NO, you are NOT in violation of the contract by allowing a call to roll to voicemail. (nor is it a violation for scheduling to put you on hold indefinitely)

I highly recommend each pilot do what they normally do. I screen my calls and call back if someone leaves me a message. This is NOT usurping the PWA. This IS responding to a call from scheduling.

 

Ain't no thang amigo.....And so we're clear, I agree. Don't want to fly it, don't want to be called? Pull the slip before you pop the top and put it back in when you're legal. And you are also correct in the statement that there is no language in the PWA that spells out prohibitive conditions to flying a GS (or at all really), but it's a fit to fly thing and THAT? That IS a reasonable defense to me. If you have been consuming, you have literally NO way to get there and forgot to pull the slip as an honest mistake or you cant leave your kids with the neighbor you don't know, I'm ok with that. Take it out and move on....

 

I never said it was in violation of the contract to let a call go to voicemail while on short call.

So how do you define "Promptly Available for Contact"?

Basically, as a pilot on short call, how long would you wait before contacting crew scheduling after receiving a call?

 

Do you expect your 911 call to go to voicemail? On SC, answer the phone. Don't screw up a good system for everyone.

 

Dude. You're really trying to make something out of nothing here.

"Blanket" Green Slips are extremely common and done all the time by pilots. In and out of base. All. The. Time. By everyone. All the time.

It is 100% legit to answer and then not be able to do them because you're not physically in range or just took a sip of Macallans 25 etc. The parameters thing is just a rough guide. No one can or ever will be expected to keep a live rolling update of all in and out of base "time til report" as you live your life on your days off and drive to the other side of town or take a sip of a drink or a spouse has something come up and now you're watching the kids or adjust it for your rolling rest requirements etc. That is NOT REALISTIC, it isn't a thing and will never be a thing. Ever. It will never be a thing.

If they ever tried to interpret it as such, and having one in meant by default you're a 24/7 short call pilot immediately available with no issues fully rested, then that would make GS requests extremely rare. They don't want that. All to save what, 10 seconds on the phone with someone? Please.

You are literally the only person at the airline who is even attempting to interpret it like that. I have "turned down" more GS than I can count, on the phone with skeds, because I put in blanket ones and for whatever reason couldn't do them. They always thanked me for answering the phone and saving them 10 minutes.

Now, again, if your major issue here is simply saying "nah, I could do it but that trip just isn't to my fancy, so I'm exercising my pilot prerogative to bypass" or something, then yes, you might have to answer for that. But you're taking this to such an extreme extent that a blanket GS according to your logic isn't even FAR117 legal to put in if your interpretation was correct (which is why its not).

So call ALPA and request a declatory judgement on this if you want to. In the EXTREMELY unlikely event they side with you, the company will squash it hard (and might even call it a job action) because they LOVE the blanket GS guys, even when they can't always do something. And they love it even more when they answer the phone and say "I'd love to do it but I'm X hours from the airport and/or in XYZ city so if you'll hold the flight or get me there I'd love to do it".

 

I have been bidding reserve, by choice, for the last seven winters. I live in base and am about twenty minutes from the airport. I choose to let the call go to voicemail 90% of the time. And 95% of the time they call it's for an assignment for the next day.

Never once has a scheduler asked me if the reason I didn't answer the phone was deliberate or because I was otherwise tied up. Prompt is prompt, it doesn't mean immediate.

 

This is so obvious it isn't even a thing.

Of course you don't have to instantly pick up any given call. We're not missileers.

Some guys are trying to make things as difficult as possible. Gees.

 

Like I said on long call, no disagreement from me about letting it go to voicemail. If on short call however, I believe it's in each pilot's interest to answer a call from scheduling and report within a reasonable amount of time as needed, or sign on to Icrew and acknowledge assignment ASAP.

Waiting an undetermined amount of time after letting a call go from scheduling go to voicemail while on short call in some hopeful fantasy that scheduling will just give you a pass and move on without any repercussions is both foolish and wrong. If you miss a call, so be it, but deliberately going out of your way to be difficult is wrong no matter how one justifies it to themselves. (Again I'm only talking about be actively on short-call)

 

So, no showering on SC?

 

I want to make sure I understand this correctly so tell me if I'm wrong. If I am awarded a 4 day green slip on the last day of a block of x days. I receive 5:15 above the reserve guarantee, one payback day and rest at the end? Do you always get rest? Can you GS during rest if you are legal? (I.e. The GS rotation you completed had a 30 hr layover or you haven't reach 168)

TIA