Under that logic, an FO who has been at XJT for 10+ years should be paid the same as a new hire. They do literally the same job.

 

American understands this logic and hires applicants to have AA employee numbers. Their checks say AA as well. Their initial interview is more stringent but they get the best and brightest.

United's regional strategy is a decade behind and they've gone ahead and doubled down on that outdated strategy.

Flying for Expressjet is not any different than any of their other non wholly owned (really partially wholly owned) partners such as Air Wisconsin and Mesa Airlines.

This "Aviate" program strategy is A.) just to get people in the door to feed their regional whipsaw (it's hungry) and B.) Keep people in line and on eggshells at all times.

 

Then leave. Nobody is forcing you to work here.

 

As posted in the other thread....

"I love when other pilots chastise other pilots for holding a negative view on something about the company that may have actual merit/validity.

I think many will leave, especially those who were in the original CPP, past the hogan and the interview but were waiting on final CJO. According to this publication they will need to apply to "Aviate" and go through those hoops as well.

That would leave a bad taste in anyone's mouth.

This is a forum. It is for all kinds of viewpoints. Why don't you let management and Subodh do all the "just leave then" talk?"

 

And those who’ve been around a decade or two would have no idea if they’ve a ‘good’ record or not.

What could be more important than a sick call from 2006?

It’s a rebadged Pinto.

 

If it truly is for ALL kinds of viewpoints, then your statement reeks of hypocrisy. But whatever, don’t leave. Doesn’t really matter. Hopefully this new program works out for you. I truly wouldn’t wish a lifetime career at XJT on anybody, even those who chose it.

 

You're taking this forum thing too seriously (even though your sig pic is of Timmmmay ;-) )

 

Are they penalizing people who were out sick but had a Doctors note, or is that unknown at this time?

 

That's a little cloudy... United changed the CPP dependability criteria over the 4th of July Holiday to include excused and unexcused sick calls.

The new "Aviate" program doesn't have that specific stipulation but I'd do a little reading between the lines based on the info below.

Company:
"July 5th

All,


United recently made a revision to the “Dependability” section of the CPP program. Specifically, a statement has been added that states “A complete dependability history (excused and unexcused occurrences) will be reviewed by United’ Board of Review (BOR).“ The revised Dependability section is included below and will be updated on XJT.com as well.


Note that every pilot completing their interview in Denver with United already signs a “Career Path Program Release and Acknowledgment Letter” that allows United access to all information about attendance, training and disciplinary actions for the duration of their employment at ExpressJet. This revision more accurately reflects the Acknowledgment letter.


Dependability – A complete dependability history (excused and unexcused occurrences) will be reviewed by United’ BOR. Program participants must maintain dependable attendance, meaning no documented and unexcused occurrence of the following in a rolling twelve (12) month period while employed by ExpressJet:

1. Sick call over company recognized holiday

2. Failure to operate assigned flight or event without notice

3. Notification of sick leave less than 4 hours prior to departure

4. Notification of sick leave after beginning of reserve duty

5. Sick call impacting an assigned training event

6. Failure of the pilot to be contactable when required

7. Sick call prior to or following a scheduled vacation

8. Greater than four (4) absences, unless those absences are covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act

Union:

17 May

The CPP information outlined in the company communication seemed to be threatening and everyone should be made aware that we have had about 12 final review rejections since November, and none of these folks have had anything in their records that, per the CPP policy manual, disqualified them from the program. It is also important to note that performance, training, and sick/attendance are all areas where the company continues to push our pilots in an unprecedented direction. The training department is not currently operating at the high-caliber level we have always known. Pilots are getting sick more because they are being worked to the bone, experiencing increased numbers of short overnights, and we all have elevated stress levels. These issues all affect our immune systems and make us more susceptible to illness. Our performance is the best it can be; we have all remained professional during this tumultuous time and we should all be proud of that. If that is ever in question, well, they are grasping at straws and are not recognizing all we do.


6 July 2019

Over the past eight months, the Association has repeatedly requested information about what the next generation of the United Career Path Program (CPP) would look like, or if there will even be one going forward. Since its inception the CPP has been plagued with issues and there has been little to no communication with participants, or the Association for that matter, about potential fixes or what the future holds for pilots at XJT in terms of career progression. Our requests for information were designed to provide feedback to United and the company about ways to improve the program for all parties involved.

Yesterday, we finally received the company's first CPP communication in some time. This communication, strategically sent to a frustrated and exhausted pilot group over a holiday weekend, is language added to the CPP's attendance and reliability policy. The update states:

United recently made a revision to the "Dependability" section of the CPP program. Specifically, a statement has been added that states "A complete dependability history (excused and unexcused occurrences) will be reviewed by United' [sic] Board of Review (BOR)."

My preliminary discussions with the MECs of other CPP carriers indicate that this change is, to our present knowledge, exclusive to ExpressJet. While a majority of the attendance and reliability section of the CPP remains unchanged, the Association views yesterday's update as a pitifully desperate and unoriginal attempt by a similarly-versed management team to solve their mounting operational and staffing issues by threatening possible career repercussions if you call in sick. Our sick calls have increased, but this is no doubt due to the increased physical and psychological stress our pilots face — a symptom of the horrendous state of life on the line and management's inability to solve the staffing challenges they face. Quality of life has fallen to record lows at XJT, resulting in over-worked and over-extended pilots who, being human, then get sick.

This revision essentially results in two different sick policies for XJT pilots to abide by; the first is the company's current Attendance and Reliability Program policy and the second is outlined in the CPP guidelines to be used to determine a pilot's eligibility for the CPP. The company's sick note policy on xjt.com and the provisions in our collective bargaining agreement remain unchanged. The Federal Aviation Administration Regulations require pilots to assess their fitness for flight prior to each and every flight, and a pilot who calls in sick and meets the requirements of the company's sick note policy cannot be disciplined. Your ability to conduct safe operations should be your one and only consideration when determining your fitness for duty. To be clear, a pilot should only call in sick if he or she is unfit and should not call in sick if fit for duty. However, the company's attempt to circumvent and undermine our negotiated work rules while pressuring this decision is simply unacceptable.

Thus far, the CPP has mostly been used as a recruiting and retention tool. Any attempt to sell it as a career progression tool is bogus, as a majority of qualified XJT pilots are unable to progress through the program, L-ASA pilots have yet to be considered and many are still waiting on a second-round Hogan. The recruiting department has recently and unethically used the program to claim on social media that "thousands" of pilots have moved on to United Airlines through the CPP. This claim is false. Even if they were speaking collectively of all UAX CPP carriers, the total number of pilots who have progressed to UAL through the CPP is fewer than 500.

The use of such a terribly mismanaged program to attract pilots on the one hand while simultaneously placing additional pressure on our exploited pilot group on the other is a move the Association deems intolerable on every front. Continue, as you always have, to take professional assessment of your fitness to fly in accordance with the regulations in order to keep yourself, your crew and your passengers safe.




8 July 2019

Sick Leave Punishment
Due to the company's new policy that all sick calls (excused and unexcused) will be part of the Career Path Program (CPP) review process, many pilots are being pressured to either fly when they are sick, or chance being removed from the CPP just because they happen to experience an injury or illness. We believe this punishment for calling in sick goes against the FAA regulation to not fly when we are not fit for duty. If you have an illness or injury that prevents you from performing your duties, and you feel that you are being punished solely because you chose to follow FAA regulations and not fly, please submit an informational ASAP report stating as such. All ASAP reports are reviewed by representatives of the Association, the company and the FAA.




The new "Aviate" rules are listed as follows:

Dependability: Participants are expected to maintain the same dependability standards as United’s employees, meaning no unexcused documented occurrences of any of the following, unless such occurrences are considered
Approved Leave:
 Sick call over a company recognized holiday.
 Failure to operate an assigned flight or event without notice.
 Notification of sick leave less than two hours prior to a scheduled event.
 Sick call impacting an assigned training event.
 Failure of the Participant to be contactable when required.
 Sick call prior to or following a scheduled vacation.
 Greater than four absences in a rolling 12-month period –subsequent legs of
a trip will not be counted as individual absences, rather will be counted as
one absence (e.g. a four-day trip will count as one absence not four)



So they changed the sick call notice back from 4 to 2 hrs and removed the excused absences to only include unexcused. Based on how the CPP thing went down I would think it will include excused as well as some other undocumented things.

As other have said, United is entitled to hire who they wish. Just be advised of all the facts ahead of time....

 

Is there an unlimited look back on sick calls and unexcused absences?