round2

Besides for the Union updates any new and hot rumors

climb150

So all quiet recently. I was wondering how it was progressing?

youzzername

Per the last email update negotiations did take place in Cleveland this past week...

Just have to be patient for the email update from the mec

Fingers crossed it’s positive

Whatmeworry

Can you please pm me the email or where I can get it. New guy, nothing really from the Union since I’ve been here. Thanks

Oh yeah, I can line verify with seniority number or something...

jacburn

PM sent. .

njd1

Just spoke to someone about this -- not going to say who -- and they told me the low-hanging fruit in negotiations has largely been picked. There is some contention on the sections they're talking about now, which is to be expected. In fact, he said "if they didn't have at least some issues with what we were requesting I wouldn't be doing my job properly."

On the other side of the coin I had the ear of the DO recently and in a discussion covering hiring and retention he mentioned that management has recognized the need for increased pay to attract people and that they have addressed the pay problem. The way he said it made me think he was referring to contract increases, but in retrospect he could have been talking about bonuses. Guess we'll find out soon.

My bag will fit

Going to have to do something. Long reserve time, pulling quite a bit of flying from line holders to help FOs consolidate, 30% acceptance rate into the new Aviate program, lowest pay in the industry, and a crappy contract. No brainer why it’s hard on retention.

njd1

Devil's advocate here:

"Long" reserve time is relative. Go talk to the people in the lost decade about long reserve times. If you can't do 6-12 months reserve time, either as a FO or a newly upgraded CA, you might as well get out of the business because this is far from the greatest challenge or inconvenience we experience.

As for pulling flying from line holders, the actual practice of kicking people off trips does not happen anymore (to my knowledge) because they pull the flying before it hits PBS. In that case it's not "owned" by the line holders yet. The reality is we have to train new people to keep this boat afloat, so some flying will always need to be pulled for that purpose. Of course, management could do a better job throttling the hiring to a constant flow of reasonable magnitude vs. the feast/famine approach they seem to adopt with disturbing regularity.

Now, that said...

My plan was always to upgrade here and log as much TPIC as possible. And regardless of what happens on my Aviate interview next month I still plan to do that. But if I am not accepted I will be putting out apps everywhere.

JediCheese

They pull most of the FO trips that are paired with a LCA before the FOs bid. Doesn't mean they won't pull pilots off the line, I just got pulled off a turn as a CA for the company to do a pair of line checks.

The company would happily throw money at the pilot group to keep the work rules the same. Pay isn't going to be the hardest part of this contract.

njd1

That is true. From what the guy dealing with negotiations told me they hit some roadblocks before pay, which means QOL / work rules issues.

One of the things I really miss from the Republic contract -- trip and duty rigs. Most of the trips I've seen aren't that bad, but there have been some 5 day 2 leg 2.8 hr trips that left me questioning the parentage of the people who put that together. I want the Southwest approach to scheduling -- I want 18 days off and to bust ass for the other 12 days. I also want to taxi at V1.