RoadKill, Go to the DALPA web site, click on the Library, then Merger, then TWG notepad. The Transition Working Group put together some really good plain english docs that address all your questions.

Here is a quick idea of what you need to know. Ecrew and Icrew are almost the same. Icrew was designed to load and access quickly from home computers. Ecrew is the system you will be on from a Delta computer in the crew lounge. There is one major difference between the two. You need to be on ICREW to rebook DH deviation flights. You can access ICREW from a lounge computer like you would from home but ECREW is what pops up when you sign in.
The VRU is dead. Forget about it.
You can get direct to the Dalpa sight and bypass national. Here is the link.
Public
If you have contract or scheduling questions the forum there is the place to go. Answers given here are often incorrect and there is no QA. A scheduling expert will answer there and they are QA'd.

You will want a desktop bidding software program for PBS. I used Easybid or you can use the software from Navtec. Download one or the other on your laptop. I prefer Easybid because along with the bidding software he has a direct access to DBMS without going though Icrew from home. Its a different presentation but very fast. I can log on and check open time and then log off in less then 30 seconds. I think I pay 6.95 a month for unlimited access. Worth every penny when you want to check a trip real fast with Delta calling.
It sounds like you know your way around Delta net so nothing to tell you there.
PCS is how you try and drop, swap and pickup trips once you have your schedule. You can reach it from Icrew, Ecrew or the easybid access to DBMS. Some of the interfaces in PCS are not intuitive to say the least. You need to get someone to sit down with you at a computer to show you the ropes.

It was apparently put out at the leadership meetings in ATL that we are buying more MD-90s, parking ALL of the DC-9s and growing 3-5% this year! The 90s will offset the 9s along with an aircraft acquisition. Not sure if the acquisition is in addition to the 90s or just the 90s.

With 3-5% growth (last year was 3.8%) we will need to hire. Just my 2 cents YMMV.

So what you are saying is that we are buying the Saudia 90's?

Sadly, yes, for the most part. the DALPA site woulds well too. Try; http://dal.alpa.org

E Crew allows you to sign in at report time for your trip, but is basically the same thing as I-Crew. Use I crew at home since it is a web page and not a web application. In reference to your below question about the VPN, that was used in conjunction with I-Crew and older software. You do not need to use the VPN anymore for any Flight Operations functions.

See above

DBMS is the backbone of the scheduling system. Your portal for that is I and E-Crew.
Health Care etc is found at ESs/ Employee Self Serve.
It is a drop down on the Flight Operations Home Page. Fourth or Fifth one to the right.

dal.alpa.org is your main portal for the MEC.
From this site you can get to your LEC page, ALPA National Main Page, My Page, Library, and access to all of the committees and support functions for the line pilot. If you need something specific, post and someone will surely answer.

[quote]
Bidding software... I THINK it's PBS, at least I hope so because I watched like hours of video on how the system works and read some presentations that were pretty good.

.. but what is PCS? Pilot Change System, but what is it?[/quote
PCS is Pilot Change Schedule. It is the partition of DBMS/I-Crew that allows you to pick up trips, put in green slips, white slips, yellow slips, move off days, etc.
PBS is Preferential Bidding, it is the way we do schedules now. No longer do we bid lines of time (LOT) We bid parameters and the computer awards and assigns you rotations based upon your seniority and preferences. Easy Bid and Navtech's Desktop applications are good way to do this bidding.

It is all explained in the PWA-Contract-Pilot Working Agreement. Go to the ALPA site, then go to the library, and then download "When Scheduling Calls" It explains a lot of this.
There is/are also some notepads that were penned at the time of the merger that explain each section of the contract. I can get you to them if you cannot find them.

If you need help with PBS call our PBS help line. Times are posted on the Crew Resources and Scheduling page.

-WS- is a straight pay pickup. Allowable to ALV+15

-GS- is a double pay trip that you submit a slip to pick up.
For a Reserve pilot---Single pay no credit towards monthly credit but you get the pay above guarantee and reserve days off back.

YS- are generally done by reserve pilots. It can be done by selecting off day fly or by reducing your RAW score by 15 pilots. These trips are added to your monthly credit. You do not get days off back for YS trips.

Keep asking questions. The answers will be here or on the ALPA forum. Welcome back.

The best way to divert the attention of the stupid masses is to come up with a new boogie man.

Carl is right. Cabotage and access to foriegn markets is completely out of our control. When the palms get greased a sufficient amount, it will happen no matter WHAT our pitiful little protests do.

To think that we have ANY sort of leverage in DC is pure folly. At best we're a cute little dog on a leash. Maybe if don't act up, we can ride in the purse.

Look at age 65

Look at cargo cabotage in ANC

When the big money wants it to happen, it will happen.

The best thing to do is to focus our energy on what we CAN control.

Nu

Isn't TO one who argued AGAINST the scope report card resolution at a C44 meeting last year?

Yes. He did come out vocally against the resolution as presented.

However, he is PRO-SCOPE.

I was there and his argument was that scope is already monitored monthly and the committee (Contract Compliance) in charge of compiling that information was already ensuring compliance, therefore the "extra report" was unnecessary. He also was speaking from the Neg. Chrmn. perspective in that they would likely incur lots of extra work to collate and present information that was already available.

I see both sides, we already have plenty of paper pushing going on, yet I also see the need to present pertinent information in a more easily-readable format.

but in the end I voted in favor of the resolution, and AG ended up using that effort to launch his LEC rep. campaign. It worked, and now LEC 44 puts out a scope report regularly now.

the year we merged, there were 108 DC-9's. Sorry, not even close to an offset, GMAFB.

With fuel on the rise it wouldn't surprise me. I just don't know where the other aircraft would come from.