What do you think?

Scoop

 

why could we not have our max pickup be based off flight time instead of the credit? In my case for this month I'm unable to pick up any more trips because even a 1 day (5:15) is too much yet my actual flight time is way less. If we could make total time be the factor and not credit that would allow me to pick up a lot more. Don't misunerstand Im not advocation eliminating credit, which is awesome, just removing credit as the limitation for max pickup.thoughts?

 

You don't want to remove credit... just jobs?

 

Excuse my newbie ignorance and feel free to correct me, but why should there be a cap on picking up from the swap board? Aren't those just trips posted by other pilots, so the entire transaction is pilot-to-pilot and of no benefit to the company? The only beneficiaries are the pilot getting rid of the trip and the pilot picking up the trip, correct?

 

Thats not what I said and I don't like what you are implying.
I specifically said I don't want credit removed for pay purposes but if the system looked at my rotations flight time I would be able to pick up more trips. I don't want credit removed. Im at 86-ish hours of credit yet I'm not flying anywhere near that in actual flight time. So, if you think having me willingly pick up another 15 or so hours of flight time is somehow destroying the industry so we can simply just have bodies on the seniority list for the sake of having more bodies on the seniority list than you and I see things rather differently regarding how business operates efficiently. Adequate staffing is critical but just having more people on the list is not cost effective and actually hurts us. Workers comp, insurance, medicare, social security etc. are all costs an employer has to take on for every employee. So while I'm all for adequate staffing don't tell me that if I want to work a little more that I can't so we can simply hire more people.

 

That would be correct. But what happens is guys posting a trip on the swap board because there is no reserve coverage to just straight drop. After someone picks it up from the swap board, the pilot will go shop for better trips on open time with his new “free time”.
So in essence everyone is flying more and less staffing is needed. Some argue that QOL decreases since everyone is flying more.
We have 14,500 different opinions here at Delta. If it’s in the contract, do it as you please and don’t worry what people say. If you enjoy time at home, then post on the swap board. If you like extra $$, then pick up whatever you want and enjoy the $$.
You will always hear both sides of this argument. Everyone is different. Do what works best for you and your family as long as you are following the PWA.

 

Any chance you're new to the industry?

You don't seem to grasp what jobs loss means. It's not just adding people behind you. It's needing fewer WB captains too (I'm making an educated guess you aren't yet a widebody captain...I could be wrong).

You know all those retirements that you're expecting, and all that upward movement you see on the near horizon? Productivity concessions like those you're proposing will delay and slow your own movement into those slots. Depending on the severity of the productivity concession, the company could replace 100 retiring pilots with only 90 pilots AEing into those jobs. See how that works?

If you're busting your budget on 86 hours per month, you might just be living above your means. Maybe think about a different side job instead of diluting the rest of ours? If it's not about the money and you just want to fly more, maybe you could jump seat some place exotic?

So I'm not telling you can't fly more "so we can hire more people." And I can't tell you how to vote. I encourage you to chat with your reps and let them know how you feel - we do better as a union when folks communicate their wishes up the chain. But please do some deeper thinking about how the changes you seek will affect you now, your long-term future, and the future of your union brethren. There are reasons the hard cap (75 hours?) of old was a good thing... that wasn't just to have more bubbas at our PUB events.

If you want Delta to be more efficient and only pay you 86 hours for actually flying them, you'll find unlimited friendship on the 4th floor!

 

In a simple way, what I put in bold above, is the overall goal. Maximizing credit while keeping actual flight time to an overall minimum.

I certainly don't bemoan you for wanting to pick up an extra 10-15 hours, but I think what you need to keep in mind is that if MAX Pick Up was based on actual flight time, a good degree (in my opinion) of pilots would be picking up that extra 10-20 hours of flight time each month. Undoubtedly that would have adverse effect on the seniority list.

It wasn't too long ago when pilots were trip parking as a workaround to MAX Pick Up. I'm not a particular fan of being allowed to pick up flying over vacation either (glad to see it's not allowed).

If it's in the contract have at it, no complaints here, but we need to be careful about all these "productivity" flying opportunities in search of a few extra hours each month.

Not sure if your new or now, but most of us realize that extra 10-15 hours means a lot more to someone getting by on first year salary as opposed to someone who's on the 12 year pay scale.

 

Many years ago had a new hire engineer complaining ALPA was hurting his family. I asked why. He said the hard cap we had prevented him from flying more. I asked how much he would fly with no cap. He replied with credit hit could hit 120 hours a month. I asked him how much he would make at 120 a month. He said 4800. I replied that he was incorrect as his pay would be zero because he would be on the street furloughed. I don’t think he got it.
You have a union for two reasons, to protect you from the company and to protect you from your fellow pilots.

 

Yup, that just about sums it up.

We can be our own worst enemies.