Thanks for the discussion you guys. Gotta a couple of other projects. Sorry if I didn't explain myself too clearly on SC/LC. Bottom line: I'm open to any Reserve change that's transparent (seniority decides assignments), flexible (people can work more for more money, or less for minimum money), and worthwhile. I think Reserve gets far too little attention in contracts, and that Reserve should be another valuable option to all pilots in category, not Purgatory for the Junior.

I'm open to all variations on the theme, and I don't have the time to give it a good, honest discussion to find the right consensus right now. Not to mention the fact that, somewhere in this thread, we've already done gone there and done that.

Regards,

Sink r8.

 

Sink I know what you're getting at with perpetual sc if there was a financial incentive but even a live in baser like me has trouble with sc since I live on the north side of ATL. I don't think 80 hrs a month would be enough for me to live in SC unless I lived in peachtree city. I guess you could name it long call and peachtree city short call. Problem is it cause commuters in NYC, LAX and DTW a lot of angst to have a SC only line.

Personally SC should give you the same raw score points as a 5.15 day trip. That way you can build a score and be less likely to be called next time. I'd had a raw score of 180 instead of 123 this month if I got credit for SC.

 

I would have to disagree with you on reserve getting attention in contracts. Over my career at Delta no section of the contract has seen more improvements then the reserve section. When I started reserve was simple. 19 days on call, 24 hours a day with 2 hours to get there. No short call, long call or anything else. It has improved until in the 01 contract we had one of the best reserve systems anywhere. Then came the 1113 changes. Yes reserve got worse however so did every aspect of the contract including 42 percent direct pay cut. Payrates today are almost the same as when I got hired yet the reserve system is vastly better even with the last round of concessions.

 

This is for Sink - I'm using the quoted post to agree with it.

Sink - I understand you want an improvement to reserve and I'm not against it. I think that making LC/SC separate like you proposed ends up screwing people who get SC pretty bad. In some cities (LAX, NYC or even ATL as Forgot said), a call for a trip on SC right at +/- 2 hours to report can be a challenge. Not all the nice places to live are near the airport. I live 30 minutes from the parking lot in DTW. Pretty close, right?

Well - on SC, it's on the edge. By the time I leave the house, drive the 30 mins, wait for the bus, make my way to the crew room, it could be a hour from when I leave my house. That's assuming that I got right up from the couch and left. On a month full of SC, how am I going to go to the store, exercise, spend time with the wife and kid? I can't imagine the misery that 18 days of SC could bring to my month. And that's living in base, pretty close to the airport. Someone who lives a bit further from the airport could be forced to spend all those days at home - no leaving home.

At least with a LC/SC mix, there is a break where on a day of LC I could get errands done, visit a friend or have a beer.

Excellent point - because as it stands now, someone can sit SC after SC, not get a trip, then sit LC and be first up for a trip.

 

Or have everyone sit on res during the year...you would bid for your month by your seniority...than when it got to the bottom it would come up in inverse order. Gives everyone a chance at having a life, your seniority would allow you to bid what months you pull the rsv...pilots on the bottom would still have move rsv...but they could have a life.

 

We could all have "A" days - the FAs seem to love those! ;-)

 

Agreed Sink r8. Thanks for the friendly debate. Maybe your idea will be analyzed & it will reveal some advantages I don't see know.

Cheers

 

Someone's getting a belated Christmas present:

- forgot to update my MD bids by 0900

 

If I have one beef with our Reserve program, it's this: pilots with <300 hrs in a given airplane need to fly. One or two short trips per month on Reserve, IMO, isn't enough to lock in a good a/c habit pattern when you're new to the bird.

What do you, esteemed colleagues, think of not assigning reserve flying to pilots with <300 hrs in a given bird/seat? The pilots just above them on the seniority list would get the Reserve lines, but over time that'd become part of the cost of doing business wrt to getting new guys up to speed.

 

Oh no!! They will try to leave you in NYC or ATL, right?