Flight Ops Hears Us
 

Just got the latest update to my inbox. Florida IROPS have been tough but we’ve out-performed our peers. We’ve reached out to flight ops with our concerns and what we’ve overwhelmingly said is “how can we help?”

Not “we’re going on 3 years without a contract.” Not “We’re getting shellacked by inflation and you’ve given raises to literally everyone but us.” Nope it’s “How can we help?”

The only call I’ve made to the company in the last month was to say “I’m fatigued.” Oh well Potato, Potado. At least they hear us.:rolleyes:

“Comprehensive summer preparedness plan”
That’s some funny stuff right there


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That includes smart changes to rotation construction that allow for easy recovery, minimal disruptions to passengers, and keeping pilots on their scheduled rotations, right? Things like widening turn times for both crews and aircraft, keeping pilots, FA's, and aircraft together the whole day, having all overnights be >14 hrs to allow for adequate rest as well as flex when things inevitably go sideways so that one issue doesn't carry on through multiple days? All of this increases planned credit, but that's the cost of having a reliable schedule and happy crews, right?




....right?

Begs the question (from my feeble brain at least) of could a Central Florida pilot base potentially alleviate some of the constraints that exist and will only get worse in the Florida market: weather, limited hotel rooms, airspace? Is the primary driver of a base only number of departures?

How dare you dredge up the past and suggest we go back to "the way it used to be" in 2018/2019 when we were kicking the industry's butt in both reliability and profitability!

Please remember the prime directives: no flight attendant union and no credit for pilots. Resistance is futile.

That plan includes reroutes. Telling the pilots how great they are and how they appreciate us. Also, hang in there, we are going to address the problems that have been going on for 2-3 years..:D

fify…. Which is nice..

Scheduled max duty days, airport sits/standby to get you there, extensions to get you back to base so you can get home. Minimal time without positive contact. More duty hours, same pay.

Believe it or not, no. It has more to do with controlling LEC votes than actual hotels. FL is one of our largest markets and they once closed an MCO base. They closed a DFW base during BK, many argue it was over the MEC chair who lived there. That made ATL the largest base and we all know there is something special about that place.

I was thinking the same thing this weekend as an A321 diverted to PBI and flight crew timed out with last arrival to PBI canceled. Imagine if you had a small MCO base staffed with the right variety of BES's, in a pinch you could with a 3hr drive cover stranded flights in at least 8+ FL airports served by mainline.

When we had an MCO base in the past it was for Delta Express flying which was almost a completely seperate flying than the rest of the company. Of course back then the express pilots were going to have a whole different set of priorities (starting with getting express pay rates to at least the same as mainline) than the rest of the LEC's would be concerned with. A base there now would be much more aligned with current other LEC's concerns and not as threatening.

We could have had a virtual base in MCO in 2018, but the MEC decided to pull it down without giving the pilots any say in the matter.

Better yet, they can open a real base in MCO any time they want. They've chosen not to.

At this point they've dug such a big hole that they don’t have the training capacity to open anything. I’m guessing that’s why Boston hasn’t opened as well.

Only if its an OOBGS that includes transportation credit. No way can we give them an 8+ FL "co-base" that would be asinine.

It would be in base GS with ground deadhead. That’s the way EWR should be in my opinion.

Maybe, but if they did it right it could actually help. Small initial base and slowly add to it, corresponding reduction in NYC slots.

That would reduce commuters immediately, help with coverage and in the medium to long term help the training churn as well.

Yeah that makes sense.

Excellent point. Thank you.

The utility of that we be very limited. The coverage sequence would have to be processed. You would need to find a Captain and FO in this small base. They would have at least 2 hours to report at MCO. Then get in the transportation if it could be arranged that fast. The departure would have to be scheduled for 1 hour after the transportation arrives. Not much utility in that.

I have said it before.... I have a little more than 3 years, and I will not see a new contract. Ya'll better damned well get retro. :)

What does a 'real' base even mean anymore? I wouldn't know who my CPO is if he walked into my room right now. I can do anything/everything I need to do via electronic means for the most part. The only real downside I can see is that the company could eliminate a bunch of deadheading, but since errybody is whining continually about center seats, that would be a good thing, no? As long as we have PS commuting (sort of) all should be good.

It means it’s opened and closed with the contractual protections, not swapping equipment and size monthly at the behest of network, therefor giving pilots a true idea of what they’re bidding for and MD benefits if they get shut out.

James, let me help you summarize the pages about virtual base….

Positive space commuting -> Sacrosanct. Takes stress out of commuting. Doesn’t help in base people other than keeps jumpseats open. (Punishes your S2 seniority out of MCO on vacation)

Virtual base -> Heresy and Antiunion! How dare you remove credit from DTW and MSP? Eliminates commuting for some. At least until the company changes their minds? Maybe only keeps the base open half the year? Unknown? Doesn’t matter, I can bid for it month to month. If it stinks, I can stay in my actual base and commute as it were.

Real new base -> Godsend. Removes credit from DTW and MSP, but forces the company to keep A320s where they said they would be. At least until the company changes their minds and cuts it in half, might keep a fleet there a year, then move them again. 717s, 777s… Who knows? Could be a year plus to convert in or out the base…. #leroyjenkins #miata #tigerblood #kipeatsnachosandtalkstosweetbabesallday

[/sarcasm]

Rumor has it positive space commuting going away, but in exchange FAs got beards, nose rings, and no panties!

Pilots should demand the same, plus tattoo’s!

sounds a lot quicker than trying to do the same from ATL

I could see an argument for an MCO/TPA base and/or a PBI/FLL/MIA base.

as we simplify our fleet types, hopefully we might see a couple more bases.

The issue with those is still reserves who don't live there and locals who live near the realistic limits of one but even more for the other(s). Its completely unreasonable to expect anyone to commute to one yet cover the other. MCO-TPA is 2 or more hour drive even assuming an "airport car" which most don't have. If you're already 1-2 hours NE/SE of MCO, then its even more. IMO we don't need to give any relief on what a base is. If anything EWR and some of the LA "terminals" need to be removed from existing bases. We absolutely don't need to be adding more.

No more co-bases. The ones we have already are BS and need to be broken up. I’ll give them jfk and lga as long as there is company transportation between the two.

Oh, Flight Ops hears us all right, they just don't care. They pump out letter after letter, filled with "corporate speak"...that typical sanitized, say nothing, take no responsibility corporate BS speak. Telling the pilots how great they are, how they appreciate us. How we should just hang in there, because soon management is going to address the problems that have been plaguing Delta for decades. Either we codify the items needed to improve our QOL and pay in THIS contract or it will never get done. There is a pilot shortage for gods sake! It's either now or never. This company will NEVER change unless we force it to, period.

Dilly Dilly!

What he said.

This baffles me. We have over 600 flight attendants in the MCO base (and growing). Tomorrow we have 60 mainline departures out of MCO. A majority are on the A320/321 or 757/767.

Why not have a pilot base there?

BOS is pushing 150 departures plus the FA base, but still no pilot base.

I was absolutely amazed last time I was in BOS for the morning push. Every A gate full and pushing. Had 3 DL jets in a row taking off with more chugging over.

Id assume biggest thing with BOS is there is no dominant aircraft. It’s a split of 220/320/330/73/ER. No real primary jet to make a category of. 321neo probably swings the balance to 320 category eventually.

Not mainline. Tomorrow there's 63 mainline departures from BOS.

I didn’t look at the schedule at all, so I may be completely wrong, but I bet tomorrow being Easter Sunday affects things.

I believe what he’s getting at is a lot of those 150 delta departures are on regional partners.

In that case BOS base seems more likely with the regionals dying