This was the early retirement plan.

 

There were numerous tidbits given away from the NWA contract which, as a southie and dues paying member, I cannot believe were not fought for by the union.

Admittedly, at the time I was pretty clueless, because dammit, I was a proud double breasted van admiral. But, after learning more and more about the giveaways, I'm pretty shocked.

 

Their sick bank, the 75 hr. min for reserve, and the 150% pay for over 80 were all things I would have liked to have seen come over to Delta's contract! I too was amazed at some of the stuff we didn't bring over from the NW contract. At least they (NW) finally got our pay straightened out so we're not getting a HUGE check on the 15th and a tiny one on the 30th.

Another thing I'd like to see here that they had; monthly AE bids with a real training timeline. I've never liked the way Delta does AE's....when ever they feel like it, and trains you...when ever they feel like it!

 

And another big loss, is not having one lanyard that says, "Flight Standards AND Training" !!!!!! Still can't believe these are 2 separate groups......

 

It's shocking at times how separate the two groups are.

 

I also liked that reserve and block (schedule holder) were bid as separate categories at NWA.

 

I've gone back and forth on this one. That was sort of a one off in the industry.

 

If I recall right, it came from the Republic merger.

 

This one is kinda "eh" for me as well....

Pros:
If you had a line, you had a line. For a commuter, this was HUGE. Even if there was not enough flying, you'd be a "blockholder without a block", and you were given the option to sit "time available" in base at a higher guarantee or ultra-long-call reserve at home (the times I sat it they got me space positive to work half the time, too).

Cons:
Eliminated short term flexibility. If you wanted to play the reserve game over holidays, you could sharp shoot AE system, but it took some work & luck.

Unfortunately, you can't look at just this one aspect of the NWA way of doing things. Part and parcel of the B/R system was the APA system (monthly bidding of permanent positions) and the TDY system. (actually called temp bids). They were all intertwined from a staffing perspective.

The temp bids always went VERY senior, despite the fact that you bid behind everyone who held a permanent position where you temped. Positive space to and FROM work and hotels all month, so you can see why that was popular.

Kinda minor, but along with the above, the company produced what was known as a "pref up list". It was basically a list of everyone bidding a position, and what number preference it was on their "card". Far, far more useful than the "senior preferencing positions" in iCrew. Made scoping the alternatives easy peasy. Coupled with the regular monthly bids, and knowing exactly when you'd be going to training/in your new position, it took the angst completely out of the whole bidding process.

Nu

 

I know it's history now, but just curious, how, basically, did the monthly APA system work?

What if there weren't any new positions to fill?