This may be the single best thought of the day!!! I would love to see a bunch of senior 320 / 73N guys head over to the 717! The "Bobs" will have a cow!!!

 

At least someone has their eyes open. I'm bumping this because it seems like the union is looking for ways to defend company practices rather than defend the pilots affected.

 

The best part is he used the Los Angeles Gay Chorus for a song about seeing girls boobs. Boobs, a universal attention getter whether you are a straight guy, gay guy, straight girl:

 

It cracks me up that some think they are going to, "get the summer off" if they bid the 717.

What is more likely to happen is, they end up stuck in training for the summer, on VA Avenue for all of June, July or Aug! That right there would keep me from bidding it! And if you were the number 1 on it, you may go to school in say, May, but then go back to your old aiplane while awaiting OE, then go back to the box in say, July to get spooled up again, then your OE in Aug.

I seriously doubt the company is going to have a whole bunch of 717 guys sitting around all summer, they will find a way to use them, unless we really are that much over staffed, that they don't need them.

 

I'm not sure that's an accurate portrayal of what's happening with DALPA.

There actually is an unresolved C16 "door pay" resolution passed well before the contract negotiations...

Some in DALPA are attempting change, while others don't care to expend the "negotiating capital" to affect a change...

A phone call or email to one's rep to bump this would be prudent...

Cheers
George

 

What is the change in how our time is being computed? I have read all the company bulletins on this and have seen nothing that changes how block times are calculated. In fact nothing has changed since as far back as 1972 if not far earlier. I don't know how the union could grieve something that has not changed.

 

I don't believe that has been allowed for quite a number of years. no school and then back to the old category...

 

Were the furlough returns seatlocked? Did we get a number of TWA 757's in 2007? Was Glen H. pushing capable airplanes further and thus increasing their utilization / block hours? Was Delta growing? Were f-Delta lineholders on the 767 in Atlanta integrated with mid pack junior DC9B's and f-NWA furlough bypass pilots?

In my estimation, those who bypassed recall did so because the opportunity available to them was not good enough for them to decide to return. If the choice was a commute to a DC9 or a commute to an ER position with a significant pay raise and restoration of longevity ... well, those are pretty obviously completely different choices.

Just my opinion man.

It is also my opinion the 767 and ER went junior on a few bids because like any growing category many pilots hold back for a cycle or two in order to get a better idea of what trips their seniority can hold. On the ER that's a pretty big change from low time unaugmented non commutable pairings, higher time domestic, and more valuable augmented pairings. The noob's didn't care, the pay and getting to fly the 767 was enough for them to jump on it at the first opportunity ... and there is not a huge pay differential from the NB to the ER if a guy can bid well on the NB equipment.

Mid and junior NYC ER may flush on this bid because of the value of the trips and lack of com-mutability. We will see. "Call in Honest" (thanks to f-NWA) helps.

I've bid a return to my beloved MD88 to continue working on basic airworthiness through bulletin publication. I could hold a line on the ER, but as some of the more senior guys decided in 2008, there is enough hassle and uncertainty there to make a job in Douglas flight test a better option.

 

Does that apply to Douglas products? Since nothing works quite the way it is supposed to, I don't see how training is particularly relevant to safe operation.

Basic stick and rudder skills, along with a good eye for terrain features and knowing where to turn are the pilotage skills most required for the job. That ... and always bug the fastest speed you can justify. If the other pilot complains, back it off 1 knot.

I've submitted the idea that the Douglas fleet can participate in the RNAV visuals in Atlanta by simply turning right abeam Stone Mountain at 5,000 feet.

 

I think you guys don't understand the old NWA system - you could never bid over the high time threshold to get 1.5X. It was just a different way of allocating the premium flying that showed up in open time. The staffing formula was the staffing formula - there was never the ability to manipulate reserve levels to have more or less pilots in a category so that they could be picked up by high time swaps or pick ups. Of course we also had a more rigid position bidding system that did not allow under and over manning of a category and the resultant monthly APA - which also was more rigid in training requirements. The result of this system forced the company to be more responsible in their staffing. Of course the downside was the potential of furloughs, but those are self limiting due to cost just like they are now.

Sounds like the issue here is not whether it's 1.5 over 80 or GS, but the contractual flexibility the company has with actual manning within the staffing formula. Under the NWA system they would have been contractually required to hire to staff the 717 instead of the current AE shell game underway.