+1

All of these schemes for picking up more time do nothing but delay people's upgrades to the next higher paying seat. We should be figuring out how to work FEWER hours, not more.

If an old school trade unionist could read these boards he would be shocked.

 

I'm not sure. The main driver of hiring and required pilots is block hours. Delta figures the average pilot is going to fly xx.xx of hours per month and I don't think they really care how they do it.

 

So if an hourly worker works 40 hours a week in a factory, and his supervisor asks him if he would like to work 50 hours the next week, are you saying that he should NOT want to get 1.5x overtime pay, and in fact SHOULD want to work those extra 10 hours at straight pay, all for some philosophical "greater good?"

I don't get it. And yet that is exactly your stance when you oppose automatic premium pay over a certain threshold (80, 75, or whatever).

How about this? You get a schedule. If you fly over some trigger for WHATEVER reason (WS, swap, reroute, weather delay) all time above that is considered overtime, and you get premium pay for it. I don't get why you would oppose that, unless it is some marxist economic approach.

This isn't about "whoring" or whatever pejorative term you can think up, it is about rewarding overtime work. Not everyone is trying to fly 100+ hours (I sure am not). But if I am scheduled to fly 80 hours, and I swap an inefficient, low-time trip (30 hour layover, anyone?) for another, higher-time trip that spans the same days--and that puts me up to 84 hours, why would you oppose my getting premium pay for those last four hours? It makes ZERO sense.

 

So the real question is, what is the "right" amount of hours a pilot should fly, and who gets to determine that--you?

Usually I fly 75-80 hours. Some months I fly more, most less. But I like the flexibility. However we have a very large system that doesn't really lend itself to glib statements of "we should all work less."

A four day crappy domestic that has a long 30 hour layover (due to FAR 117) and only pays 18+ hours is not in the same universe as an uber-efficient international trips paying 20+ hours for a 3-day that signs in on the afternoon of day one and returns 48 hours later.

You really can't shoehorn this large pilot group into one approach when it comes to the "appropriate" amount of flying a guy should do.

I do think that we need some limits on our flying, but I hesitate to tell someone else that I have the right to tell him what he should think.

I guess that is why we have LEC reps who direct the negotiators. Ultimately we all decide what is best.

 

-Get rid of DPA (both of 'em ) and just have an ADG of at least 5:15, with > 5:45 being preferable. Get rid of the 2200-0200 carveout while we're at it. 117 created a boatload of 30 hour layovers that end up making 18 hr 4-days, 13:30 hr 3-days, etc. REGs aren't even protected by that, and RSV's don't get DPA....We're at work, pay us for our time.

-I'd like to extend your APD idea, and make it redeemable (and paid) in up to 4 chunks. There have been several years when I used the APD but only needed it really for one day. If it was paid, it would be nice to be able to retain the remaining un-needed days for later use. Further, un-used APD days would rollover as SUPP vacation days if they aren't used in a calendar year. Sorta like a super-PB day where you don't need "company concurrence" to use it.

-I'd like to see GS pay protection, possibly with some reasonable recovery obligation in the footprint of the original trip. I hauled ass up to the airport to help you guys out, and now I'm only getting suit-up pay (2 hours) for a NOOP??? Once you get burned on that, you don't forget

-Remove any exceptions for Reroute pay. If I am home more than x hours after I was supposed to, that and any subsequent duty periods should all be at 2X.

-RSV guarantee = ALV, ditch the minus 2 thing and let it go all the way up to 84. Or better yet, reel in the upper limit of the ALV down to 83 or 82 - baby steps, but at least let's get it going in the right direction.

-DC to 16 or 17%

-If not an extra vacation week, at least slide the accrual schedule up halfway. So if it takes 6 years to reach each extra week now, maybe we could settle on getting to each accrual step a few years early - if they won't go for the extra week, this would at least be a step in that direction for everyone that's not maxed out. Those that are maxed out get an extra 30 hours of sick time a year anyways, so that's like a super vacation week that they're already getting <---TIC

 

...that he has a contract, and needs to be paid double, not 1.5. He would also think about whether he has a request for overtime. Assuming he does not have a request for overtime, he would suggest to the supervisor to check the list to see who does. That person should get the double pay. If not, that supervisor should find a junior worker to do the work at double pay. If the supervisor refused, that initial person should perform the work as an assignment, and then make sure the right person is also paid. That's the way he would do it, if he was unionized airline pilot.

 

I don't want to go anywhere near Africa.... ever. All it takes is one mosquito, one fly bite, get some of the wonderfully clean water on your food and you have the rest of your life to remember it. Paranoid? Yup... so be it. I am. Hazard pay will provide an incentive for many.. but not me... and I am all for paying guys more that want to take that risk.... the side benny is that it keeps that garbage off my line.

 

...or an infected passenger gets on the plane?

that's why I hate saying "goodbye" to pax. Too many idiots fly sick. With the astronomical cost of changing a ticket, no one is going to cancel or reschedule when sick.

 

Someone infected with Ebola will have a hard time standing up, let alone traveling from rural west Liberia to Monrovia and getting on plane. Ebola in 3 days what AIDs does in 10 years

Have had Malaria multiple times. It's Africa's version of the flu. Its not a big deal. Yes older people and young children die from Malaria if they do not seek immediate medical attention. Guess what happens to old people and young children in the USA if they don't seek medical attention for the flu?

 

Depends on which type of malaria you get.

Three are like getting the flu. One will kill you.

Four kinds of malaria parasites have been known to infect humans: Plasmodium falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale, and P. malariae. P. falciparum is the type of malaria that is most likely to result in severe infections and if not promptly treated, may lead to death.

Yes, I grew up in Africa and SE Asia. Local governments sure took it serious, especially during monsoon season. I remember the mosquito guy going door to door, looking for standing water and handing out hefty fines when he found it.