They were completely eliminated system wide post merger. We asked for them back. The push for that was from the DTW counsel.

 

That is not accurate. This is really how the whole 5-day trip concept has played out re the merger.

- pre-merger, there was no such thing as a 5-day domestic trip on the DAL-S side--most guys would have shunned the idea
- NWA had them, and due to their higher percentage of commuters, they were mostly favorably received

- POST merger we had to figure out, "what about five day trips?" For awhile we had the somewhat silly approach of, if the category was uniquely PMNW (A320) then it would contain five-day trips, and if it was uniquely PMDL (737) then it would not. It MAY have also applied even by base, but to be honest, I cannot remember.

At some point however, we needed to make a decision that applied airline wide. "Are we one airline, or are we not?" essentially.

- So the decision was made to approve 5-days system-wide, with the understanding that the company would attempt to limit them to 10% of the trips in the bid package--fair enough.

- The problem is that the company has run roughshod over that reasonable perspective. My first captain's gig was ATL 717A. I loved the airplane and the crews--but I surely didn't love a bid package that one month was 93% 4-5 day trips, and contained more 5-days than 1,2,and 3-day trips combined!

- There has been (and continues to be) negative feedback to that. A couple of months ago, crew resources eliminated all 5-days from the 320 bid packages. ALPA didn't ask for that--just a reduction in the numbers. Now of course the company is back to the other extreme, as detailed. 26% of the ATL 320 trips for Oct are 5-days. That's not "reasonable."

At no time am I aware of an airline-wide decision to remove all 5-day trips from every domestic category since the merger. PMDL fleets, yes. However I am not sure that the PMNW fleets (320, -9) ever had zero 5-days. I could be wrong.

 

At what point do we ask ALPA to file a status quo violation?

 

That is not a status quo violation.

 

Clearly (imho) there have been several SQVs. The apology letter about our "summer pressure" admits as much. Can you imagine a sorry letter from ALPA..."Unfortunately we stopped flying green slips and fatigue calls were up in August; the unanticipated undermanning/Max SNAFU/delivery delays caught our folks off guard. We'll do better next year." We'd be in court 12 hours later.

 

It would be nice to see a major reduction in 4+ day trips. Tired of these trips. It's a major QOL reduction when you live in base.

Also, the union sent out a Rotation Construction Committee (RCC) Survey on August 30. Don't forget to fill it out.

 

Choosing not to commute is a choice...isn’t that the saying?




GP

 

We need more 3 days and 2 days to fill in schedules. I'm in the top 25 percent of my category and it's frustrating when I want to work a Tues-Thurs 3 day on specific days to find 0 trips meeting my criteria.

 

Having few 1/2/3 day trips also creates issues with line construction. If you're above the RLL LIM, I'd have a RLL bid group, or at the very least, keep an eye on the unblockable/unbuildable list. Although I love them, a blank lines and/or RLL lines shouldn't be required to build decent lines. 2 and 3 day trips are my jam, and I don't think I'd bid back to NB until I can regularly hold them on the A side.

 

The best mix would ideally be a variety from 1-5 day trips. If any of these lengths were less than about 10-15% of the bid package they would probably all be gobbled up.

Any length of tip would be forced on guys if they was dramatically over-represented in the bid package.

Scoop