GT interns aren't dummies. I know one that was 4.0 in high school and at Tech in Aero E. Too smart to stay at Delta. So smart he would get the company seats at Braves games while I couldn't sniff one.

I remember ATILA. It became self-aware and they couldn't turn off the ACARS messages. For 12 months we were told to just ignore them.

Scary.

Once the dot matrix printers become self-aware...that’s pretty much the end;)

The main intern rode our jumpseat. He did it all for free when it wasn’t funded. Worked great. Now that it’s funded (with Delta IT taking over) it’s lacked innovation and has bugs frequently rear their heads. Coincidence?

I would love if they were able to overlay open time on my calendar like icrew max , who do I send an email to to suggest that

According to the help section on micrew, feedback is submitted via FCR.

Why doesn't Delta just buy iCrew Max and put regular iCrew out to pasture? I've never used iCrew Max but from watching others use it seems way more user friendly.

I can't believe they are using interns to make MiCrew. Nothing against GT interns (I'm sure they're very smart) and for what it is MiCrew isn't bad but why is this such a low priority that they are only using interns?

They may not be dummies, but whose bright idea was it to put the Open Time sidebar menu carrot (<) right next to the Settings hamburger (menu) icon? And whose bright idea was it to use a jack of all trades master of none webapp design? And whose idea was it to reset the Open Time view settings every time the app is opened? And whose idea is it for the app to totally white screen and data dump any time it’s doing a data refresh?

This is amateur league type stuff for an app and I’m not even an IT person.

I bet they're all very smart and very capable people. I wish Delta would pay the money to hire a Silicon Valley tech firm to make MiCrew. Yes, it would cost more, but it would be done faster and be better supported.

Still better than the overly-complicated, convoluted mess known as ARCOS.

Haven't used it much, but so far I'm a fan.no worrying about phone calls

Before arcos the number of green slips in my 5 career at delta was 2.
After arcos it is 15

Wasn’t it a GT intern that solved the unsolvable (said McDonald Douglas) MD-88 engine roll back at idle problem?

Certainly an interesting data point. Hard to differentiate causation from correlation, though. Any chance you live out of base? My hunch is the assignments are going faster and more frequently providing commuters adequate time to make sign in. From an unscientific viewing of daily trip coverage in my category, it seems I see way more #1s and fewer #4+... perhaps ARCOS is spreading the love a little more, which I think is just fine. I like the upsides of ARCOS but don't dig the way it is being implemented with batch size exceeding green slips available. Before ARCOS, I had no calls for green slips that weren't mine for the taking, and after ARCOS I've probably had 30 or more (flying perhaps 4).

A simple tweak of the software could find a happy medium... only notify one at a time (or batch size=trips available), automate the system to step to the next candidate at receipt of "decline" (or 10 minutes of no response). Scheduler is notified when the process is complete with an acknowledged assignment. Split the difference between old and new processing time, but never interrupt a pilot who won't be awarded a GS if he chooses to accept the proffer.

I live in base, I am happy that more people are getting a chance it’s not perfect but it works

The contract requires 10 minutes after you are called before moving on to the next pilot. ARCOS sends the alert and then dials the pilot so they set the time to acknowledge at 15 minutes. The contract also requires that the trip coverage report being used not be more than 30 minutes old so ARCOS would have to be rerun from the start after two attempts. If you limit ARCOS to calling one pilot at a time you defeat the purpose and in fact could probably get the coverage done faster by simply calling.

Can you provide the PWA Section 23 (contract) references for your statement?

When awarding a GS or GSWC the Company will: a. attempt to contact the pilot using at least two telephone numbers listed in DBMS, b. allow a pilot in a non-time critical assignment (i.e., a rotation that is scheduled to depart three hours or more after attempted contact) no less than ten minutes to respond from the first attempted contact, and c. afford the pilot accepting the award the reporting time ability of a short call reserve pilot.

GS and GSWC will be awarded under Section 23 N. or O., subject to Section 23 Q. 8. 35 and the following: a. Open time awards will be based on the Trip Coverage Report (TC) generated for such awards no earlier than 30 minutes prior to the commencement of the award process.

I think you made similar comments last time the subject came up.

1. We're in negotiations; the PWA can be changed

2. LOAs can modify/ improve/ modernize language and we can all weigh in by memrat

3. Scheduling needn't wait 10 minutes if someone declines. If you watch a batch of 30 pilots responding to arcos while repeatedly refreshing, you can see declines and nominations happening at a rate of 5 or more per minute. The logic could look like this:
Scheduler Gets the report. Build the pool of 10 pilots. Hit "start", goes to get coffee. First pilot contacted at 1200 with phone call(s) and ARCOS. First pilot declines at 1203 after referencing details. Second pilot contacted instantly when pilot 1 hits decline, declines at 1205. Third pilot declines at 1208. Fourth pilot doesn't respond. 10 minutes after 4th pilot contacted at 1218, fifth pilot is contracted and accepts/acknowledges the rotation at 1221. Pilots 6 through 10 are never bothered about a GS they weren't going to get. Scheduler returns from the bathroom. ARCOS processed 5 pilots in 21 minutes - way faster than old school, 5 unanswered phone calls and an hour of labor. This scenario is also faster than current implementation of ARCOS, which uses the separate 15- and 10- minute response windows for a minimum completion of 25 minutes (and unnecessarily bothers 5 pilots).

In such a scenario, the software could also be programmed to give pilots an option to opt in if they have been placed in the bucket, prior to them getting their actual solicitation. Then those who want the extra lead time to consider, even knowing it isn't necessarily theirs, can have it. Those who don't want to deal with the head fake needn't do so, and they just don't opt-in for that feature.

I would bet 90% of pilots who don’t want the trip will simply not reply.

I have more faith in our group than that. Even presently, when you help no one whatsoever to decline instead of ignoring, I see roughly half of pilots declining. If they knew it could speed up coverage and get others flying green slips they don't want, i think we could better than number a lot.

Out of Base Swap Board
 

Pretty sure you can't swap trips out of base on the swap board but can you pick up out of base trips on the swap board?

No. You can only WS out of base and even that won't be awarded until the 0700 PCS the day prior.

QHCP reimbursement
 

Are we able to get reimbursed for a Dr’s visit to meet the QHCP requirement?

Only if the company has officially told you that they will not accept a QHCP certificate in your case. If you are providing a doctor's note on your own accord to satisfy the verification requirement, then no. 14 F.5.

There are 2 scenarios where they will reimburse for verification.

1. You need to verify and are under the QHCP requirement (100 - <160 hrs in the look back) and the company exercises its option under 14 F.2. to require a Doctor's Certificate in your case rather than accepting a QHCP certificate.

2. You are required to get a Doctor's Certificate under a "good faith basis" inquiry under 14 F.4.

Let's 86 this entire verification, it's pilot harrassment.

Agreed.


....

I agree. I’d like to see it completely eliminated and that’s coming from someone that has never had to verify a single sick call. My gut tells me the best we will probably end up with are larger numbers for the triggers, but I hope they knock it out of the park and eliminate it.

Stupid concession that was a must have from management. I'd walk a line over this. Union let us down even considering the program. No excuse.

I think I read somewhere that sick calls since this contract were down like 18% or some crazy number. Doubt the company gives this one back easily.

Exactly. I'd rather not have given it up in the first place, but I suspect this ship has sailed. If 18% is the behavioral shift since implementation, no way do I want to yield the quid for that quo to get back what we had.

I'll use sick leave as needed and pay for doctors visits/verifications if necessary. A few hundred dollars max per year is way less than what I suspect we'd give up per pilot to negotiate it back. I'll take 150% pay for middle seat DHs instead.

Actually out of base WS won't be awarded until after the 0700 PCS run the day prior. By definition OOBWS are manually covered by crew scheduling--no automated PCS runs for it at all.

Maybe more young guys v older guys as the age dynamics change of the pilot group account for this change rather than the contract.

You were required to verify under the prior contract. The criteria was different however for the vast majority of the pilot group the current contract is better. Since only a small percentage of pilots exceed 100 hours of sick leave a year it’s highly unlikely there was a 18% reduction due to verification.
If there is a 18% reduction it’s probably due to elimination of tactical sick calls for greenslipping. The ability to generate triple pay with a sickout is gone.

Shack......

Contract question, I’m heading into the dreaded last day of reserve for the month but line holder next month with a descent amount of days off
Is there any limit at all to what they can give me? If I get put on short call and someone calls in sick for a 5 day trip can they assign that to me with no penalty? I couldn’t avoid having this day on call, and I also easily got the 4th of July off. Thanks

Hope is your only salvation! The 30/168 might save you depending on how many days you have already been on call unless the trip has a 30 hour layover.

It’s my only reserve day :(

hope, but if you get nailed....

"Reserve pilots flown into regular line off days when transitioning from reserve bid period into regular bid period are compensated with premium pay. .....and a rotation as a reserve pilot that conflicts with his regular line days off, will receive premium pay for all duty periods flown into his regular line by more than one day, or more than three days if the rotation contains an ocean crossing"

I forgot about that change in the contract. It’s much better than what we had.