88,
This is about stopping the whipsaw between the different DCI groups. If they can stop the spiral, it can establish a floor for us to go up from.

 

There's always "David After Dentist" on Youtube...

 

[B]FOUNDED IN 1931, ALPA REPRESENTS 54,000 PILOTS AT 36 AIRLINES IN THE U.S. AND CANADA. ALPA
REPRESENTS OVER 5600 DELTA CONNECTION PILOTS

All the more reason to support DPA.

 

A day late and a dollar short.

 

VT (Voluntary Temp) was a great deal for commuters. It didn't affect anyone in the category you were temping to as your bid was processed after everyone who was normally in the category.

For example:
You're a NYC7ERA and an ATL7ERA temps into your category for November. If you are a blockholder (we would have called you NYC7ERB, where the B is for Block, which is equal to REG) or a RES, you will bid and be processed by PBS prior to the ATL7ERA, even if he is senior to you. In this way it didn't hurt anyone, and allowed the company to even out their staffing.

I was a commuter that lived between MSP and DTW and I would have a standing VT card in for whichever base I wasn't permanently based at. It was an equal commute to either base, and I preferred to be VT'd so the company would positive space my commute, pay for hotel, and pay per diem for the entire month (whether I was used or not)

It has to be worded just right, and I see why you're hesitant, but it really was a great deal for commuters, and like I said the rest of the guys didn't really care because the VT's always bid last.

 

On the lighter side: Which aged worse - T3 or Roger? Close call. Actually, Roger did a pretty good job in Live and Let Die considering it was his first shot at replacing Sean Connery as Bond, not exactly an easy thing to pull off.


Cultural break from the grind - Which character (not actor) was the greatest Hero of the twentieth century?

I'm thinking either James Bond or Captain Kirk. Both have spanned the last four decades of the century quite successfully. OTOH I'm sure I am probably overlooking someone from an earlier period. Superman also comes to mind but he had quite a drought between the TV show and the first movie.


Scoop

 

Chuck Norris?

 

Magnum, P.I.

 

I have always been a big Magnum fan but he just does not have the staying power of Bond or Kirk.

Chuck Norris definitely has the staying power but is an actor not a character. He would probably fare very well if looking for action actors but Clint would get my vote in that category. Hey, that brings another character to mind - Dirty Harry.

Scoop

 

How can they ever do that? The entire reason there is a DCI in the first place is to whipsaw DCI carriers against DCI carriers. There really isn't even any DCI versus Mainline whipsaw anyway, as DCI automatically underbids and gets the work so it comes down to DCI vs DCI.

This has been tried before and never got off the ground. In fact the race to the bottom only accelerated as ACMI providers shoved each other aside to win the next RFP. Pay for training has been replaced with pay for flight time and pay for upgrade. Any DCI carrier that tries to raise the bar in any significant way for any length of time is punished severely. Some contractual gains are seen from time to time, but they are modest and quite often given back before the ammendable date anyway.

RFP's aren't just for growth flying anymore. They are for current flying and the cheapest wins. That DCI carrier at the alliance meeting sitting right next to your guy will underbid your group in a second when the time comes and if he doesn't, you will uderbid him and he knows it.

There is nothing any alliance can do to change the fact that DCI flying is a zero sum game and every plane one carrier gets another carrier doesn't get. There will always be a pilot group willing to "deal management an ace" to get the work. Always. Also from time to time, new DCI carriers will be signed on as well as created from thin air if necessary, where everything is cheaper and everyone is on first year pay.

How will an alliance convince one DCI carrier to overbid another knowing the one that underbid them got the work? How will a DCI alliance stop non DCI airlines from putting in a lower bid? How will it stop new DCI's from being created?

This is a mainline problem and the solution has to be a mainline solution. Mainline and DCI can collaborate to a point, but anything greater than a staple with some reasonable DCI protections is a non starter. Yet even that requires 100% mainline bargaining to secure for it to have any real meaning (scope recapture). Only mainline pilot groups can fix this by reclaiming scope. There is no other way.