Huh? We did that in then Glenn Tilton Airline Management class and all we got was mud. The promised green sprouts failed to materialize. So we spun off & sold the packaging and took out a loan on the remaining pile of mud at 19% interest. We are not sure how we are going to pay back that loan, but at least we unlocked shareholder equity and took the beans as a bonus for our work.

True, I just feel naked without something on my chest. I mean ... nevermind.

ALV's for January are out. Looks like the 320 took over the undermanned spot with an ALV of 81hrs.

That makes sense. I had always wondered the reasons for the utilization numbers on NWA's fleet. Delta made a concerted effort of increase utilization and I'm seeing the same trend now with NWA, in effect making airplanes without having to buy them.

I am not Buzz but it is easy to say that NFL's did not replace SIL's. The company discontinued SIL's before the NFL was negotiated. There have been very few takers of the NFL's and still no SIL's. The company does not think the 15 hour savings from a SIL is worth having one less guy on reserve. If you don't like that calculation, talk to them. That is totally their choice.

The NFL is a personal leave of absence (already in the contract) with MORE benefits for the pilots who want it. Why is this bad?

Why did it have to be negotiated in secret?

Didn't they finance that first revolution?

I have 6 other pair of wings, is it ok to wear one of those? Thought I would cycle them through.

Perhaps because there was no real negotiation. The company came to the union with a unilateral offer to give some improvements to the leave program. They asked for nothing in return hence no negotations. SIL's were already dead and gone. The company finally did the math and realized they were losing money. There were many GS's in categories where SIL's were given out.

Here's my take:

Last winter, we had SILs for categories that were overstaffed. Some, like ATL ER had a bunch - and last winter we were flying more than this winter. Even this September there were some SILs if I recall. October, no SILs - many thought it was odd because we had been hearing how overstaffed we were and maybe furloughs. November, no SILs. Odder.

Then, in early October, poof, out of thin air comes the NFL option, and we've had no SILs since then. I agree that the company may be seeing it as "15 hours of pay to get another guy on reserve is fine." Fine by me too, because as a reserve, I'm barely flying. I flew 1 trip in October, and two in November. The company discontinued SILs *while* NFLs were being negotiated. I would bet a dollar that the company bluffed and told the union, "oh, by the way, we don't plan on SILs anytime soon, so you get NFLs or nothing" hoping the union would agree. If I had been a rep, I'd say, "no, lets stick with SILs - I bet they will cave and we'll get SILs all winter long".

True, the NFL does give pilots the option of a 1 or more months leave of absence essentially. Perfect for the guy with another business, military reservists who want the month off and can add flying/pay there, the pilot who wants the holidays off and has money saved, long vacation, etc etc.

But, SILs did the same thing, you just got paid 55 hours. I think SILs are better for the pilot group as a whole than NFLs. If the MEC has asked our opinion about NFLs, I think that the pilot group would of said that. Also, SILs make a category smaller for that month, allowing more junior guys to have lines.

NFLs do the same thing, but there are far less NFLs being taken than SILs. I think someone else did the calculations and SILs are cheaper for the company than NFLs, because few people are taking NFLs than SILs.