Fartknocker

I'm a newbie, and wondering how to replace R days with flying from open time. I want to make my commute easier.

What's the best way to do this?

I was going to try dropping an R day and pick up the open time flying, but I'm worried about the trip not being in open time when I request it from VIPS.

Should I move an R day around and then request make up on that day? Would volunteering for general trips work?

I am just trying to figure out my options from the veterans around here.

Thanks for the advice.

Lindy

First, what seat are you in? If an F/E on the Boeing, there is a much better chance of open time than an F/O on the Boeing.

Second, how lucky do you feel? I know many individuals who dropped R-Days trying to make the commute easier and ended up owing the company $$ on the 15th because they were not able to pick up any trips "that worked" with their schedule.

Third, how flexible are you? Looking to revamp your entire month? Or just make a few changes?

As for moving R-Days, it is a good way to start, but remember, if you cannot live with the slide, do NOT do it!! There is always the possibility of not being abe to "unslide" or drop the days slide (usually during Holidays, but you never know.....).

Open Time varies throughout the month and it depends on how much you are willing to hawk VIPS. More time on VIPS generally means better chance of trips, but it does take time away from the important things (watching Bowl Games).

It is a huge trial and error until you develop your own system, i.e., how much are you willing to drop and the chances of recouping the hours? Are you willing to work weekends? There seems to be more Sun-Mon trips than weekday trips in open time.

Another "gotcha" is when you are on B Reserve and you want to pick up a trip that begins with an am launch: B Reserve on the 9th; AM launch on the 10th, VIPS will give an error message stating that there isn't an adequate buffer, i.e., 12 hours. That pick-up cannot be completed

AND, once you pick up an airport STBY, you cannot drop it!! Additionally, there must be a buffer between the ASBY and another trip or R-Day. [Caveat: the ONLY time I heard of the company letting an individual drop ASBY is when a newhire mistakenly dropped all his R-Days and tried to pick-up ASBY instead; he was working every other day; not sure if crew scheduling or his ACP *allowed* him to retain his origianal R-Day schedule]

Hope this helps!

RedeyeAV8r

You can't really do Make up unless you have hours in your make up bank.
(you can have up to a negative 6 hours) meaning you can go into make up for 1 6 hour trip with no hours in your make up bank........confused?)

In order to have hours in your make up bank you must have had to have previously dropped trips or "R" days. The value for these trips is what is placed in your Make up bank. Since you are new you probably don't have any.

In your case, since you say you are trying to improve your quality of life, I would attempt to drop a series of "R" days either at the beginning or the end of you series. for each "R" day dropped you make up bank will be credited with approx 4:30hours per "R" day. Let's say you are lucky enough to have crew skeds approve you dropping 3 "R" days. Your make up bank will be creditied with 13:30 (4:30 x 3). Then you can go to open time and put in for a trip or series of trips that worth up to 19:30 that is 13:30 + 6:00.
Remember I said you can go negative 6 hours in your make up bank.

If they are FAT in skeds enough to let you drop 3 "R" days they probably don't need volunteers.......in other words you probably won't get called so you are better off (more likely) to get a trip from open time using the Make up option vice Volunteer........but if you are a gambling man, it could pay off so roll the dice.


Hope this helps...Good Luck

FDXer

I've done this a lot in the past. Again, as a previous poster said "how lucky do you feel?" Put the drop for R days in and right behind it, put a request for a specific trip in general make-up. Make sure there is a 12 hour buffer on each side of your R days. So to make-up a 6 hour trip, you need to drop 3 R-days. Doesn't sound very profitable until you drop a block of R-days and replace them with trips. You work less and you don't have to sit reserve.

Hope this helps.

Fartknocker

Lindy,

<<<<<<<

I'm a 727 FO.

I don't feel too lucky. That's why I was trying to get opinions of any other ways to do the schedule changes. I may just get bored enough to try out some things for JAN. It could get interesting.

Lindy

Only if you ASBY!!

You can slide R-Days and put six in a row (Crew Sched will not permit the addition of more than six days; it is permitted if originally awarded); that way you will have 12 days.

Then drop three R-Days.

That leaves 4:30 x 3 = 13:30 in your make-up bank. (Note: it is not 4:38 added to your make-up bank, per the contract, but 4:30).

13:30 can be turned into 3 trips at 6 hours each -- 3 am hub turns in a row would make life better. Let's see, right seat of the Boeing, no open time available to even try and put 3 hub turns together. Personally, I would try a Sunday-Monday for 8:00ish credit, then a hub turn and that would put you at approx 14:00ish credit.

One poster noted that you can go 6:00 in the red with make-up; if you try 6:01, it will be denied, so pick the trips carefully if you haven't dropped any days as of yet.

As the month progresses, pilots drop due to various reasons and *sometimes* there is open time available during the later part of the month.

FYI: best time to pick up make-up is during the first week of the month.

Good Luck.

FXDX

Open time in the right seat has been pretty scarce in the past year or so. They seem to be much better manned in the right seat than in the back. That means that it will be easier to drop R days, but less likely that there will be anything to pick up in open time as makeup.

You can't fly VLT on a day where you dropped a trip, and although the contract doesn't say the same about R days, I'm guessing that they probably won't give you a VLT trip on a day when you dropped an R day either.

You should have plenty of luck in moving the R days, if that helps at all, but your only option is to drop the R days and roll the dice or grin and bear it.

Fartknocker

Am I reading this part of the contract correctly? It looks like I can PDO bump someone for a trip that has the same footprint as my R days, and they will not have to sit my reserve days. I'm just trying to figure this out.

If so, what is everyone's pay? Does it stay the same as before the PDO bump?

Section 25. L. 10. a. says:

10. Per Diem Only Bumping (Non-Training).
a. A pilot shall have the ability to bump another pilot from his trip with that pilot's consent, if the submission meets all contract and legality parameters. Submissions for PDO bumps shall be submitted at least 2 hours prior to showtime of the affected trip. Submissions after 0900 LBT on the day preceding the affected trip shall be confirmed through VIPS. Submissions within 2 hours of showtime may be processed at the
Company's discretion. A pilot on R-days may submit to bump another pilot to satisfy pilot qualification requirements (e.g., consolidation, currency), and if such submission is approved, the bumped pilot is released and is not responsible for any R-days. A pilot may be bumped from his trip under this paragraph only if he:
i. holds trip guarantee upon assignment for the trip to be bumped;
ii. holds the trip to be bumped in reserve status; or
iii. is bumped under Section 9.A.2.

Section 25. L. 10. b. says:

b. If bumped, the following shall apply:
i. The bumped pilot shall be removed from the trip and shall have no further responsibility for such trip.
ii. Unless the pilot held the trip in reserve status, he shall earn trip guarantee.
iii. If the bumped pilot held the trip in reserve status, he shall earn credit toward leveling and RLG, and shall return to his remaining reserve schedule, if any, following the footprint of the bumped trip.
iv. The pilot operating the trip shall earn per diem, international override and overage, if applicable. He shall earn deviation credit for the trip, if applicable, except as provided in Section 9.A.1. (management bump).
v. If the pilot assigned the PDO trip is unable to operate that trip due to illness or injury, the scheduled trip guarantee shall be deducted from his sick leave account.
vi. If the pilot assigned the PDO trip becomes illegal for his next scheduled trip or R-day, the subsequent activity shall be dropped without pay and he shall be eligible for make-up.
vii. If a pilot assigned a PDO trip rejects a substitution trip, the credit hours for the PDO trip shall be deducted from his current BLG/RLG and he shall be eligible for make-up.

FXDX

If you are just trying to ease the commute you could try putting in for first fly on the first day of your string of R days. Often times you will get an assignment the day before and then you at least can jumpseat in and be protected if the jumpseat flight is delayed/diverted. There may not even be enough open time to get an assignment if you first fly, but if there is and you get the assignment early enough it might help you out some.

FXDX

If you PDO bump somebody for consolidation purposes you will get paid your RLG and the bumped pilot will earn their BLG for the trip. You will get paid the per diem. I think a PDO bump while you are on reserve would have to be approved by your ACP and schedules, as well as the person you are bumping.