I had a room there once where I could sit on the “micro-Queen” bed and touch all 4 walls. :eek:

A’s out.....

Can you provide a source for that? I just looked at the 2020 Summary Plan Description pdf and under the Restrictions and Exlusions (page 32) it stated:

"No Optional or Dependent Life Insurance benefits are paid if death results from an act of suicide that occurs within two years of the effective date of your coverage; instead, the total amount of premiums paid by you for such benefits will be returned to the Beneficiary"

I searched the document for "flying" and "aviation" and came up empty.

I also have the private pilot insurance. It's there somewhere. Had eversince a new hire. It's an insurance option all by itself. Not included with the life insurance. Separate packages.

Never knew it was owned by Pakistan International Airlines!

Been perusing PWA, maybe someone can help me out.

West coast pilot assigned RECY in an A period. Does that trigger the 4:00 extra pay like in CQ?

I guess it depends if RECY is categorized as "CQ" or "Qualification".

For CQ, it's pilot base time (West coast A & E +4)
For Qualification, it's training local time (E +2, F +4)

PWA Definitions:

“Continuing qualification training” (CQ) means training necessary to maintain position qualification under FAR 121.427 and the Company’s advanced qualification program (AQP) standards.

“Qualification training” means training necessary to create a position qualification (i.e., initial, transition, upgrade, requalification, transoceanic ground school).

Also, in order to be assigned one of those premium pay periods, you must volunteer or consent. So if it turns out that RECY counts as CQ, and you didn't volunteer for it, then you will be able to decline it if you want.

Thanks. That’s what I was trying to figure out. I wasn’t asked, it was just assigned. All good.

No problem, so did you find out if it's CQ or Qualification? I'm assuming CQ but couldn't find a black and white answer.

Heard a Delta emergency (?) today, missed the call sign. Something about unreliable data (airspeed), asking for controllers what they saw in terms of groundspeed. They said they saw some scary indications, said they didn't want to go into SEA or PDX due to weather, instead were gonna try LAS or PHX where it was clear.

Anyone know what airplane and what happened? This was today 11/14 about 230pm PST.

Coverage Awards
 

Can someone explain the coverage award logic? My category has no coverage awards for line holders. All the way down to plug +1 with no coverage awards. The last one qualified in the category is on reserve. Meanwhile, reserves were given coverage awards all the way up to 25% in category. Isn't the purpose of coverage awards (formerly unstacking) to spread out the work rather than stack it up over certain days. We have 28 coverage awards for reserve days on the 24th and 25th with no coverage awards for trips on those same days. Was PBS supposed to have awarded trips on the 24th and 25th to junior pilots rather than reserve days for senior pilots?

-Signed New owner of a Christmas bidding mistake.

I can’t answer your question but I will say that filling out a PBS Inquiry on DeltaNet always elicits a prompt response from someone on the PBS Committee.

Wish I knew if my category had coverage awards. ATL320B...

Oddly, I'm in the same boat. The wide report for my category disappeared. Here's hoping they rerun the bids with better coverage award logic.
I guess that's what I get for looking before the DALPA Textcaster alert.

Last month I could see my schedule in MiCrew before I could see it on Deltanet. Odd that it is late again.

Did anyone else not get texts from ALPA when the preliminary awards were available?

I received the LAX73NA re-run texts and the A awards are posted text, but haven't received anything since. I don't think they sent the B text yet.

It’s truly one of the great mysteries with PBS. I’ve had it explained several times and it still makes no sense to me. But..,
The line and reserve coverage awards are not tied to each other. In my category reserve coverage awards happen much more often then line coverage awards. In a previous category it was just the opposite.
On reserve lines, the coverage awards often seem completely out of whack with reserves required. In July of 2019 my category had 26 of 28 reserve lines get a coverage award for a non holiday Sunday. Once the schedules were pushed too Icrew the reserves required for that day were In the low teens. The good news with that is you can often move that reserve day once the PCS process starts if you are senior enough.

That is an excellent question. I wish I knew a better answer. I know that there have been a couple of good replies to you. Absent a better one, I have also been burned in the past, and took these pointers to heart:

1. Never assume that "reserve is junior." Yes, it has been that way traditionally throughout the industry, and at DAL. But depending on the category it in fact may go quite senior. Therefore never assume "hey I know I can get those days off as a regular lineholder, so it naturally follows that I will also be able to get those same days off on reserve."

2. Always understand that reserve and regular bid groups are two unrelated entities. How one group pans out doesn't really predict how the other one does. Evidently, seniority and all its considerations only apply within the bid group types, not the entire category.

3. Always "hope for the best and plan for the worst." If you are going to start with a reserve bid group (like I did for Dec) always preface any Vacation Slide and Prefer Off preference with "Else Start Next Bid Group." After getting similarly burned by not putting that qualifier in a year ago, I learned my lesson for the Super Bowl (which I believe was Feb 6). I started with a reserve bid group, put in "Prefer Off Feb 6, Else Start Next Bid Group." Guess what? I got a regular line, but with Feb 6 off, while guys senior to me with reserve lines were Coveraged/Unstacked into an on call day on Feb 6.

4. I am not happy with how senior the Coverage awards are going up the reserve schedules--at all. I'd like to see a good answer from the company and union, because I don't think that the extent you have described is appropriate. Until then, however, always heed points 1-3.

Don't have access to a civilian computer right now and my phone keyboard is jacked up, so I apologize in advance, but I'll keep it short. Bottom line, coverage isn't about "spreading out flying," as much as it ensuring they can cover the trips with reserves available. I bet if you looked in your reasons report, alot of people bidding for lines didn't attach an "else start next" or "clear schedule start next," to their final line bid. I'd also wager that there were a few trips awarded over the holidays in the senior part of your cateogry, which could also help alleviate line holder coverage. If a bunch of people are awarded trips on, or near, Christmas because they didn't have an ESN or CSSN, then there was likely no need for coverage. OR there was a screw up, either way I'd submit a bid inquiry and see what comes back.



This is mostly true. Everyone has the right to bid a line or reserve and that is honored in seniority order. You're bid will always be honored in seniority order, it just might not be what you intended. This part needs to be better, you shouldn't have to be a subject matter expert on this stuff to bid. But if you bypass a line, then you have to know that you may be subject to coverage when junior folks thay have lines may not. I play the reserve game and understand this...I advocate to get our pwa changed, but for now I play the within the lane I'm given.



This!


Ya man, take that up with our union. It's our own crappy rules wrt to PBS line generation. If you dig in the PWA (12.M.5) you'll see that in many categories, for reserve, each day is only required to be available as an X-day once! That means the number 2 guy on reserve could be forced onto coverage...and in extreme situations, so could the number one reserve bidder. For line holders the highest it can go is 75% (50% during holiday months) of the total line holders for the month. These won't change until people stop taking the "reserve is a choice" mentality wrt to bettering our reserve work rules. As a home based, chronic reserve bidder, I'm with you both on this.

This is worth repeating.

The company also has complete freedom to max out coverage every month regardless of need. Said another way, they can force all 75% of reserves onto days that are already over staffed. So you'll look at the reserve numbers and see huge over staffing on days marked as needing coverage by the company.

And with how difficult it is to manipulate RSV days, you can't easily move off those over staffed days.

Reserve rules certainly need some work.

If you want a great example of how “weird” reserve coverage awards can be look at MSP 73N A for November. From the 5th most senior Pilot in category, the second most senior reserve, all were forced into coverage.

Scoop :eek:

Thanks to all who shared your knowledge on the coverage awards. Repeating "Else Start Next, Else Start Next, Else Start Next" is now part of my morning affirmations from the 5th-11th every month.

Are they re-running (some, namely 320B) awards again?

Yep. My schedule was just too nice. They couldn’t let that happen. Had to give me a 30 hour in Fargo instead of three overnights in Florida.

Just order three JL Beer burgers and hibernate until show time.

Scheduling question for the gurus. If I’m in category with a reserve line but not qualified, is there any reason I can’t be awarded a green slip? No training scheduled on my line and no NQAT either, just reserve and X days.

Uhhhhh, if you are not qualified in your current category, I would say no you cannot be awarded a GS because, well, you are not qualified

Denny

But what if i really really want it?

Lol! Well if you put it that way......how old are you?;)

Denny

Enough to know better, but not enough to care!

Rebel without a cause

Seems to be the intuitive answer but what in the contract prevents a pilot from exercising their contractual rights?

The fact that you are unqualified prevents you from being awarded a gs. I'm not gonna look it up because, as you say, it's intuitive.

If you really want to pursue it, call the scheduling committee. Bet you get the same answer.

Denny

Being NQ / Not legal isn’t stopping Crew Scheds from assigning SC to said NQ folks.

You never know when someone is gonna bang-in sick for their recency sim. Gotta keep the machine moving. 😁

I’ve never seen that but we are talking about assigning/flying a trip not about short call assignment. If this indeed happened it’s a phantom short call assignment and is strictly based on numbers to fill slots of short call. I have been assigned short call when there is absolutely no way I could be used. Can said short call pilot be assigned a trip? No, because s/he is unqualified.

Denny

Crew Scheduling gonna crew schedule.

The most simplistic answer Denny didn't want to look up is one of the steps of coverage in 23 N/O is "Available Qualified pilots"

Of note, a non-qualified pilot can still PCS personal drop.

ive seen it twice his month...two times I’m on SC with another person....same days avail, same bucket, same everything. I get tagged with a trip...when I call Scheds and reminded them the trip should have gone to the other guy IAW the RUO, it took them 6-9 minutes of hammering away on their keyboard before them come back with “oh, it appears he didn’t do CQ, so he is NQ”. When I asked why they are putting people on SQ that are qualified to fly a trip, both times they didn’t have an answer.

it’s possible all 2-3 people getting SC could be NQ...scheduling “thinks” they have people at the ready when they really don’t, and they don’t figure it out until they run the TC for the short notice trip and none of the SC pilots names show up....NOOPS will follow...I saw two domestic NOOPs out of NYC just the other day as I was getting tagged with a 5 day RES trip.

Delta IT is a sh!t show that hampers scheduling ability to correctly do its job....I expect more form a fortune 100 company.

yes I’m chatted with the CPO both times to hightlight scheduling ineptitude.

Yep. Had something similar happen to me. Expired on landing currency. No NQ on my schedule, I get a call.....Scheduling says, congrats you have a charter to Bulgaria tomorrow. I’m like thanks, but I’m not current. NQAT on my schedule by the end of the day. Bounces scheduled soon after. Delta IT blows and it’s a **** show in scheduling. A lot of times just chasing their tail. I put ZERO stock in reserves avail, SC, coverage ladder, etc, these days.....