Hmm... my buddy's grandfather was hired at 18, flew the 3 and was captain at 23. His grandson is now third generation DAL pilot. Great guy!

 

If you can't make it, you can't make it, but if they called you +12 hours, you'd have a hard time getting them to believe you are too drunk (this excuse works for less than 12) or what not.

Unless of course you are somewhere very far from home or such. And there's always the;

"It's my week with the kids, no baby sitter..." excuse.

This is assuming you DON'T want to fly.

 

The key here is "IF they get ahold of you". Don't answer your phone. Listen to the voicemail. Call back if you want it.

Take it from a regional guy, where this stuff is far too common.

 

If you so much as sneeze, you'd lose 300 feet! But that didn't keep me from trying....until the Boss (Chief Pilot) finally said, "Put the damned autopilot on, I'm getting sick!"

 

You have no responsibility to be "able" to do an IA, and if you can't then you can't.
First, you don't have to answer the phone, OR CALL BACK if they leave a message.
Second, if you do answer the phone, you can absolutely say, "sorry, I'm sitting at a stream in the woods where I was dropped off, camping, with no car. Can't make it." or hiking in the wilderness 2 days out, etc.
Third, you can absolutely say, "Dude, it's a day off. I've been drinking beer all morning watching football!"
Fourth, you can be watching the kids with no child support replacement.


From the current "When Scheduling Calls":

c. You may not be compelled to:
5) Accept an IA as a regular line holder for a rotation with a
report within 11 hours of your release at your base.
(Section 23 R. 7.)

and:
A reserve pilot:
• On long or short call must be contactable as described in Section 23
S. (See “Reserve” on page 27.)
• On a layover has no obligation to be contactable.
• On an X-day has no obligation to be contactable or to be in a position
to report for an inverse assignment.
A regular pilot:
• Has no obligation to be contactable at any time that he is not actually
on a duty period (i.e., between report and release on each duty
period).
• On a day off has no obligation to be contactable, or to be in a
position to report for an inverse assignment.

edit-- doh, I researched too long, several guys already answered this...

 

Thanks to all. Recently had a missed call while out in the boat. It would have taken me at least 10 hours to get to base had I answered, and then with no rest. Just kind of wondering what they can reasonable expect if you do answer while not in a position to report. I guess I can always ensure my hat is always left at home because I know it's not possible to fly without one!

 

From the LEC 44 Hotline today:

"The net result of RAW and its efficiency is that it saves Delta money by reducing the number of reserves required, open time and premium flying. These net savings from RAW go to Delta’s bottom-line, but not necessarily yours."

Glad to hear they're all about taking up the fight against the company's efforts to reduce the number of reserves required. Makes me wonder what other possible ways we could work to stop the reduction in staffing requirements. Anyone?

 

If you want to increasing staffing you could campaign for our co-workers to stop flying 90+ hours every month. I remember my 7er LCA showing me his 130+ hours of credit he was acquiring every month. I know a few ALPA P2P guys, & while they were making calls to survey the pilot group there were multiple people who griped that they couldn't fly to FAR max every month!!!

I say we go back to the bow wave program. We truly are our own worst enemy.

 

Somehow you got the opposite meaning than that the writer intended to communicate.

Prior to RAW value, we had straight seniority. We lost straight seniority in pre-bankruptcy concessionary bargaining. ALPA would like to have back pure seniority, but that comes at a cost to efficiency. If we negotiate a more seniority based system it will cost money somewhere. Many pilots prefer to have hourly pay rates than work rules.

I was a little surprised when this 120 lb overweight Captain made his way up to the ALPA Reps in the lounge and asked "how much did this new reserve pay cost us?" ALPA's Rep answered something along the lines of 1 to 2 %. The Captain got bellicose and said "screw 'em, I want the money." The ALPA Rep said, well, our reserve pay was well below industry standard and it now has been brought up to what the rest of the profession is, on average, paying their pilots." Captain Itsallaboutme was non-plussed (he looked a lot like you can imagine he looks when getting gut checked by the yoke on the taxi checklist).

That's the exchange when we talk work rules .... (he had a flip phone, I'm not worried that he will read this on the Forum unless his 8086 with Windows ME is working today)

 

We had this on the C-9 in the Navy a few times (No autopilot) but one time stands out as particularly fun. I was flying as the aircraft Commander and knowing my limitations (a man has got to know his limitations) we asked for, and received, a block altitude for most of the time at cruise. We were flying transcon, San Diego to Norfolk, or perhaps Jacksonville so it was going to be quite tedious.

The other Pilot, also an aircraft commander but flying as a co-pilot that day, was your typical **** hot fighter pilot type, who was generally a better stick and rudder man than myself - so naturally I couldn't pass up this opportunity to humble him a few notches.

We decided to take turns to break up the monotony of hand flying. Unbeknownst to my fellow aviator, I called back to the crew and hatched a devious plan. When ever I was flying everyone would remain seated but when my partner was flying the crew would alternatively move all the way forward wait a few minutes and then move all the way back. We flew with the cockpit door open and our crew chief would pop up see who was flying and then take charge in the back.

It worked like a charm - I was able to trim the aircraft relatively stable, but my buddy was all over the sky. He actually started sweating and was worried he was losing "it." After over an hour of this we finally broke down and told him what was going on - the look on his face was priceless!

Scoop