Originally Posted by BenderRodriguez (Post 1850359)

I agree, and I think we will. But those that continually spew the woe is me rhetoric need to return to the real world. We'll get a great contract, but it will take 12,000 voices, and when you have some of the insane stuff being passed around in the real world that goes on here, you will never get any kind of consensus. Wanna go on strike? It sure as hell bettered be for the right reason, and not just because you are a little butthurt because XXX airline got XXX and we don't. I'm in though, I have enough right now to pack it in. Wanna say no? Give me a good reason, and I'll join right in.

This place is hilarious.

Originally Posted by GunshipGuy (Post 1851360)

How much do you think the company puts forth for each pilot who elects to sign up for the most basic of the Delta's Health Care plans? I ask because another Fortune 500 company where I worked provided its employees with a "payback" if you will for not using their health care insurance--just not signing up for it because the employee had coverage from their spouse's job or from a former job, like the military.

I don't use Delta's heath care plan. I have coverage already and on my contract survey suggested our NC ask the company to provide a payback to pilots who don't use the Delta health care plans. Offering health care plans for employees is a huge expense for the company, and those who don't need it are in effect saving the company money. IMO, there should be some payback to those who aren't costing the company in this regard. I did not see anything about this on the contract opener.

Originally Posted by Oberon (Post 1851657)

Agreed. Did you put this request in your contract survey? I did but haven't seen anyone else mention it until you did.

Originally Posted by Bainite (Post 1851789)

Would love to see us get rid of the vapor carryout trips at the end of the month. Seems like they always put the most choice commuter trips there but I have to resist the temptation and tell myself that they don't really exist. You know they will turn into absolute crap before you complete them.

Originally Posted by Karnak (Post 1852314)

Are there any airlines that don't allow some sort of over-the-end-of-the-bid-period adjustment?

It may be one of those built in hassles of the profession - like working on holidays. Getting senior allows us to avoid the stuff we don't like to do, like work weekends, holidays, and those "yoink!" month-end changes.

Originally Posted by Karnak (Post 1852314)

Are there any airlines that don't allow some sort of over-the-end-of-the-bid-period adjustment?

It may be one of those built in hassles of the profession - like working on holidays. Getting senior allows us to avoid the stuff we don't like to do, like work weekends, holidays, and those "yoink!" month-end changes.

Originally Posted by gloopy (Post 1852961)

You shouldn't need to use your seniority to avoid trips that randomly change after the fact. While some adjustments may be necessary, we can easily have realistic protections with carry out trips.

Originally Posted by gloopy (Post 1852961)

Like once awarded, the check in time can not be one minute sooner and the checkout time can not be one minute later. Trip must be the same number of days or less. If the original trip had no red eye/back side of the clock flying, the new trip can't either. And the newly modified trip must pay and credit the greater of the two, on a day by day and in total basis.

Originally Posted by Herkflyr (Post 1849613)

I am not opposed to the idea. By all means float the idea to your reps. However, there is never a simple "we fly the same trips as before, but get paid more" end result. Actually, that is not entirely true. Some trips indeed DO pay more today because of our ADG than they used to (ATL-LIM being just one of many, many examples; it used to pay 13.30, now it pays 15.45; ATL-UIO is an even better example).

However, were the company to agree to a 5.15 (or greater) min pay per day guarantee, you would rarely if ever see the example you gave of only one block hour on day two (but which pays 5.15); those trips would simply not be built.

In fact if we were indeed to get a lucrative min day guarantee, then you might see a decrease in commutable trips, as well as a decrease in a lot of the trips you currently see in some domestic categories where you might just fly one leg home to finish a trip. Not to say that it isn't worth pursuing, but that there is no "min day per day fairy" sprinkling extra hours into our schedule, without a change to the trip mix to make it worthwhile to the company.

Originally Posted by Hillbilly (Post 1853692)

Most of the South America flying pays more today than it did before and it pays more for us now than it does for the FAs. GIG, GRU, EZE, SCL are all 21:00 trips now, where they were 19 to 20 hour trips before ADG kicked in. The FAs are still getting paid the 19 -20 hours for the trips. I am interested to see these trips with the same flying where the FAs get paid more hours than pilots do.