I'll concede that it is possible but I don't think it's going to be as easy as you think. To do this you (again the generic you) and one of your buddies has to buddy bid the same schedule and then you have to bring in the third guy. I was just looking/thinking about my example and it is flawed. First, Pilot B would have to give his B trip to Pilot C, then Pilot A would give his A trip to Pilot B, whiteslip the opentime trip and then pick up Pilot B's B trip from Pilot C. I'm sure there are other iterations, we'll just have to wait and see.........Time will tell...........:)

At least it eliminates it for most categories..........(I guess my glass is half full this morning!:))

Denny

Had a 777B jumpseater recently moaning about the loss of pay he was facing because of trip parking going away. He felt he should be allowed to fly to the FAR limits.

Then he whined about how long it was taking him to move to the left seat.

He couldn't connect the dots.

If we still had the cap/bowwave system of 15 years ago, he might be a 777A! It's all about the W-2, not maxing this month"s pay hours.

+1.

The problem with a bow wave (and I really wish we could have gotten that back) is that with the massive erosion of pilot earnings in the last decade, most pilots "need" to work more than the limits of a bow wave to make their family budgets... Unfortunate but its reality.

I think 1.5x pay for 'over' a certain limit is the exact opposite way to go....

If I got it right, it's two legitimate swap with friends but just between the swaps each picks up a trip from open time.

Please tell me why your "Air Line" does not keep extra starter generators at your Int'l hub of SEA... My flight for NRT was supposed to leave @ 1340 yesterday and we are still here watching the flight slide back later and later. Showed up this morn @ 0500 to stand in line at check-in for 2.5 hours. They hadn't changed the flight# and couldn't sell the seats? What a goat rope of an "air line." Reminds me of the time 76-300 returned to FRA after departure, sit on hard stand for 2 hours, NO SERVICE, take-off to arrive in ATL when line of T-storms forecasted to arrive. Well it did and produced tornadoes in DT Atlanta so we diverted to Birmingham, an airport without customs; Good thing there wasn't a problem with the airplane when we arrived. Sure seems like people are asleep at the wheel in the planning department over there.

Funny how you guys and United have your CEOs on you "welcome aboard" videos spewing out total blatant lies about customer service and being comfortable on the aircraft, all while sitting in the WORST pitched seats on a 17 hour delayed Int'l flight. Reminds me of the White House and Capital Hill.

U.S. Airlines are the worst... and unfortunately there is nothing the front line employees can do about it.

What can we say; sorry you had that experience on Delta Air Lines.

Larger jets do not typically have starter generators on their engines. The starter is motivated by compressed air. (with the notable exception of the 787, which Delta does not have yet) The APU has a starter generator, but if the APU had a fault I doubt that level of detail would have made it up to the gate agents. As for starters and generators, they very rarely fail. I've had no broken starters and two deferred (as in it did not break while I was using it) generators in over ten years with none at Delta Air Lines.

I can assure you all of Delta's employees wish the thing had not broken. Sometimes with electrical faults, as this might have been, the source is a relay stuck out of position which can be difficult to diagnose and which can mysteriously fix itself when it simply springs back over to the correct position.

Before going out over the Pacific the jets have to be perfect. While delays can be very frustrating for the passengers and the airline, safety has to come first.

Delta has a reasonably priced Business Elite product. If you would like a lie flat seat, great food & wine, it is all available.

Nice A36. I've got a third of one. Wonderful airplane, but I can only wish it could be as reliable as the systems on the Boeings.

Regardless of how it is done, the original trip that was given to the friend to start the whole process now has to pass thru open time to make it back on to the schedule of the original pilot. IMO this is a good thing.

Denny

...it doesn't exist on aircraft with air starters but does on smaller aircraft, which is apparently where this passenger gets their knowledge...

To add to what BB said, this would be roughly $54 per pilot (650k/~12,000 pilots). We are a very large organization. It costs real money to run road shows, meetings, PUB events, etc. When you break it down to $54/pilot I don't think that's all that expensive.

There were those pushing agendas on both sides (remember the pages of Jack Bauer vs Lumberg??) Just because the minority voters didn't like the outcome (which is their right) doesn't make it a "sell" job.

There is no such animal as a starter generator. Large jet engines are started with bleed air. As far as the airline Delta has certainly had their issues over the years. The last two years however they are running a good airline. In fact the operating performance the last year has been simply stellar. On time is near 90 percent and completion rate is damn near 100 percent. Over the 4 days of Thanksgiving last year we did not have a single mainline flight cancelled out of almost 2000 flights a day. Airplanes are complex and break now and then. Delta however right now has some of the best stats ever for a global airline.