Originally Posted by Red Five

Anybody got any idea how this new short call bucket thing works? I’m sitting #4 in a row tomorrow, and there is a guy who has been available all week like I have been who has only been given 1 for the month. How did I get tagged with another one (I should be in bucket 2 now, along with a few other guys who got tagged) while he is still sitting pretty with only 1 for the month so far? I have been using the new “to be used only if needed” option for the time requests, but that shouldn’t volunteer me to sit, as there is another option that says “to be first in sequence”. I talked to the scheduling rep at ALPA about those options earlier this month to make sure I understood it and everything made sense at the time, but am I missing something? Am I inadvertently volunteering myself to sit when my intent was only to request times if scheduled to sit?

Originally Posted by Red Five

Anybody got any idea how this new short call bucket thing works? I’m sitting #4 in a row tomorrow, and there is a guy who has been available all week like I have been who has only been given 1 for the month. How did I get tagged with another one (I should be in bucket 2 now, along with a few other guys who got tagged) while he is still sitting pretty with only 1 for the month so far? I have been using the new “to be used only if needed” option for the time requests, but that shouldn’t volunteer me to sit, as there is another option that says “to be first in sequence”. I talked to the scheduling rep at ALPA about those options earlier this month to make sure I understood it and everything made sense at the time, but am I missing something? Am I inadvertently volunteering myself to sit when my intent was only to request times if scheduled to sit?

Originally Posted by SailorJerry

Just goes to show that this new bucket system doesn't mean squat unless you're in a huge base with surplus staffing.

For example if you just happen to meet the bucket, and days available criteria (which isn't made available to us as its at the schedulers discretion - which is BS) then you'll get the SC shift - regardless of seniority. I doubt you're an intentional scapegoat but it's certainly a shortcoming of what could have been a good thing.

Originally Posted by Jack Bauer

Another example of how "wins" turn out not being wins later. If/when the new contract is in place, expect to find out all kinds of ways the company took ALPA to the cleaners in the small print.

Originally Posted by dragon

Credit refers to your monthly guarantee. If you accept a GS with under 12 hours to report on a on call day, that one will be paid above the guarantee with nothing counting against your 70 hours. The other "on-call" days will be against your 70 hours and the X days will be paid above the guarantee with PB (pay back) days granted.

Generally reserves don't get "double" pay, but it goes on top of the guarantee so that's a huge positive. IA is basically the same.

Good luck

Originally Posted by maddogmax

Yep, Just talked about Terminal F in ATL, Fuel pricing and European Pricing. Nothing special.

Originally Posted by SailorJerry

That's why it'd be ideal if the negotiators notes were made available with the TA as their admissible in a grievance hearing. There's all sorts of stuff in every contract that is governed more by the section 6 process than the language.

I'm sure there's notes on LOA 29 which basically indicate that this is just a written form of what was done prior to LOA 29 with the exception that senior people could exercise their seniority to sit short call.

First thing I'll do, obviously, is do a keyword search for the phrase "to the extent possible". If I find it, I'll immediately rant about it on here.

Originally Posted by Boomer

There are several explanations for RA wanting a rushed agreement, but out of these two (out of many) possibile outcomes, which has better odds?

1 The TA is approved and then RA says "whoops, I think the pilots got way too much for what I had planned. My fleeting opportunity turned into an ALPA windfall, those darned ALPA negotiators!"

-or-

2 The pilots vote in the TA, RA's "fleeting opportunity" is revealed, and the pilots say "This is just another LGA slot swap scam! I shoulda voted HellNO! ALPA should have seen this coming!"