DAL330drvr

The key will be for guys not to abuse it. I used it twice in 10 years at fNWA.

TeddyKGB

How does one abuse the policy? You either follow the rules of the policy or you don't. It's pretty black/white. Not sure how it's abusable?

Bucking Bar

Depends if they chose to be junior. Depends on who their friends are. Depends on whether they inconvenience anyone.

"Abuse" in this instance is entirely subjective.

Scoop

Gloopy, Bar, Phantom,

You guys are 100% wrong. Did you not get the memo, we have a great corporate culture! .

Before T-Square jumps in to refute me - I am talking about "Corporate" Corporate culture - not employees being pleasant and civil to each other, which should be, and thankfully is, a given.

Scoop

satchip

On behalf of all true Alabama fans everywhere...

Jack Bauer

Your union dollars at work....

WASHINGTON | Wed Feb 16, 2011 11:39am EST
(Reuters) - More mergers of U.S. airlines are inevitable and essential for domestic carriers to compete globally, the new president of the largest pilots union said on Wednesday.

Lee Moak of the Air Line Pilots Association told reporters that passenger airlines are still too vulnerable to fuel price spikes and other business conditions that threaten industry profitability.

"I believe we need to be there sooner rather than later because we need to compete globally," he said. "How it will shake out remains to be seen."

Moak also said that carriers must demonstrate sustained profitability for pilots to achieve gains at the bargaining table, signaling the union will be patient as it moves forward in contract talks at several carriers.

oh but he did say..
However, Moak said it would be a mistake for airline management to misinterpret the labor group's position on what he called constructive engagement.

"We know there is a time and place for confrontation," Moak said

In the mean time....

ATA adds lobbyists in reorganization
ATA announces staff reorganization to focus on lobbying

By Christine Boynton | February 17, 2011

Air Transport Assn. President and CEO Nicholas Calio, who took over from James May in January, continues to put his stamp on the trade group, announcing a shake-up on Tuesday that saw the departure of long-time Executive VP and COO John Meenan and Chief of Staff Patty Higginbotham.

Calio, who served as chief liaison to Congress for former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush (ATW, Nov. 30, 2010), said the changes "reflect a shift, leveraging the association’s strong operations and technical expertise with a significant increase in outreach to key stakeholders to advance policy and legislative issues.

The association promoted Sharon Pinkerton to the new position of senior VP-legislative and regulatory policy. Tom Hendricks, who joined ATA in June as VP operations and safety was named senior VP-safety, security and operations. ATA also said it will hire a new senior VP-global government affairs and add other "top-line lobbyists" to its government affairs function. With other changes, the reorganization impacted approximately 10% of the association’s staff, ATA said.

"As an association, we have strong technical and operational expertise that we will better leverage in our advocacy efforts with Congress, the administration and other key stakeholders,” Calio said.

iceman49

In the event that the back-up flight will not arrive prior to report:
• Crew Scheduling may make a reasonable attempt to deadhead the pilot (no pay or credit) to join the rotation with no rotation guarantee.
o Pilots who must deadhead to join a rotation as a result of this policy are not subject to PWA Sections 8 F. and 16 D.1.
• If Crew Scheduling elects not to deadhead the pilot to join the rotation, the pilot will be removed from the rotation via personal drop (no pay or credit).
o Once released, the pilot is free to pick up or be assigned a trip through the normal scheduling process.
Should the rules and regulations governing commuting policy (flight time/duty time) be amended, the Company will review this policy.

When does the above come into play, if you followed the rules there should always be a back up, and yes the preface is BS.

FmrFreightDog

As a fNWA guy, my opinion is that abusing it is using the policy as an excuse to commute irresponsibly knowing that someone will bail you out if you try to get to work on a bad weather day and only leave yourself one backup or try to commute into Atlanta the day before the SEC championship without a jumpseat booked... or whatever. I didn't see much of that at Northwest and I lived in a city full of commuters where the jumpseats were all pretty much taken about 5 minutes after the booking window opened. Most guys commute as responsibly as ever... policy or no policy.

However... there's always the 2%....

I also thought the preamble was a little condescending, but this is a huge change in policy for about 60% of the entire post-merger pilot group. I think a caution to use the policy sparingly lest it be taken away isn't necessarily a bad thing. However, it was very poorly worded.

iceman49

His commute probably is always PS, just like you said Bar.

Nosmo King

Off the top of my head I can think of at least one way this would be pertinent:

You are a commuter that likes to get to your base just prior to report time and your planned backup gets you there AFTER required report time. You roll the dice and your primary flight is late/cancelled/weight restricted/full including a different pilot in the jump seat and your planned backup as scheduled would get you there after report time.

Edit: Thought of another way. Your planned backup as scheduled would get you there in time for report, but ends up delayed so that the new arrival time is after your report time.