Originally Posted by Sink r8 (Post 1187295)

There ought to be laws...:)

Originally Posted by NuGuy (Post 1187300)

If the MEC Admin has unmuzzled Alfa and Slow, the end of the game is neigh and the spin has begun.

Nu

Originally Posted by alfaromeo (Post 1187216)

Now look at when a reserve is full. Currently a reserve is full at the reserve guarantee. That means that once a pilot flies 70.01, he can't be given another trip. Under the current contract, if a pilot takes military leave (or some other absence like vacation) for half the month HIS guarantee is 35 hours. However, he still isn't full until he hits 70 hours. Under the agreement reached, that pilot will now be full at HIS guarantee or 35 hours. That will REDUCE the availability of that reserve pilot, that is a gain.

Max reserve. If a reserve isn't full, then how much can a reserve be flown. Currently the max is ALV. The proposed change is ALV + 15. If a reserve should average 60 hours a month, then how does this have any effect? It has an effect when a guy is about half full and is one of the only guys available when a longer trip comes up. This change will nominally reduce green slips, but will only effect staffing to the extent that the 60 hour average is easier to reach. The idea that reserves will consistently be flying 85 hours a month is impossible, the staffing formula will never allow that to occur. Because reserve guarantee is going up by 8%, this change reduces some of the additional cost of the extra guarantee.

Originally Posted by tsquare (Post 1187311)

The issue is not flying 85 hours/month.. It is being on the hook for potentially 85 hours/month. Couple this with the fact that trips pay differently for regular line holders versus reserve pilots, and I fail to see anything good here. As a matter of fact, there is more potential to be on the hook for more days... THAT is a concession.. big time. Being available for a longer trip, should one come up, lessens manning requirements, again, a concession, because it solves a manning problem without the need to hire additional pilots. One that would have produced a green slip, which is totally irrelevant to the discussion at hand, but it would still lessen that requirement. Let management staff properly, and that means that during certain months there will be reserve pilots sitting around doing nothing.. sorry, not our problem. Management chooses to fly international destinations seasonally, and it is just the cost of doing business to have a surplus of pilots during the winter months. I am incensed that they can stuff tons of guys on SC in the winter when flying has throttled back... just in case. THAT is ridiculous. Back on point. This is a concession. The reserve system should strive to have a reserve pilot making as much per day as a regular line pilot based on the ALV. If a regular pilot averages 5.5/day, then so should a reserve.. 14 days/regular... 14 days reserve. Simple

/Rant

Originally Posted by scambo1 (Post 1187306)

I think he was TIC.

Alfa's post attempted to justify concessions for reserves by saying they could fly more, but by flying more more reserves would eventually be required...

Unsaid/unmentioned was that more shortcall, alv+15, credit not equal to lineholder, and no minimum day were BIG improvements...because that is obvious to "junior" guys.

Originally Posted by Wasatch Phantom (Post 1187233)

Question for Sailingfun:



Sailing you and were both at Delta pre-bankruptcy and during the days of the defined benefit retirement plan....

When you were a First Officer and flew a trip with a senior Captain and the subject of "what you made last year" came up, did you or he add in Delta's contribution to your DB retirement plan, or even Delta's match to the Family Care Savings Plan?

No one I flew with did (nor did I).

In that same vein, suppose a Delta pilot has a newborn that has massive health care needs to the tune of $250K. Do you add the 250K to his W-2 and subtract his health care premiums?

Last year I was surprisingly healthy and my health care premiums were a heck of a lot more than what was paid out. Do I get to deduct that "loss" from my Delta income?

I'm curious as to how your accounting methodology handles these situations?

Originally Posted by hockeypilot44 (Post 1187325)

Why are we increasing the short calls to 7 per month? I read on the NN that it won't take effect until the international short call is reduced to 14 hours. So instead of sitting 6 24-hour shortcalls, an international pilot will be able to sit 7 14-hour shortcalls. This seems like a change due to the new FAA rules, but I do not understand why we are increasing the short calls for domestic pilots.

I'm still not understanding how allowing more 76 seaters is a win. We are allowing more 76 seaters in exchange for furlough protection for everyone at date of signing. I personally feel that furlough protection should apply to every single Delta pilot as soon as he/she gets his/her Delta I.D. This argument just is not logical.

Originally Posted by alfaromeo (Post 1187216)

Lots of junior guys here understandably don't have enough knowledge of the contract to understand the issues on reserve. There are three issues that all interact to determine reserve staffing, they are:

1. When a reserve is full
2. Max reserve
3. Staffing formula

Look at the last issue first. The staffing formula is based on reserves flying an average of 60 hours per month. It is a self correcting formula. If you have 1000 reserves and somehow they average 90 hours a month (90,000 hours) then you will soon have 1500 reserves (90,000/60). There is no way to have reserves consistently fly above a 60 hour average, without having the staffing formula rise to correct for it. It is not optional. The formula is a rolling 12 month average so there can be variations in special situations, but the staffing formula will always drive the average back down to 60.

Now look at when a reserve is full. Currently a reserve is full at the reserve guarantee. That means that once a pilot flies 70.01, he can't be given another trip. Under the current contract, if a pilot takes military leave (or some other absence like vacation) for half the month HIS guarantee is 35 hours. However, he still isn't full until he hits 70 hours. Under the agreement reached, that pilot will now be full at HIS guarantee or 35 hours. That will REDUCE the availability of that reserve pilot, that is a gain.

Max reserve. If a reserve isn't full, then how much can a reserve be flown. Currently the max is ALV. The proposed change is ALV + 15. If a reserve should average 60 hours a month, then how does this have any effect? It has an effect when a guy is about half full and is one of the only guys available when a longer trip comes up. This change will nominally reduce green slips, but will only effect staffing to the extent that the 60 hour average is easier to reach. The idea that reserves will consistently be flying 85 hours a month is impossible, the staffing formula will never allow that to occur. Because reserve guarantee is going up by 8%, this change reduces some of the additional cost of the extra guarantee.

It is not anyone's fault that they may not fully understand the interaction of these three items. The notepad was an attempt to give an update on the items discussed so far, but there was no time to do a complete analysis to discuss these issues. The misconceptions on this issue are large and will be addressed if there is a tentative agreement.

Now could someone at least talk about sick leave which is the best program I have ever had in my close to 25 years at Delta. If you come off disability, you can borrow sick time from next year so if you have a cold you are not left without pay. If you are sick on the first day or two of a long rotation, you can WITHOUT RISK, try to pick up time to avoid having your sick bank debited. There is not another sick program in the industry that is even close to this. This program recognizes the real world problems pilots face all the time with sick leave and it addresses them all.