Originally Posted by tennisguru

Agreed. That's why IA's need to be proffers only via ARCOS for last-minute coverage, and in seniority order.

Originally Posted by HelloNewnan

I don't think that's what he was saying. Getting inversely assigned was a bad thing, and they were meant as a last ditch ability for the company to put anybody in a seat, even someone who is not at a crew base. In fact, IA isn't one, but several steps scattered throughout the coverage ladders. Look at the very last step...it says "in position", not in category. That means anyone qualified that they get ahold of, and is legal, is going flying.

If you read how inverse assignment works, there is a presumption that you ARE going flying if contacted. You aren't proffered. In fact, if you look at 23 R.8, you aren't called and asked, you are called and informed of the assignment. That's not asking, that's telling. The ALV rule and the leveling mechanism for inverse assignment is there to protect pilots from multiple bad deals before the pain was spread around, and a basic limit for the month (23 R.1 & R.10).

The problem is multiple iterations of global changes have occurred since C2k when all this stuff got to be in the current form. FAR 117, for one. FRB rules for another. There's always the "in position" and related off day answers. This whole system was designed with the idea that people don't want to be forced to fly when they don't want to, and it was one at a time phone contact.

So, with that bit of history, if people are no longer being told to go fly when they don't want to, instead now being asked to fly if they want to, then the entire premise has changed.

Originally Posted by Verdell

What REALLY changed to make IA not really IA anymore though? Did you used to HAVE to answer your phone or something? Was the advent of voicemail the straw that broke the camels back? Phone etiquette?

Originally Posted by Scoop

Contemplating a bid to NYC. I am assuming that all the NYC taxes are only for people who live in NYC. If I live in another state and am based in NYC what extra charges am I on the hook for? Any special workers comp, disability or any city specific fees etc? Oh and unfortunately I am well aware of the huge cost of the tolls associated with driving around the northeast so you can skip that part. At least with the EZPass I don't have to stop - so I got that going for me, which is nice.

Thanks Scoop

Originally Posted by HelloNewnan

So they wouldn't be assignments, and not in inverse order. So they're not IAs.

You need to create a new step, and figure out how to manage it in the multiple locations in both coverage ladders. And the company is still going to want the ability to go tell someone to fly as a last resort. And you're going to need to figure out how to placate the people who already benefit from the current system because as soon as you figure out how you're going to change it, they'll be on speed dial to their reps telling them what a bad person you are for even suggesting this. Well, not really, but you will be causing a rukus.

Originally Posted by CBreezy

Holidays are only part of the issue and really only relevant in the fact that more pilots are likely to want time off. With the creation of holiday pay, we might even see coverage drop further down the list. Even a popular summer holiday like July 4th wasn't a reserve coverage award for ATL 320/737. The 320 didn't even have a single coverage trip. Reserve coverage days started out as July 5 and 13 then ended up being mostly just weekends the rest of the bid. Coverage awards are based, primarily, on trips as they stack up throughout the bid run. If every single pilot asked for every single weekend off, coverage awards (aka unstacking) would happen to every single pilot below like 60%, every month.

Originally Posted by LumberJack

They can coverage up to 75% of reserves if I'm not mistaken. There are no guide rails, they can throw them out however they like.

Originally Posted by CBreezy

Correct. But they aren't assignments now and I'd argue a true IA hasn't existed in a very long long. There SHOULD be an extra step in the ladder for short notice coverage but one that doesn't exempt people with higher credit or on Golden days and pay regardless of the trigger but in seniority order. Nearly every single IA they've given out since the 2010s has been a proffer, not an assignment

Originally Posted by HelloNewnan

They are assignments. You're just calling them to volunteer to be told to fly.