You don't get 8 hours, but after years of actually doing SDTs, I know what makes a good one vs a bad one. We have many SDTs at 9E where you get 8 hours of sleep too. The key is the legs have to be under 1 hour, otherwise they are a nightmare.

 

Watch them. This will be ratified by the MEC without our input and the first time we see it will be after their vote.

 

Yes, it allows them to transfer even more flying from DCI to the mainline.

 

It's discouraging when "our" "union" acolytes here insist negotiations must be "give and take" when the company is this profitable.
If we can't make gains ...straight gains without offsets... now, then we are in a "death spiral."

Why do we need to give up anything?

I'd rather take it to a grievance than roll over again with what is obviously not a home run. If it was a home run, there would be no need to release it with a slick "notepad" or worse...after the MEC vote.

 

I wouldn't have a problem with it as long as you have the opportunity to get 8 hours of sleep at the hotel. But that's going to be at least 9 hours in the hotel room and, unless it's an extremely short flight you're now pushing the max duty limit. Doesn't seem very practical.

 

Just sent an email to my reps. CDO's are a bad idea and I don't think we want to go there. Since when is sacrificing safety ok if there is a financial reward for flying the trip? I don't see any scenario in which I would be able to honestly sign that fit for duty form in the morning after flying a 2 hour "redeye," getting 4 hours of sleep, then being back at the airport again at 0500. For the few guys that might like these trips, many of us will get to fly them by force. No thanks. Oh yeah, and any concession by this pilot group in the current financial environment is totally unacceptable. That being said, I will wait to analyze the the LOA before I say up or down. (Better yet, I'll let you guys that are smarter than me analyze it) ;-)

 

Oh yeah, how's that? (Btw that's a good/great thing if true.... But I don't know that I buy it to be true) If a city pair requires an MD-88 or 717 vs an RJ that's the aircraft that's going to fly it. The staffing issue is more whether the MD88 guys end up doing a 30 hr overnight vs a CDO.

 

My thinking is that if Delta management wants to transfer flying to you guys, and preserve their current schedule, they have to have SDT's available to them.

 

my guess is all the thirty hour layovers we do on the 717 and friends wjere we do the last flight in and first out are annoying them knowing if they could a cdo they dont have to oay two crews to do the overnight.

i would rather have two crews overnighting.

 

I hope you elected intelligent and thoughtful reps then... or maybe you should have run and been elected yourself to make sure that the majority of pilots thinks like you do and would get behind your philosophy.

There are several reasons why it was given to the reps, and most, if not all of them are good!

You haven't seen it so how do you know any of it is a concession? Listen, we all know you want everything yesterday... I want everything too, but as the old saying goes: "how do you eat an elephant?" "One bite at a time."

We've been eating a lot more frequently than any of our peers in the last 7 years, and I expect this LOA will be no different, or else I expect my reps to turn it down.

I don't need MEMRAT to secure a good deal, we have elected 19 extremely diverse pilots to weigh the merits. If they like the agreement, great..if they don't, that's fine also.

If they debate and decide the pilots would slam dunk a "Yes", why bother with the union expense (20-40k) and delayed implementation of the benefits of the agreement?

If they decide that it is worthy of a MEMRAT and an additional Monty's wait, then that's ok too. They are good people who were chosen by their peers to act on our behalf.

Don't like your reps ability to make thoughtful, logical, rational decisions in the best interest of ALL Delta pilots?

Well you should have acted a long time ago to rectify it, especially if people have the same heartburn you have with the current reps in your base. Maybe you're just in the minority, it happens...