Originally Posted by Alan Shore

Probably so. But regardless of where his X-days sit, particularly if he bids them in as long a block as possible, he will be available for a GS trip on those days, and that will hopefully start the thunder rolling for him.

Originally Posted by Alan Shore

True statement. According to the contract comparison we received in 2011, just about everyone has more total vacation (days x hours) than we do. Increasing the daily value gives all regular lineholders more days off, but not reserves (unless you change the proration table in PBS).

You could also decrease the number of years it takes to progress to each additional vacation week. That gives most, but not all pilots, more vacation days.

Or you could bring back the two extra days in front of each pilot's PVAC.

Lots of different ways to skin a cat, I suppose.

Originally Posted by gloopy

The conventional wisdom is they were buffing the books for a better quarter/full year. However I can't see how 150 new hire pilots on staff making training pay would make a dent anyway. My back of the napkin math, with an additive for gusty conditions, says 3 months of 150 pilots making training pay is around 2 million bucks. Plug that into our numbers from last year and you can't even tell a difference. The stock would be exactly where it is now, the debt would be paid off exactly on schedule with exactly the same interest rate and we'd still be paying dividends and buying back shares at peak prices ()

Except now we have to leave revenue and marketshare on the table that we could otherwise do profitably, and as an added bonus, we provide even more opportunity for the endless growth mode airlines to swoop in and take it at an incredible profit for themselves.

We've done a lot of things right lately, but holding off on hiring just for a trinket of paper statistics at the expense of the operation was a bad call.

Originally Posted by forgot to bid

is all of the above a plausible option?

Originally Posted by TOGA LK

I agree 100%. It had nothing to do with money. Perhaps they anticipated the economy tanking in '14 but the bulls kept running. Maybe covering our own feed wrt to 737s on the west coast has really cost us that many jobs all along (my theory). Other theories include contraction in the face of ME carriers is a one way path to pilot uniforms hanging in the Smithsonian. Either way I embrace the radical departure and finally enjoy coming to work knowing there is opportunity, normal progression at least. I sincerely hope we capture some of this flying next contract.

Originally Posted by forgot to bid

I guess one thing to do on the bid is ensure a good else start next if rolling thunder is the plan.

Originally Posted by Alan Shore

Maybe. When staffing has been as tight as it will be this summer, reserve pilots have historically had little problems getting rolling thunder started, regardless of where their X-days happen to lie. If I were going down that road, I would likely bid reserve no matter what, and simply bid to put my X-days as early in the month as I can hold.

Originally Posted by Denny Crane

Probably simple questions but I cannot find it in the PWA. Can payback days be used to drop a trip on a regular line and get paid for it? Then can you WS/GS over those days? I pretty sure the answer is yes to both but I cannot find it in the contract.

Denny

Originally Posted by sailingfun

Yes, you can even pick your own trip back up if you have the PU limit. If however you want to be talked about in reverent hushed tones you need to get it back on a green slip!