What letter?

LOL!!

Carl

It COULD go that way. Or, we could be required to live in base. Novel idea. I won't presume to tell anybody where they ought to live, but realistically, I'm not too crazy about spending negotiating capital for commuter convenience. That (satellite basing) would be a considerable expense that the company would have to pay for--driving up costs and causing us to raise our prices/making us less competitive. I am not trying to flame-bate the discussion, only making (I hope) a reasoned response. Like I said, if a guy wants to live in FLL, more power to ya'. But I'd not want to see our company have to pay for the expense of having 30 or 40 some odd satellite bases, and hobbled with the expense that it would entail.
Chuck

---standing by for incoming!!

What about all the pilots who commute that would like negotiating capitol spent on improving rules?

Or the pilots who live in base who would like negotiating capitol spent on pay restoration?

Okay, we get what constitutes a "bad" and "good" rumor backwards around here. Its about time we get this straight, here is a list of "good" rumors for all of us here for the long haul.

1. 744s will go away in 5 years with no replacement,
2. WB fleet will consist mostly of the current A330s, 777s, 764s and 7ERs with most long haul flying done by our Skyteam partners,
3. 100 seaters are coming to DCI, the union will allow it, there will no need for any 9, 319s will be retired in time and 88 fleet shrunk,
4. Codeshare with Alaska will grow as Alaska is about to announce large expansion plans,
5. Total stagnation in the seniority list, overall the number of pilots will shrink, lots of displacements, Captains will become FO's again,
6. FAA is about to say commuters will be required to live within 3 hours of their base and have proof that their dependents are enrolled in a school district within 3 hours,
7. We are profitable via outsourcing,
8. We will not change the retirement health care plan for pilots from what it is,
9. C2012 will probably not be signed until 2014 from what "insiders" are saying with the probably W2 increase of around 15% by 2017 over 2010 numbers, and
10. Economy is back, according to most analyst now is the time to start your own company or go to work for another company. Companies are desperate for men who have strong leadership skills, good under pressure and can handle emergenices with ease. They're paying top dollar for these people just to come and make the high end decisions and then play golf or stay home the rest of the time, all for mid to high six figure salaries. Companies do not advertise such openings but instead want to see that hopeful armchair CEOs will apply for entry level positions. During such interviews the HR departments will use key words to determine if one is a good candidate for armchair CEO. Terms include: you're overqualified, what are you doing here, are you sure about this, or you realize this is an 'entry' level position right? If one is willing to take an entry level position, then high dollar salaries and playboy status awaits them for years to come. Companies claim they want applicants like retired legacy airline pilots.

See, those are all 'good' rumors for those who won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

:D

One benefit of satellite basing(for the company) is that each pilot would simply be their equipment not equipment and base. Many times(as a reserve pilot) they deadhead me to another base to do their flying. Satellite basingwould not be much more of a stretch. Maybe they could start by allowing us to live in any of the bases we have now, even if your equipment is not based there.

Now you get my point, we have to negotiate for everyone, not just you.

I used to agree (and still do) about guys that want to commute should accept that fact and deal. However, now that I am a west coast guy forced to commute to the east coast ...... as my buddy Borat famously says "ummm not so much"
before we throw all commuters into "that is their choice" category lets find some provisions or work rule changes that take care of the pilots that are forced to impose the whims of the company onto their families and personal lives.

what constitutes or would constitute living in base?

Is a five hour drive a commute? Say a pilot who lives in CMH but is based in DTW, a ATL or MEM pilot living in BNA, SEA pilot living in PDX? And so on. What happens when you can drive or fly?

Or is it FedEx that requires you to call in from your base 9 hours prior?