This is a great post. I can't even remember last time a pilot bragged about how many days off he had. Everyone brags about how much credit they can get. I fly with pilots who will say, "I have the next 8 days off, but I'm going to try for a greenslip next couple days. If that fails, I'll just white slip or pick something off swap board. I only have 80 hours this month." The days of everyone making the same amount of money, 70 hours per month, sure would be nice.

 

Different strokes for different folks. I won't knock the pilot that could care less about passing up $3000+ GS because he's out fishing and won't knock the pilot hustling for 150+ credit each month. 13,000 different pilots, 13,000 different motivations.

 

You missed the point of the post completely.

 

The reason we had a 75 hour cap for the last 50 years was:

1.SAFETY (to keep the company from making us fly tired)

2. To keep us from eating our young.

For years the max flying time per year was 1000 hours, which works out to about 82 per month.

Now we have PBS with no cap other than the FAR's. You want to fly 92 a month for the next 30 years? See how that works for you when you're 64, if you live that long. That guys willingly fly over 75 at straight rates baffles me, but I grew up with the old school, 75 hour cap, where I rarely worked more than 12 days a month, even as a new hire.

 

I don't think most new hires have any concept of this. Military types are just glad not to be in the sand box for 179 days straight (or working 7 days a week when stateside), and regional pilots who survived their hellish lost decade are thrilled to make it to big D. Keep spreading the good word on how good this job has been and should again become; heavens knows the profits are there to make it so.

Being a CEO ain't like it used to be either, ya know...

 

The slower upgrades which result when everybody senior to you flies max hours can give you a career of less pay for more work. How many green slips are needed to offset each additional year in the right seat?

 

I think the addiction of credit hours is obviously a result of the pay cuts over the last decade. Sure, everyone would love to fly 75 hrs but if you have a mortgage, kids, etc it's almost impossible to make a living on just 75 hours(at least on a narrow body in a medium to high cost of living area).

 

Ok, I will bite. I am in a category (ATL 717A) where the company refuses to build a reasonable trip mix. Many months 90+% of the trips are 4-5 day trips--this for a domestic category.

So this month (July) is the third straight that I will be on reserve by choice. Due to vacation I was able to create a reserve line where I am never on call more than three days at a time. The same was the case in June.

My philosophy? If the company insists on only building 4-5 day trips--in a domestic category no less--then I will use the contractual rules available to me (min on call day rule of 3 for reserve line construction in domestic categories...if you don't understand that sentence read the PBS Gouge) to never be on call more than three days at a time!

In June, between that, being appropriately staffed, and nine days of vacation, I flew seven total days. Some of that flying was easy stuff too. I got the reserve guarantee plus vacation for a monthly value of around 85 hours or so.

 

Vacation should be pay and credit both for bidding and the actual month. That would solve the problem. I put that in both my surveys. I discussed it with one of the negotiators and he said I was in a overwhelming minority on the issue so I would not expect a change.

 

Same for me. I had the same response from a couple of my reps too, and the same response to restoring our DB plan! "There are a lot of other guys who don't want the DB plan restored...."

OK, make it optional, choose which plan you want to stay with, today's DC, or the old 60% FAE DB plan.

I choose DB.

Delta can have all the DC money Delta has paid me, and I'll give back the Note, Claim, MPP, and any PBGC money too.