Well, Brad said in an update about 6 months back that we have an E-Jet program in with the FAA at the moment. Only problem I can see is that United have pretty much maxed out their 76 seat limit.

 

They have maxed out their 51 seat and more limit, not the actual 76 seat limit. Still potential depending on what United wants to do with the 70 seaters.

 

Screw that. We specifically negotiated to avoid that.

Most definitely screw that. If we demonstrate willingness/desire to work below the minimum days off the company will eventually push for a lower minimum in negotiations.

 

Number one the company and the union agree on the way the pairings are made before we ever bid. I would be a huge cluster if they allowed us to trim pairings.

Number two. I worked at pinnacle where they would mix regular trips and naps in the same line. It sucked. We would get a 4 day trip followed by a nap.

Number 3. Really?? So when they negotiate the next contract the company can say. "See they are ok will 11 days off. Let's make that the minimum number of days off."

 

Ah, spoken like two people who are not right at the cutoff between being on reserve and holding a line.

The pairings get trimmed anyway, remember that whole split open time deal that happens just before the begining of the month?

We have a box that says allow single days off. Why not a box that says: Allow blended CDO/Non-CDO schedule? You don't want to mix naps, no problem, don't check the box.

I understand the worry about dropping the days off below what we have now, but if only getting 10 or 11 days off gets me a schedule worth 90+ hours vice a 75 hour reserve line, that amounts to about a $1000 difference on 2nd year F/O pay. So yes, having that option is a financial decision, as well as having the peace of mind that crew scheduling can't jerk me around however they want and tell me things like "Any way we can get around the contract, we will (yes, they said that to me)." Besides, this summer people can, and did (so I heard), drop below min days off to pick up the 150% open time from the trough.

 

Not on the line between reserve and a line? I'm an oct 8th 2013 hire on the ATL CRJ. Yes I have a line, but in August I didnt. Not to mention that I'm going to the 70/90 in Jan and I will be direct on the reserve/ lineholder line.

Spilt pairing picks are completely different then what your asking for. Pick ups take decreases the amount of open time. Allowing someone to trim a pairing in the bidding process would add time to open time.

Guys that commute would trim all of their trips so that they are always commutable. While that would be awesome it would also throw tons of crappy out and backs into open time that the reserves have to now fly. You also wouldn't be able to bid on the pieces that were trimmed off because they aren't in the bid pack because nobody could predict how someone would trim the pairing.

This whole idea is so unworkable it's amazing. If you think the bidding process takes a long time now it would be forever with your idea.

 

During interview this week, management said 175s by 2017

 

Not at all what I am saying regard the split. Here was my historical example: In August, I missed a line for two reasons:

1) The three day that was available starting on the 1st put me over my 30/7. If they took the last two legs, I would have qualified.
2) The 4 day that was available left me at only 10 days off. If they took the last 4 legs (last leg of day 3 plus the 3 legs on day 4), again I would have qualified.

There is no reason PBS can't have an algorithm built to recognize this staus as you get to the bottom of the list so the senior person doesn't get hosed over while a junior person gets a line.

As far as I am concerned, if the company says there are 55 lines available, the first 55 people senority wise should get them unless they decide otherwise (which will never happen under our current reserve rules). Now for that matter, do we really need 15 reserves for 50 lines like next month in IAD?

 

I think PBS favors the senior pilots. They get to really tailor their lines down to every detail. Duty in days and times, days off, length of trip, credit per trip or average per day, layovers, layover length, and legs per day are just a few of the many options. If you're a junior lineholder, you get the least desirable trips left at the bottom of the barrel. I can't complain though- it's still far better than reserve. I guess the biggest issue is it's so complicated, and leaves a lot up to the company to decide what gets awarded.

 

You really have no idea how PBS works.