Hasn't the company "hedged" that everyone will use 100 hrs per year? Our avg SL usage per pilot is under that, so they have one hedge that has actually worked out.

"They have so much winning."

I believe this was Crew Resources third article on SL. Someone is directing them to write it. That someone is negotiating, albeit directly to us. It's a good sign. They want a contract and anticipate they can sway a few votes.

Must be the same guy in charge of fuel hedging.

No. They put that guy in charge of making the NOTAMS shorter.

Haha. He's also the guy that keeps updating the checklist on aircraft we've been flying for 20+ years

I seriously doubt that, any more than an insurance company "budgets" for zero car accidents.

Wasn't he the "one place, right place" guy?

more like one place, our place

I woke up this morning and remembered the gem in the TA15 sick leave policy where they would count off days as sick days if they were in the middle of a consecutive sick call.

Man that sick leave policy was a piece of sh...

Crafted by our strategic planning committee for our benefit. ****?

If by one place he meant "all over," he nailed it!

Scoop :)

Frankly, they've changed so many things. First "adopt and go." Which was ... expedient but confused lots of people. Then tried to pick the better way of the old DL and NW procedures... which confused people again. Then changed which manuals things were in... repeatedly... which meant no one knew where anything was located. Then created and but now are deleting "supplemental" stuff... which never made much sense. Tried to make callouts the same on airbus and boeing and MD products... just for fun. Then gave us an EFB that couldn't search across manuals and in my experience couldn't find anything period. Now thank goodness we are gonna get a new EFB later this fall. At least no one will be confused as we will all soon be repeating everything we do in the cockpit over and over and over... while monitoring 2 UHF radios... and the interphone... and etc. Maybe the Safety System mechanisms at DL should look at our 4th floor for inducing errors and confusion! OFG

That's a positive way to look at it, Hank! Makes up for my ticked off feeling reading those inaccurate summaries each month.

I'd be happy if they would just use some common sense in naming the manuals.

Would it be all that crazy to call the stuff that has to do with the airplane, "The Airplane Manual" and the generic stuff that has to do with the company, "The Company Manual".

Calling a book "Volume One" is like so intuitive.......

Army, that is just crazy talk. OFG

Here's the kicker for me. I've been using the books-airway manual and FOM, internationally, for years. You actually have to get into them most flights, to a degree.

If a new guy with no intl experience shows up, he goes thru the TOE but that's a blur. He doesn't know what he doesn't know. I know where to look but the bookmarks selectively disappear with each update...I still know where to go. I don't know how new guys do it.

The surface 3 pro can't get here fast enough. The current thing just aggravates me.

If that isn't a perfect summation, I don't know what is.

That's the crazy part...who's strategy were they planning? Certainly not the Pilots.

I'm going to visit the "tinkle in the cup lady" and put myself on report.

You nailed it!

The Crew Resources monthly letter used to be the best update we got every month. I always looked forward to the insights about bidding/fleets/hiring etc. It was a great source of information. Now the new guy has about 2 sentences that summarize the last bid (stuff everyone already knows) then 3 pages of graphs on sick leave.

That monthly letter is now a total and complete waste of my time to read.

There is one factor in CR's sick leave usage charts that I don't see being addressed; the change in schedules since 2011 and the impact of Part 117, especially during the holiday seasons.

During Dec, 2014, my schedule consisted of back-to-back 4-day trips, one day at home, then back-to-back four day trips into Jan, 2015. My other "off days" were on my layovers. It was brutal. The 2015 holiday wasn't quite as bad; back-to-back 4-days, one day off, another 4-day, two days off, then a five day (as an aside, the last day of the 5-day was blocked at 8:20, and the longest break was 46 min.). However, on the second day of the first trip, I woke up with an eye infection. It took ten days to resolve and be able to see clearly, which included five trips to the eye doctor - one on Christmas day, to get the obligatory note. Over 50 hours of sick time used for one ailment.

True, I could bid better, but I'm at 61% on my category's seniority list. Not a whole lot of power to bid a good schedule. The combination of PBS and 117 makes it more likely to use way more sick leave than in the past. And the ATL 717 trip mix doesn't help (almost exclusively 4-day trips). The way a lot of those trips are constructed doesn't help either, starting with late show times on the first day then transitioning to early departures on the last, with 5-leg last days not uncommon.

The graph that CR uses appears to be a bit misleading, too, in its presentation of the data. It shows the actual usage of sick time being 1.9% higher than what was predicted during 2013/2014 (I'm just using the year with the biggest change). It looks like a big change, on the graph. The actual number increase of pilots using sick time, assuming 12000 pilots during that period, is 228. So 228 more people used sick leave than was predicted. I think it would be useful to see why 228 more pilots, out of 12000+, used their sick leave benefit.

There is so much more involved in sick time usage than just age. Until there is an analysis done by a completely independent entity, using all the factors involved in sick leave usage, we will be at logger-heads with the company on this issue.

Sick leave is the scapegoat to get us to work more.

They won't/can't make the rotations more efficient because of marketing's obsession of a different fleet each day of the week for the same flights, thus causing 30+ hour domestic layovers.

Another thing is the greater number of female new-hires in their child bearing years. Lot's of time missed when they aren't flying the last couple of months prior to and after delivery.

Also, the large amount of new-hires from the military still in the guard or reserves vs a fully retired military pilot.

Looks to me that they want the rest of us that don't have these options, to pick up the slack with high ALVs and get surprised that after months on end of flying 80+ hours per month and no way to trade days or drop because of capped days, guys bang out sick.

Finally, if there is a spike in May, why not change the sick bank renewal to hire date. It would smooth out the spikes. Makes perfect sense if someone needs an elective surgery to hold off until May. Imho, a large percentage of the alledged spike could be eliminated by going to hire date.

Rant Over

I'm always sick in May. And April. And October.

It's called allergies. They kick up at seasonal changes. I'm fine in the winter and summer.

The "data" is going to show what they want it to show as long as they are the ones making the graphs.

Why in the world would they want to add the data showing the effect of Age 65, FAR 117, 5-day domestic trips, higher ALV's, and guys electing to do major medical events right before their sick time bank resets? That would make it not look as bad as they want it to look.

They also failed to account for state sick usage.

The CR updates are highly disingenuous--to the point of being flat-out lies.

Maybe they are running out of material/statistics/graphs-for-laughs to perpetuate the sick leave myth which might explain why the March letter isn't out yet....

I think they relief on DALPA Moaks to make those graphs and rewrite sick leave programs.

I figured out a way for those graphs not to bother me:

1- Don't read them
2- Play golf in the 74F weather we had here today in Vegas.:)

Completely agree. Isn't much in the way of interesting information anymore.

As long as you were not on sick leave at the time.....:rolleyes::D

OK.... I did not read any of this thread....but had a response to sick leave.

I just had SURGERY....by a SURGEON....in one of those...what are they called....oh yeah, OPERATING ROOMS.

I had an INCISION....with those little STITCHES.....cuz I had an INCISION.

I filed the childish Delduh form....and STILL got a call from the CPO.

The CPO had an attitude about it, too.

I am nowhere near any sick limits, verification windows, etc.

GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT.

I HAVE THE LANYARD. :D

This is what sickens me about our Chief Pilots. Anyone who aspires to be a CP should do so to advocate for the line pilots, not harass them. I get it that they have to be the bad guy when it comes to enforcing standards and dishing out discipline. But CP's under no circumstances should be harassing pilots over the "validity" of a Doctors note. This is unbelievable. These are just really bad human beings were dealing with. And theyre supposed to have been cut from the same cloth as the rest of line pilots. I'm embarrassed by them. Very sad.

The person that is applying to be chief pilot would never get hired if their loyalty was for the pilots. Think about it, who hires them?

TEN

We have some pretty good CP's in NYC. I've met a former DTW CPO that flies out of NYC now that apparently was pretty awesome also. We did have one guy that raised everyone's blood pressure but he is back to the line.

When is SD going to fly the line?

Has he EVER flown the line?:rolleyes:

G-

It's very simple.

God forbid an employee would have to have a "medical procedure". Like I could fake a surgery....right?

It has to do with.....PRODUCTIVITY.

Delduh didn't hire soon enough, and now they think their staffing mistake is our problem. Summer is coming!!!!!! Think again.

I fly airplanes....other people that make more than I do figure out staffing.

DON'T FLY SICK. :mad:

I didn't like being "guilty until proven innocent".

In a few months I'll have 40 years of flying under my belt. This petty bullschidt is just that....petty bullschidt.

I had surgery, by a surgeon, in an operating room.

I had incisions with stitches.

I filed the Delta form including no estimate of a return to work date.

I got called by the CPO because the 15 consecutive day trigger had occurred and the CPO was notified.

The CPO asked if I was OK.

The CPO asked how I was doing.

The CPO asked if I needed any assistance.

The CPO asked if I was aware of my sick leave balance and did I have any questions about the process of going on disability.

The CPO acknowledged that my verification was filed and accepted and reminded me to call in well when I was fully able to return to duty.

The CPO was pleasant, very courteous and had a very positive, non-judgmental attitude.

You should call your Regional Director and discuss the problem you had with the attitude of your CPO.

Do you really think it would help?

It's all about THE NUMBERS and PRODUCTIVITY.

I talked to my LEC CA Rep & he said that the Regional Director most likely directed the CP to call. He knows both of them.

I could care less......I had a gash that was held together with stitches, after SURGERY.....and I wasn't gonna fly an airplane.

If they have a frickin' sick (productivity) problem, they can fix it & stay off my a$$. Go after the actual abusers.

Bold.... the sick leave nonsense is a playbook from regional airline management. If we don't fight this/nip it, we will be rick rolled into other nonsense. My two cents.