasons to have access to other pilots' schedules.
.
08-27-2012, 06:54 AM
#68
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Sep 2007
Position: 777 Captain in Training
Posts: 1,457
Originally Posted by Lucky7
One pilot told me a story of a soon to be ex-wife who was getting his schedule from mutual pilot friends and using the info to his detriment, ex: when his trips started, ended, where he was bidding layovers. He blocked the calender from the ex-to-be's friends. Sounded reasonable to me.
Before you start on the Fedex access/ thats not legal, She didn't give 2 sh;;ts about Fedex rules she wanted her half.
A couple reasons I've come across to use others calenders.... I wanted to offer a trip trade that was beneficial to the other pilot but on different days. Kind of useless to ask about a trade when they are working that week. I'm not going to ask to PDO bump a guy in the middle of a string of hub turns, I've also checked the calender before a call to try and time it without disrupting a layover. Getting a calender blocked has and should have a negative implication. There is something you don't want your co-workers to see.
Before you start on the Fedex access/ thats not legal, She didn't give 2 sh;;ts about Fedex rules she wanted her half.
A couple reasons I've come across to use others calenders.... I wanted to offer a trip trade that was beneficial to the other pilot but on different days. Kind of useless to ask about a trade when they are working that week. I'm not going to ask to PDO bump a guy in the middle of a string of hub turns, I've also checked the calender before a call to try and time it without disrupting a layover. Getting a calender blocked has and should have a negative implication. There is something you don't want your co-workers to see.
08-27-2012, 07:36 AM
#69
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Feb 2007
Position: MD11 FO, ANC
Posts: 1,098
Originally Posted by DLax85
Just clarifying --- but you do contact the pilot currently on a trip and "ask permission" before you PDO bump ---- correct?
Before asking --- do you attempt to look at his string of trips to understand how your request may affect the rest of his schedule?
Originally Posted by TonyC
Your questions are spot on. When I was a Flex Instructor, all my flying was done by PDO bump, and it all required the permission of the pilot being bumped.
Now, I consider getting bumped from a trip and still paid to be a good deal, but you might be surprised that some people didn't want to be bumped. In some cases, the pilot had plans for the layover, and wanted to fly the trip. In some cases, the pilot didn't keep a Memphis crashpad, and it would have been a hassle for him to not take advantage of the layover hotel. For those reasons, I always looked at the calendar before asking.
And if the calendar was blocked, I moved on to my next choice. After all, getting bumped from a trip is a good deal, and I'd prefer to give the good deal to someone who's not hiding anything.
I also look at the calendars of those with whom I fly in order to get an idea of their recent experience. How much have they been flying recently? Have they been to WXYZ lately? Since they just finished their CMV1, they might be able to give me some gouge.
I once received an e-mail at the beginning of the month from an FO that I was scheduled to fly with near the end of the month asking me if he could have both of the landings so he wouldn't go non-current. Who among you would not look at that pilot's recent schedule for some insight as to how he had gotten into such a bind? I also looked at the calendar of the pilot one number junior to him to see if he had encountered the same problems getting FO legs instead of RFO legs. It came in handy when we had a face-to-face conversation about it over dinner.
The fact that stalkers and angry ex-wives might look at calendars doesn't mean that everyone who looks at a calendar is a stalker or angry ex-wife. There are plenty of legitimate reasons to have access to other pilots' schedules.
.
Now, I consider getting bumped from a trip and still paid to be a good deal, but you might be surprised that some people didn't want to be bumped. In some cases, the pilot had plans for the layover, and wanted to fly the trip. In some cases, the pilot didn't keep a Memphis crashpad, and it would have been a hassle for him to not take advantage of the layover hotel. For those reasons, I always looked at the calendar before asking.
And if the calendar was blocked, I moved on to my next choice. After all, getting bumped from a trip is a good deal, and I'd prefer to give the good deal to someone who's not hiding anything.
I also look at the calendars of those with whom I fly in order to get an idea of their recent experience. How much have they been flying recently? Have they been to WXYZ lately? Since they just finished their CMV1, they might be able to give me some gouge.
I once received an e-mail at the beginning of the month from an FO that I was scheduled to fly with near the end of the month asking me if he could have both of the landings so he wouldn't go non-current. Who among you would not look at that pilot's recent schedule for some insight as to how he had gotten into such a bind? I also looked at the calendar of the pilot one number junior to him to see if he had encountered the same problems getting FO legs instead of RFO legs. It came in handy when we had a face-to-face conversation about it over dinner.
The fact that stalkers and angry ex-wives might look at calendars doesn't mean that everyone who looks at a calendar is a stalker or angry ex-wife. There are plenty of legitimate reasons to have access to other pilots' schedules.
.
2. TonyC, you contradict yourself by saying "some people don't want to be bumped" & "it's a good deal to be bumped" - I guess "good deal" or not is, as always, in the eyes of the beholder
3. DLax85 - I'm just a line pilot & do not (hardly ever) PDO bump anyone - I was just curious about av8rmike's "process" because as he described his process it came across to me as "with great power comes great responsibility" and/or slightly judgemental to have to check a pilot's calendar before "bestowing" the gift of a PDO bump (see point 2 as to whether it's a gift worth receiving or not). Perhaps that's not how he (or TonyC) view the PDO bump process - but that's just how it came across - so I was curious.
P.S. the process that av8rmike replied with/described still does not REQUIRE looking at a calendar - that step is, evidently, a personal criteria by which he chooses to utilize as a criteria for PDO bump "worthiness"
08-27-2012, 08:28 AM
#70
Organizational Learning
Joined APC: Nov 2005
Position: Directly behind the combiner
Posts: 4,948
Originally Posted by AFW_MD11
1. Is there ANYTHING, TonyC, that you are not an expert on? why are you just a line pilot & not CEO or CFO or leading our union?
2. TonyC, you contradict yourself by saying "some people don't want to be bumped" & "it's a good deal to be bumped" - I guess "good deal" or not is, as always, in the eyes of the beholder
I like flying -- I have no desire to manage. I enjoyed teaching. I was honored to represent.
2. I apologize for not being more clear. I thought when I said, "I consider getting bumped from a trip and still paid to be a good deal, but ...", that people would understand that I consider it to be a good deal, but some people in some circumstances do not consider it to be a good deal. I think it's always a good deal; other people disagree. You are free to PDO bump any trip of mine at any time for any reason, right up until the last minute The Company will let you, and I will consider it a good deal. Some people would not appreciate that.
No contradiction.
But I think you knew that.
.
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