Friend went and heard something about the way they would like to automate Green slip notification.

He thought he heard that they would blanket call a certain number of pilots and then the first one to call would get it, thus avoiding the waiting 10 minutes for everyone.

Anyone else remember this? Didn't seem correct to me and he was not sure he heard it correctly.

 

They absolutely talked about automating GS notifications, via a system that could make a bunch of calls simultaneously. Main goal appeared to be freeing up scheds' time; the alleged gain for the pilots would be, in theory, that the "correct" (senior) pilot would get the GS before getting stuck in the 3-hour window.

No discussion that I recall about how that would be implemented. Your scenario is one possibility; another is that you would be provisionally awarded your GS, and only actually keep it if a senior guy called in within 10 minutes. I suspect the best solution would be to automate the response(s), too, and only make awards at the end of 10 minutes. We won't know unless/until they get this done, but it's outside of the contract....

 

They specifically said the 10 minute period would be honored.

IMO, what they were talking about was automating the system to, at 10 minute intervals, make the call to the next available person. When the schedulers do this on their own, I think they can get side tracked from the 10 minutes and it might be 30 minutes before they make the next call. That was my take.

Denny

 

Seems reasonable

 

I don't understand the need or desire for sequential 10 minute waits. I stand ready to be told why this wouldn't be better for everyone:

1. Need for green slip is established
2. System identifies all pilots who have a green slip active that matches the trip
3. System shotguns all eligible pilots the details
4. Pilots electronically respond, with optional caveats:
-I'll take it
-I can be there, but X minutes/hours later than scheduled sign-in
-I can only take it if you positive-space me
-I have been drinking/have child care duties/transportation problems.
-[Ignore, no response]
5. At the expiration of 10 minutes, senior eligible GS acceptor gets the trip and all those offering their services are instantly notified.

This would cover trips more quickly, so the "winners" will generally have more notice for any given GS...maybe even hours more.

Fewer trips would get covered in the "all bets are off" window, so presumably fewer pilots would recover "skipped over" green slip pay.

 

What happens when there are multiple greenslip to be awarded? I think that would get very complicated. That being said, maybe this is something that they are looking at or some modification. On cursory consideration, looks like it could be made to work.

The way it is, it's a take it or leave it and move on to the next. Simple and effective. Plus, as a junior guy, I don't want to have my hopes dashed multiple times....

Denny

 

That's exactly what I was told.