In regard to reserve pay, are we payed the ALV-2 for our plane/city combination, or just the jet itself? For example, ALV - 2 in NYC 717 means we're getting the contact mandated minimum, but if you average NYC, DTW, and ATL ALVs then the amount will probably be higher.

Thanks!

 

Too bad, so sad.

I specifically asked the then head of skeds, some 10 years ago, while in charm school, why all ws/gs/ia can't be a proffer... you are always going to get someone to take the trip for double pay... even on Xmas.

Then everyone would pick up the phone on the first ring... one call, then move on... everyone wins.

His response was: "you pilots want everything your way". This was in front of the entire charm school class.

I tried to explain that a ws/gs/ia is not reserve and the "everyone wins" part (including his schedulers). Also, if the company treated us like adults, we would act like adults, (instead of hiding like 10yo school boys), but he wanted no part of that.

Further, there is no way to put in a specific slip to cover all the changing contingencies that occur in one's life.

Therefore, I'll keep my blanket slips in for the month, thank you very much.

 

If I want a gs when I'm flying, I call skeds before I leave and tell them I will accept any gs during my flight. They will put a note on your sked and you will get the gs if it's yours.

 

ALV is by aircraft not base. The company would love to switch to a base by base system so beware on the next contract.

 

So your goal for putting in blanket white slips or at least not tailoring them to something close to what you would fly is to increase crew schedulers workload and mess up your fellow pilots who might have wanted the trip but can't make the report by the time they wade through the make work crowd?
I also put in blanket slips but I do try to tailor them to what I want. I have declined many GS's after answering the phone and not once has scheduling demanded I fly the flight. Usually I get a response like "thank you for answering I will move on." I find that if you treat them like adults they return the favor with perhaps two exceptions.
I once flew often with a real gem of a CA who called the flight attendants every 30 minutes and demanded they bring him something. As soon as they left the cockpit he would toss the item in the garbage. He thought it was fun to increase their workload.

 

The training department would crumble. 2000 extra pilots plus every pilot making a jump to a higher paying category because now they're more senior in it and probably get more per given seniority. So you're way more senior.



It would be fun times for sure.

 

SF,

I've met you a couple of times... seem like a good guy... but I swear I shake my head at some of the things you say.

Don't know where you came up with any of the above. You may want to re-read my post.

As I heavily implied, of course I put qualifiers in... just impossible to account for every possible contingency.

As far as turning down gs's on the phone... either they know your SF or you've never been involved in a very short staffed situation (i.e., no one else with gs for that trip).

And I do treat every one with respect, like adults... but definitely have not always received the same back in kind... except in Japan!

Also, just to be clear, you favor a system that is completely skewed to the company? I.e., one answers the phone and sked may or may not allow you to pass on the gs out of the kindness of their hearts?... because that sure is not contractual... and it sure has not worked in my favor in the past.

 

I missed that you put in qualifiers. I took it that you just wanted to make it hard on Skeds. I apologize for not reading it fully. I agree the trips should be a proffer. A simple solution I mentioned to the head of crew Skeds was to have a trip decline option in DBMS. They call you and you log on to check trips and if you don't want it hit decline and Skeds can move on.

 

Totally agree with your take on GS coverage. On the ER I have seen some bizarre rotations built by scheds to cover some weird scenarios that have gone out as GS's. Rotations that could never have been foreseen when you were putting in all the qualifiers on your GS in order to ensure that scheds only had to call you for a GS that you would agree to, so as not to "waste their time".

I have had several weird GS that I would not have been called for if I had qualifiers in. For example, Maybe I would prefer to not do a GS that reports before 0600 and think that such a GS would be the typical 2,3,or 4 day trip in my category. Then a 8 day, 50 hour rotation with a 0545 report gets built and goes as a GS. I'd sure be willing to take the early report to get that GS but my qualifiers caused them to skip me.

Blanket GS + a Google Voice # as my only DAL contact has yielded some big GS's that I would not have been called for otherwise. If scheds doesn't like the contractual requirement to call me on my blanket GS and give me 10 minutes to decide(if more than 3 hours to report), then they should seek to change that PWA provision the next time we negotiate a contract. Then perhaps we can say to them, "what are you willing to give up for that?" Making crew sked's job easier is NOT part of my job description. Yeah, maybe I'm a little bitter about all the times that sked's has not given a Flip about making my work life easier.

 

Thanks.....................