Absolutely. If anything, we need to take a hard look at such shenanigans, and restrict what I call social access to open time (it's who you know, not your seniority that matters). IMO, the current system is ripe with abuse, and expanding it is absolutely not the answer.

A base's time belongs to a base, and is on loan to the pilot that holds it, until he doesn't want it.

 

So you're ok taking actions that require fewer pilots? These actions would keep junior people with crappy schedules junior even longer. Very considerate.

 

Green slips trigger a increase in required manning. Every airline needs a mechanism to cover peaks in flying. Our GS system is one of the most punitive to the company in the industry. In fact reducing GS's is the companies latest focus in crew Skeds.
OOB pickups would be wide open to abuse, smooth manning between bases for the company and reduce jobs. If there is a loophole or way to abuse a system we have pilots who will exploit it. Witness the current mess with TOE trips as a example.

 

What's the current mess with TOE trips?

 

Sort of, but I understand his passion. He's talking about people reaching into his wallet, and his wallet is directly connected to his family's well-being.

OOBS is not a victimless crime. It's an attempt to displace money from some pilots, towards other pilots, not on the basis of seniority, but on the basis of connections working loopholes.

Actually, it's even worse than that. It's not just pilot subgroups staking from other pilot subgroups, it's also a way to screw the group, and help the company, in the aggregate.

If anything he might be too kind. George Carlin had more appropriate expressions for this sort of behavior.

 

Exactly right SF.

And have you seen what the Flight Attendants are doing these days with their private Facebook clubs? The senior mama's pick up trips out of open time, and then give them to their Facebook Friends, wayyyy out of seniority, all done through their (members only) Facebook groups! Sometimes they trade these trips for other 'favors', outside of work type stuff, i.e. they use them for barter. One told me she got new brakes on her car, from the boyfriend of a junior gal she swapped with...

Some F/A's have gone to the company to complain but have gotten zero support. I believe that is because the company LOVES it, they can reduce the reserves required, the trips get covered, and they (finally) get some younger F/A's flying "senior" international trips.

If it were up to the company, they would only have ONE pilot base, and every reserve would fly at least the ALV, every month. Allowing out of base swap board pickups, and out of base white slips, etc. only works in their favor by reducing manning required and reducing GS pay to the pilot group.

 

Are there any other parts of the contract we should ignore because of your "feelings"? Or is the contract only what roadkill approves?

If you don't like something in the book, there's a process to get it changed. Use it. But calling your fellow pilots greedy for using the book that we collectively agreed to is out of line.

 

At least he did not refer to the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch!

BROTHER MAYNARD:
Armaments, chapter two, verses nine to twenty-one.

SECOND BROTHER:
And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, "O Lord, bless this Thy hand grenade that, with it, Thou mayest blow Thine enemies to tiny bits in Thy mercy."

And the Lord did grin, and the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths and carp and anchovies and orangutans and breakfast cereals and fruit bats and large chu--

MAYNARD:
Skip a bit, Brother.

SECOND BROTHER:
And the Lord spake, saying, "First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then, shalt thou count to three. No more. No less. Three shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, nor either count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then, lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it."

MAYNARD:
Amen.

KNIGHTS:
Amen.

ARTHUR:
Right!
One!... Two!... Five!

GALAHAD:
Three, sir!

ARTHUR:
Three!

------

35th Codicil of the Latest & Greatest thread is to let no Monty Python reference go unrecognized and unrequited. Brothers, I forgive your sins against Roadkill. Go forth and sin no more.

 

Senior FO's watch for TOE trips. The day prior to the trip they call the junior FO on a TOE trip and swap their better trip with him. At 7 pm that night they are now the senior FO and stay home. The original senior FO now flies a trip he thought he would be home for. There are a few guys who do this all month long. One FO I know lost staying home on two trips in a row to the same guy.
It's legal but I would not call it ethical. Easy fix would be the senior original line holder on the trip stays home unless both guys dropped it.
There are some very ****ed off FO's over this issue!

 

Not sure if this would apply to the specific pilot in question, but I can think of a scenario that would make this legit. If the pilot was mandatory displaced to ATL 717 A (from ATL DC9 A for example), he/she would not have incurred a category freeze because of the mandatory displacement. When NYC 717 A opened, the pilot bid and got that award and is still not under a category freeze since the bid required no training and was only a change of base. Now the pilot is free to bid anything he/she wants on any bid, including SLC 73N B.