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AE Bid Regret

Old 04-21-2021, 03:25 AM
  #11  
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In all seriousness, you’re probably stuck.

Many years ago, when staffing wasn’t so tight, you could go to the CPO, plead your case, and have a 50/50 shot of getting out of it. Understand, though, by doing this you hosed some other pilot who might have wanted that bid.

When the staffing got real right a few years ago, that all went away. These days, you need essentially a family emergency or other such critical life event, and even then they’ll just push you out to the end of the conversion window.

This is another consequence of our somewhat messed up system. With so few bids, people wig out and leap before they look. “Want what you bid....blah blah blah” is just a cop out excuse for a busted system.
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Old 04-21-2021, 04:23 AM
  #12  
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Originally Posted by fishforfun View Post
My wife has no clue what a bid is. She barely knows what I do. She just knows I don’t like to work but make the most that I can to not work. It’s worked so far.
lol my wife was sitting next to me the other day as I was perusing posts about the AE and one person had posted about how amazing the bid was and my wife asked “what, was the bid really high or something?” And I’m like “no, it’s not an auction...” 🤣

On the other hand, switching to an auction process for AEs could certainly ramp up the craziness!
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Old 04-21-2021, 04:29 AM
  #13  
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Originally Posted by fishforfun View Post
My wife has no clue what a bid is. She barely knows what I do. She just knows I don’t like to work but make the most that I can to not work. It’s worked so far.

I am curious about this statement. I also don't like "going" to work" and some of the early east coast wake-ups can be brutal but the actual "work" of flying the aircraft is still very enjoyable to me as I am sure it is to most of us.

Sometimes thinking about going to work and being gone for four days is worse than the actual work. I have also noticed that when I am in a groove working consistently but not overdoing it everything seems better. The longer it has been since the last trip the harder it seems to jump back into it.

Thoughts?

Scoop
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Old 04-21-2021, 04:32 AM
  #14  
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Originally Posted by Scoop View Post
Sometimes thinking about going to work and being gone for four days is worse than the actual work. I have also noticed that when I am in a groove working consistently but not overdoing it everything seems better. The longer it has been since the last trip the harder it seems to jump back into it.
Obviously not speaking for the other guy, but I have found this to be very true for myself as well. There’s a sweet spot for me and if I stray a little too far on either side I notice it.
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Old 04-21-2021, 04:58 AM
  #15  
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Originally Posted by Scoop View Post
I am curious about this statement. I also don't like "going" to work" and some of the early east coast wake-ups can be brutal but the actual "work" of flying the aircraft is still very enjoyable to me as I am sure it is to most of us.

Sometimes thinking about going to work and being gone for four days is worse than the actual work. I have also noticed that when I am in a groove working consistently but not overdoing it everything seems better. The longer it has been since the last trip the harder it seems to jump back into it.

Thoughts?

Scoop
Personally, there's almost nothing I dread about coming to work. It certainly beats having a real job. But the left-behind spouse and kids have much to dread about anything over a 2-day, so many of us carry that weight. I'm not sure I'd want the alternative - a family who doesn't care if you're around or not - although with time perhaps that will "blossom" :-) We do what we can to make life as easy and enjoyable as it can be on the home front in our absence, but life is generally better at home. The family gets in the same grove you mention...but it's a groove of tolerance and adjustment and not a preferred state of existence, I think.
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Old 04-21-2021, 05:17 AM
  #16  
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Originally Posted by asacimesp View Post
Soooooo.... the Mrs. is a little miffed at my new-found “juniority” after this bid. I know, I know “bid what you want, want what you bid”. Ugh. So has anyone ever had any luck trying to get out of an award?
You’re doing it. Unless you have to go get a knee replacement and take 6 months off like one guy I used to fly with did. They’re not very compassionate about “oh I don’t like what I was awarded so get rid of it for me please.”

Here’s why..... because if it works for you—I also want that option. If I take that option, the guy below me will also want that option. Instead—I’m gonna play the game the best I can, take my new pay to the bank, and try to take advantage of the stripper like mentality of some of our pilots who will snag something the second it hits the swap board.

The way I view it—I (it sounds like you and I) signed a two year commitment to the D to operate whatever equipment and we both knew the risks and seniority hit we would take when we hit “save bids.” Maybe your wife and mine can talk on the phone while we are gone and support each other

Good luck man.

P.S. mine doesn’t know a thing about my seniority... she just knows I go to work and come home. Beautiful thing is—all 12-13,000 of us however many we have now work roughly half a month. It’s just which half man. Figure out a way to spin it to her.
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Old 04-21-2021, 06:22 AM
  #17  
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Originally Posted by asacimesp View Post
Well... the problem lies not so much in what I thought would happen, but with what Me and the Mrs thought we agreed on. As with most things marital, it comes down to communication/understanding I guess. I don’t know, I wasn’t listening. 🤷🏻‍♂️
Originally Posted by theUpsideDown View Post
Yeah, stop involving the wife like this guy does. Just make every effort to drop or get days off and keep bringing up moving to base.

Information doesnt shut them up, it makes them ask more questions. "I'm trying to drop one of these trips/reserve blocks" and if they are the type that wants more stuff, tell them what it costs to drop flying.

Just make more hourly, drop more often. You might get the same pay and be home more if you're lucky.
Before bidding on an AE back in 2015, I went through every detail with the wife. We looked at the commuting options for every Delta pilot base, including hotel costs, departure times, round trip gate to gate time, number of JS, mainline vs RJ vs offline. Next we looked at hotel / crashpad options including local transportation. I pulled out the three months of bid packs and wide reports for each category to get an estimate of commutability, line holder cutoff point and average daily hours of pay. We considered layovers and the potential for her to tag along on a few trips per year. We looked at the reserve coverage, open time and P2P swap board to gauge the level of post PBS schedule manipulation. We included some assumptions about seasonality of flying within the categories, potential for fleet growth and previous AE bidding patterns. Next we analyzed the hourly rate x average daily hours to get an estimate of daily pay for each category both with and without commuting nights lost. We looked at the potential to bid reserve and sit long call from home as well as potential for unused days at the end of a block in the international categories. We looked at monthly pay including commuting costs. Etc, blah, blah, this, that and the other thing...

Now I offer her a choice between a glass of wine or a spreadsheet when an AE is posted. The reply is "Red please, I trust you". I've now have complete freedom to bid what I want...
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Old 04-21-2021, 06:34 AM
  #18  
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Originally Posted by Gunfighter View Post
Before bidding on an AE back in 2015, I went through every detail with the wife. We looked at the commuting options for every Delta pilot base, including hotel costs, departure times, round trip gate to gate time, number of JS, mainline vs RJ vs offline. Next we looked at hotel / crashpad options including local transportation. I pulled out the three months of bid packs and wide reports for each category to get an estimate of commutability, line holder cutoff point and average daily hours of pay. We considered layovers and the potential for her to tag along on a few trips per year. We looked at the reserve coverage, open time and P2P swap board to gauge the level of post PBS schedule manipulation. We included some assumptions about seasonality of flying within the categories, potential for fleet growth and previous AE bidding patterns. Next we analyzed the hourly rate x average daily hours to get an estimate of daily pay for each category both with and without commuting nights lost. We looked at the potential to bid reserve and sit long call from home as well as potential for unused days at the end of a block in the international categories. We looked at monthly pay including commuting costs. Etc, blah, blah, this, that and the other thing...

Now I offer her a choice between a glass of wine or a spreadsheet when an AE is posted. The reply is "Red please, I trust you". I've now have complete freedom to bid what I want...
Most excellent. Same type of advise when you get married. Offer to "help" by cooking dinner for "her" then burn the bejeebers out of it....that will be the last time she will want your input/help. Make it so painful that "open comms/help" are more trouble than they are worth.
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Old 04-21-2021, 07:34 AM
  #19  
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Originally Posted by Buck Rogers View Post
Most excellent. Same type of advise when you get married. Offer to "help" by cooking dinner for "her" then burn the bejeebers out of it....that will be the last time she will want your input/help. Make it so painful that "open comms/help" are more trouble than they are worth.
Best discussion I ever had with my soon to be wife started out with, "I am just a dumb man. There will be things that I will do that will annoy or upset you, simply because I'm dumb and don't know any better." Those that know me, know that she had already figured that out long before she decided to keep me around. When it comes to bidding, she also has the foresight to suggest months and weeks for me to bid for vacation, days to try and avoid work in coming bid months, and trips to try and bid or pick up that she'd like to join me. The best lesson: setting low expectations with my wife has allowed me to survive in spite of my own talents in screwing things up.
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Old 04-21-2021, 07:56 AM
  #20  
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as a married man (yes, I identify as a straight man), I made it crystal clear to my wife that my career matters to me. She made it crystal clear that my career matters to her, but being a family matters to her too. I fell into the trap in the regional world of working as hard as I could, for A: the money and B: the PIC time. One night, after picking up yet another OT trip, she wasn't there the next morning when I got home. Frantic, I called/texted and no response. Turns out she was at the grocery store, buying things to make for our "talk" breakfast. She made it very clear that I meant more to her than money or the career. I relented in picking up OT.

Point is, it's a balance between achieving your career dreams and juggling the needs of your family. Your needs are important; so are theirs. Did you dork up your bid? Probably. But look at it this way - blessing in disguise?
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