You seem to be dismissing IVDs a bit too easily. They are one of the greatest improvements to the contract I've seen. Without going into details that only matter to me, I've used IVD's a couple of times to take days from a "throwaway" week of QVAC in January, and instead use them in far more important times of the year.

IVDs are yet one more optional tool available to us to make our lives just a bit better. I love them.

I can’t tell you how many pilots I have flown with who don’t even know what a IVD is. They have been very good to me when I needed time off. I also find many are unaware they can cover any PD from their vacation bank often losing GS pay as a result.

July ALVs were 83ish. That means some people were awarded up to 90ish hours. With 5 day trips especially, PDs would not be granted unless it’s M-F. The M-F trip is probably not one many would try to drop. The real problem is the lengthening of domestic trips to eliminate 1-2 days and diminish the quality of 3 days. That combined with tight staffing means you are stuck with your initial award. The one time fixes (APD or IVD) give you very limited usefulness in rearranging a schedule but are great for just unpaid time off. They are not vacation and don’t come with hours of pay.

Our system is making us fly more with less ability to adjust particularly during the summer. These are facts. I think the readers understand the vector we are on with regard to scheduling. I hope to change that. If you don’t, fine. More money doesn’t solve my problem of being overworked during the months I prefer to be off more.

I agree wholeheartedly. We need more IVD’s and/or more than 2 times to use them.

Denny

They are great for time off but light on credit for the trip dropped and not good for credit average when trying to rework a schedule. As you stated, when the undesirable vacation week is left as a partial week it is low for line construction also. Not a huge deal but not great either.

Gonna put this out there as a public service announcement. This usage of an IVD is only effective when bidding reserve.

By strategically using a 1 day IVD from a vacation, you can increase your total days off by one day. Here is how. Take this August for example. I have a week of primary vacation. If I bid reserve with 7 days of vacation, I get 9 X days. If I used a one day IVD from that vacation in a different month I now have 6 days of vacation in August but, wait for it.......I now get 10 X days. Either way same total days off in August but an extra day off overall.... This doesn’t work every month but y’all get the idea......

Maybe you use that IVD and drop it right in the middle of a group of on call days and Voila! you now have a bunch of on call days that make it harder for CS to use you.

Denny

I disagree. It depends on your seniority. I am jr in category and I can’t get summer vacation nor do I get the best schedules. So I use my APD and IVDs to create summer vacations where they did not exist. I will create the time off I need then WS on my other off days. So far this summer through the creative use of these and the open board I have gone from being awarded schedules working almost every weekend to having most my weekends of and creating some vacation windows.
It does take effort to make it happen but knowing the rules as a jr guy is a definite must for QOL.

So why are you telling all the senior guys?! :D

I am shocked at how many pilots I fly with are completely unaware of IVDs. If you’re a line holder, it allows you to drop two additional trips with the same coverage rules as an APD. I think it’s great. I buy 4 extra days of vacation every year to solely use as IVDs.

How do you buy vacation days? Don't you have to earn a payback day first and then use that? That seems difficult to do.

You can buy vacation days using the bank, although I can't figure out how to do it. Would love some help. Seems pretty straightforward--options 3 and 4. But I keep getting a "not eligible" when I try to do it.

If you have PB days and use them for nothing else, they convert to vacation at the end of the year (is the short version).

Poor choice of words on my part. I was speaking of using in the situation I described. That can only be done while bidding reserve.

Denny

If you buy them between 1 Jan - 31 March, it’s done through icrew and it’s automatic. You get the days and it’s deducted from your FSB.

After March 31st it’s by “mutual agreement” with the company. So you have to get it approved. Which basically means no.

Just do it when vacation bidding starts next year. There’s a good description of the process in the Scheduling Reference Handbook.

Did I read that critical flight ops update correctly? 806 pilots rerouted? Yikes. Let’s try to fix reroutes in the next contract.

“Average wait time for pilot assist: 3 minutes.”

Average wait time for scheduling or tracking: too ugly to publish.....


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I have two weeks vacation in November that I want to slide (to over THanksgiving naturally) Can that be done (requested) now, or do I have to wait until bidding for November?

I am really looking forward to the next time I get lost in the kerfuffel during IROPS. I'll hold for 15 minutes and then hang up. After that, Crew tracking can get ahold of me when they need me. Per diem/credit add up after awhile.

You can have a standing vacation move up bid in the system in case the week(s) you want become available (runs on the first of every month). Barring that being awarded, you won't know into bidding in October.

To slide you'll have to wait until November bidding. Slides are accomplished during the PBS process.

As has been said, you will have to wait until October bidding for November to do a slide for November vacation. That being said.......Good Luck with that! I have a week in November too and have had a vacation move up in since the vacation bids came out. No luck. I will be trying to do the same thing but have had no success in the past.

Denny

It's not a big deal really. I will bid reserve and get it off anyway. I was wondering about vacation moveups.

If a slide is awarded, you could have held those days off anyway. I'm not sure of your seat seniority, but just keep in mind that slides are not looked at if you're subject to coverage. If you're going to attempt a slide, as a backup, be sure to ask for those days off (maybe with an else start next). If the slide is awarded, no big deal, if it's denied, you'll at least have a shot at getting as many of those days off as possible.

Questions regarding reroutes.

My original trip was worth 23 hours and I was rerouted which increased my credit to 32 hours. I was rerouted again and my credit dropped back down to 24 hours after I was given different flying. Am I still entitled to the higher credit or is it actually what I end up flying?

Unfortunately, It’s what you end up flying and the reroute pay associated with it.

Thanks for the response.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/l...513170561.html

For those who stay in DC

I am going to agree with Sailing here. First off our vacation “value” as paid days off sucks and is industry lagging. I am talking accrual times hours per day. Most airlines have a higher value than us.

OTOH our vacation “flexibility” is awesome. IVDs are not unpaid you are just moving your vacation forward, ie flexibility. APDs are in fact unpaid, but if you want off in the summer they are awesome. The only downside is that I miss the summer GS “feeding frenzy” which is why I think some guys skip summer vacations.

Last summer I was about 80%, this summer about 65%. I was able to hold over 30 straight days off both summers, the last half of July and first half of August. I am not even discussing PB days since most guys don’t have them, but wow if you have a few PB days the sky is the limit.

Like I said our vacation “value” blows in my opinion and we need to improve it, perhaps a higher per day value and a return of paid APDs. On the other hand the ability to work your schedule for days off is awesome. Yes you have to plan ahead and need it lined up by the 20th. The plugs IVDs will drop before #1s APD drops, the plugs APD will drop before #1s PD drops etc.

Granted you only have 1 of each but it works pretty good for the busy summer time and if you wait until after PCS runs start it might not work as well but I am typing this in the middle of 30 plus days off.:D

Scoop

I read your similar guidance previously and factored this in to my AUG PBS bid. Thanks for the info. I was able to successfully slide my VAC forward to where I wanted it.

However, I did notice something on the wide report that surprised me. I bid reserve (no choice but I would have anyway.) There was at least one day during my slide period that was assigned for coverage to pilots senior to me. Despite this, my slide was still awarded, and I got that day as VAC.

Your logic seems sound to me, but it didn’t seem to work out this way in this case. Error in my favor, or is the logic perhaps programmed differently?


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Was the coverage for a line or reserve? Sometimes the coverage cutoff is quite different for lineholders vs reserve.

Scoop

I know this has been asked before but does training credit go towards the green slip trigger?

Yes. Qual training is pay and credit (See 11.B.1) while CQ (along with vacation) gives you "credit" solely for "GS trigger" purposes. (See the note after 23.U.1.).

It was reserve. After studying it more closely, I think it is because I had supplemental days. It was a 10 day vacation block, and the SUPP days fell on the coverage day. SUPP days were unused PB days.

Anyone ever done the half month KLOA?

Is your ALV half? Is there a pickup limit? Green slip trigger?

Need to shout out to JetBlue and ask WTF to Delta policy. Deviated Deadhead and listed in JetBlue. Got an aisle seat assigned. An elderly woman boards and asks if it’s possible to get an aisle seat. Since the window is open next to me (2x2seating), I offer to let her have my seat. The lead FA tells me it’s JetBlue policy that Captains ALWAYS get aisle seats! And I’m a Delta guy on their jet.
I thanked them, slid over and let the lady have the aisle. Not that Captains are necessarily special, but Delta is quick to put us in the middle. MEC, please address deadhead seating in this PWA.

Yeah, me too. Middle seat, window seat is a regional partner FA going to training. I asked WTF, shoulder shrug.

I commute on JetBlue often. I can tell you that that is not their policy!

What would you have done IF it had been 2x3 seating and only the middle seat was open?

Still would have given her the seat. It was the right thing to do.

In uniform? Just passing on what I was told.

As Richard Dawson used to say on Family Feud, "Good answer, good answer".

In this scenario the answer is fairly apparent to MOST pilots and pretty black and white. It becomes a little murkier as you cross the spectrum of JS, own airline, DH, DDH, listed for JS, or non rev, etc