No, I came to work as hard as possible. Picked up a line as soon as I could hold it. Picked up OT whenever it was available in hopes of having the time and being ready to upgrade when I could hold the base I wanted. When the forced upgrades came I decided to go on reserve. I’m just playing within the rules of the contract that I signed. If that means getting paid to sit at home watching Netflix so be it. Especially with this company that loves to stretch the language of the contract to get whatever they want.

Also never said the PP are selfish, good for them, let em flow out of here as fast possible, it just means I flow sooner. I never came here to be a lifer, it’s just a plan B to get to a major. If they weren’t handing out those nice bonuses and had a decent flow, I probably would’ve picked another regional when I chose to come here. That would’ve been one less pilot to fill a seat so you can flow out of here, and I’m pretty sure that’s the same story for a lot of the guys hired in the last year or two

 

So, you came to work "as hard as possible", until you got close to your upgrade and didn't want to live in the jr captain parts of the contract. The company is playing by the rules by displacing you to the left seat too. Wanna sit reserve, then do it as a CA where staffing is needed.

 

Well, some hope to not get called at all.

 

All these millennials crack me up thinking they should get bigger and bigger pay checks but not wanting to put in any effort what so ever in their job. Its a JOB people. working conditions at a JOB aren't always all sunshine and rainbows. Blows my mind people are doing everything in their power to NOT upgrade. Maybe its a good thing actually since the thought of these kids being in the left seat is scary as hell.

Maybe a lot of you should have went for a different career. Everyone has to pay their dues at some point in this career. For a lot of you it'll be in the left seat instead of the right like it used to be for everyone.

 

Why is it that if an FO bids reserve he is hurting pilot group but if the company misuses 15G4 it's ok?? 15G4 was to fill an unused vacancy in reverse seniority. 15G4 doesn't give the company the ability to force FOs to upgrade when they have a 1000 hours. But that's a different story.

An FO bidding reserve to avoid upgrading is NOT hurting the pilot group and is just following the contract to maximize their QOL. Everyone does what ever they can in order to maximize their QOL. It's like blaming pilots that DTS their vacation this summer on exacerbating the staffing issue this summer.

 

I agree. These ****erz want money, flight benefits without working...

 

If a pilot decides to bid for reserve they must have their reason, no need to insult them...
In my case I live in base and I bid reserve, I am home almost every night of the month and credit about 100 hrs a month. Why would I bid a line? To credit 72 hrs? Thanks but no thanks! My suggestion is if you dont like that then make sure you talk to the union and vote for it when the time comes instead of talking Cr@9 about millenials like we are stupid. I guess I could say the same thing about Geneation X!!!

 

This divisiveness between the old guard and the new is not good for the pilot group as a whole. We should be happy for the PPs, as they have put up with more than their fair share of crap and have earned the right to flow long ago. More selfishly, it gets the PPs out of the way for those of us who came in later.

At the same time, the PPs have to take a look inside and see that at least some of them would have held off on an upgrade for improved quality of life, for at least some period of time, if they had been given the chance. Upgrade used to be 5-7 years or more; maybe some of those people wouldn't have wanted the upgrade in 6 months or less. It just wasn't an issue back then, so they didn't have to confront it. This doesn't mean that all millennials now are lazy or selfish or whatever. It just means that they're putting the health of their family's lives before the company, which is absolutely correct to do. This is just a job, and family always comes before job. Everyone's situation is different, and if bidding reserve will keep the significant other happy for a little while, that is important.

The real boogie man we should all be looking to is the company, not realizing that times have changed and if they really want a 100% upgrade rate without reduced moral, they're going to have to incentivize the upgrade more. This new agreement helps. But for the old guard to look at the newer pilots and say that them wanting more to upgrade is selfish doesn't help anyone. Times are different right now than they were when a 7 year upgrade existed. The group is absolutely right for wanting gains now. Make the gains while we can, because the next economic downturn and concessionary contract that comes with it us just around the corner.

 

The divide kind of makes sense when you look at it from the top down. A protected pilot has demonstrated a willingness to accept the worst the airline industry has to offer for many years on end, whereas a 2016 hire walked in the door and held a line a month after IOE in Dallas on the 175. He wouldn't have even sent in a resume if he thought it was conceivable that he could have the type of ride a PP did. Totally different baseline expectation.

 

Yep, it makes sense. Times have changed. Us PPs saw what the 824 went through, so it seems a bit snotty how some junior pilots have reacted. I get it, though, and think gains should be sought after for the whole group in the form of pay and schedule improvements.