One no/low cost improvement that would greatly enhance commuter's QOL is no short call on the first day. 18 days of reserve turns into 20-22 when you add the commute to 0500 short call for the first day of reserve. Maybe even make it optional for the guys who live in base.

Ooo wee. Let me go change my AE bid! :eek:

Which one is your favorite?

Oh I don't know. I guess I pretty much like em all. :D

Now you know what I mean with my signature. :)

That being said... I've been mostly bored out of my mind this year sitting reserve.

"What would you say you do here at Delta?"

"I have people skills! I call the flight attendants... and tell them to tell the gate agent to...."

Can't you understand that!?? What the he** is the matter with you people?!!!

Hell will freeze over before scheduling would agree to something like that. They use SC's to get and keep crews (especially commuters) in position. You can have a RAW score of 120 and have three people in front of you with a RAW score of 0, but if it's your first day of reserve, you'll be SC'd... guaranteed! I don't think I've ever not been SC'd on my first day of reserve. What also sucks is that when you're on short call, those with Yellow Slips (15 RAW reduction) get called before you for trips that report less than 12 hours. Oh well... it's the way our contract is written. I'm just learning to deal with it and hope for something better in 2012.

Why do you assume that improved commuting has to be contractual and bought and paid for? Both JS booking windows and Call in Honest can be improvements that improve the Co, bottom line AND pilot QOL, the proverbial win-win.

Bad old NWA where we fought over everything with management came to that conclusion and we had better JS as policy and Call-In Honest as a side letter (?) with neither costing us anything somewhere else.

With as often as I have heard that we work better with DAL management than the old NWA, you think this would be an easy fix, however reading the comments here I think the attitude of some of our own pilots is a bigger impediment to improved commuting policies than management.

I believe commuting will become a necessity for many after this AE. Some may say it is still by choice but there are circumstances that could and do make it a necessity rather than a choice.......

And some may say it is a necessity but their circumstances show its really a choice. We've never had a pilot base in PHX, TPA, Madison, WI, CHS, JAX, PNS, MLB, etc. but I know pilots who commute from all those and many more, and have done so for 10+ years.

I'm just sayin.....