An easy turn (say ATL-BHM-ATL) on a LC day as a F-coded GS pays 5:15 above guarantee. Kinda like a credit surfer's WS. No PB for it but it's not a bad deal at all. Can be an even better deal if it also ends up wiping out an existing assignment that would have just been towards guarantee.

Say you have a 5-day stretch of reserve, and have been assigned a crappy 5-day trip that reports at 1800 on day 1. Arcos calls the evening before with an easy turn at 10AM GS. I'd take that for 5:15 above guarantee and get bailed out of the 5-day trip.

 

I do, A LOT. But thanks for the "helpful" suggestions

 

Silver slips were the biggest concession the pilot group made on this last contract. GS on RES is absolutely massive with regards to premium time generation. A 3-day GS on RES wipes out 5 days of RES availability, many times on more critical days such as weekends and holidays, compounding the amount of premium time being handed out. If a RES has any availability left, the company is forced to break up efficient 4-day bid packet trips as for example, into a 2-day and 3-day high credit trips, further compounding premium time flying. I easily would vote for #4.

If not, #2 or #3 as its ridiculous that so few benefit to the detriment of the rest of the pilot group.

Finally, there are more than enough military bros abusing the system that I propose, just like sick time and GS slips, that if only through the use of MLOA you become legal for a SS, you go to the bottom of the SS list. If your use of MLOA has no bearing on whether you could have been awarded the silver slip, you keep your priority. Exactly the same as sick and green slip. Sick and GS was put in to prevent abuse, and this would be exactly the same. They want to get a good deal at the expense of the company? Have at it. But if they want to do it at the expense of the rest of the pilot group, I have a serious problem with that. I'd love to hear the mental gymnastics on how this would be unfair.

 

Just looked at my STS stuff for the first time in a while. Is there a decoder ring for the STS status statements? I have several cases and have 5 different types. Impasse, in progress, submitted to company, approved, compliant. Compliant makes sense but the rest seem nebulous and if approved, where do I find the pay documentation and determine it was actually paid?

 

then what are you complaining about? You’re using the contract for QOL gains.. just like it’s meant to do

 

The system will email you when a claim is approved.

impasse means bad / annoying / no resolution in sight

in progress means a volunteer has assigned themselves to your claim from the queue

submitted to company means the dispute is in the company’s hands and they need to either approve it or provide a rebuttal

 

I'm explaining why I supported silver slips. Yes, it limits a reserves ability to pick up premium pay but I support that because reserves already have a superior system for generating premium.

 

You can't use a GS to bump previously assigned trips same day. It can only be the day prior. But otherwise that's a great strategy.

 

Another improvement I’d like to see:

A RES GS should pay single pay premium for the entire rotation value no matter if it goes over LC days. If the company is running the GS step of coverage they are already expressing a willingness to pay premium pay to cover the rotation. If a reserve picks it up as a GS because they were otherwise not eligible to be assigned the rotation the company shouldn’t be allowed to get away with paying less premium pay because some/all of the rotation was over LC days. PB days would still only be due for C days violated.

 

First off, I vote for option #2.

Secondly, SS does allow more premium pay options. Like happened this month in my category, we had pilots all the way to 16xxx get a SS. That person would never have gotten GS#2 but now between GS#1 and a SS, this person has gotten TWO premium pay rotations. That's a good thing.

As someone who has rolled thunder before, RES GS are great, no argument. But I still flew close to the same amount of block hours for that month that I would have if I had not done a single GS. I just did it for twice the pay. RES GS are not some holy grail that allows everyone to fly GS as well. A REG GS can only do so much, still gotta fly those other single pay trips as well.

Absolutely not. Taskings pop up, people do have an obligation to their reserve or guard unit that didn't exist two days ago. One of my units did a lot of DSCA (Defense Support of Civil Authorities) ie disaster relief. So the idea of being punished by for having to go help with a flood or hurricane is ludicrous.

So no, absolutely no.