So why can a DC9, 73N, and 767 pilot now be scheduled for 9 reserve days in a row. MD88 and 320 pilots not part of this new change? I missed the memo on the Crew Resources and Scheduling page that let us know about that little bit of info. I'm not a commuter and really don't like the fact that I got scheduled to sit 9 days of reserve in a row on the 737. If this was an LOA type deal, what did we get for letting the company do this to us? Or was this something we really wanted?

No it was not. What you are seeing is Scheduling trying out something that many pilots have asked for. They are seeing if they can effectively schedule a reserve pilot for more than six days of reserve in a row this way. They will make sure you have 24 hrs free from duty somewhere during that time.

There is a bit about this under the scheduling section in the ALPA forums. No MOU, Not TA, just scheduling actually trying something at the direction of our PBS committee.

Anyone heard anything new about the JFK terminal situation?

It's still here.

Mesabah (between furloughs),

If you weren't prepared I would say so, but in actual dollars of career earnings, no way. In the new contract, fight for what is good for the profession, not to get back what was lost for a small minority group even if they were hit by a large shock. No more pension giveaways to preserve (your job).

(just a reminder, DAL didn't furlough through this downturn, but my pension is still gone)

:p

We most certainly did furlough during the downturn that cost us all our pensions.

Mesabah's just flam-baiting, but you're suring not skipping a beat following him down this road. There is nothing to be gained there.

Sinkr he's referring to the downturn of the last 18 months, not 2001-2007.

Probably, but he didn't lose his pension as a result of that downturn. It's hard to tell one downturn apart from another ina continuous string, don't you think?

Sink, true. Sad too!

I also think that looking to restore a pension is a bad road to travel down. I prefer to find ways to fill up our current retirement plans.

More Worldflight fodder for those interested.

Story I heard today was that DAL originally wanted to turn it off.

Now fNW has been using Worldflight basically since its inception, so we have a GREAT contract rate. Something like $25K-$30K/month.

Contrast that to AMR which just switched to Worldflight and paid $5-6 million up front and pays monthly fees of ~$100K.

Fortunately, someone at DAL realized/was persuaded that cancelling the contract would be a really bad idea because if they ever wanted it back they would pay AMR type fees.

Extra fuel - Has anyone in a 747 or a A330 been short released since we went to FPS2? I haven't and I have not talked to anyone else that has either. That would explain some of the extra fuel we have been carrying around. Was told that FPS2 can't do short releases???

Random routes - Was told that FPS2 cannot quickly do random routes, they have to exist in some kind of database. Worldflight they could enter and compare a bunch of different routes for fuel burn in minutes.

Worldflight cannot replace FPS2 as a drop in because FPS is "attached" to too many other things.

Conclusion, Worldflight is not dead, but its not coming back in its current form. More likely it will be used as a tool by dispatch until FPS2 can be upgraded. I hope FPS3 gives us a more Worldflight-like product.