Rock

What you say is right on target. And this is going to nail a lot of people for a lot of money. Is there an organized effort to grieve this yet? One problem is the failure by the expense report folks to close expense reports in a timely manner. No one really knows how badly they are going to get nailed because many have 6 months worth of expense reports remaining open.

pinseeker

How is that a status quo violation. If you did not get approval for a mid-trip deviation, yet purchased a ticket different than the scheduled flight, you didn't have approval to purchase that ticket. The contract states that you must get approval for a mid-trip deviation. They are simply following the language of the contract. If you can prove that the only reason that this has changed is because we are in section six negotiations for the purpose of putting pressure on the pilots, then it would be a status quo violation. Just like not picking up trips or draft by itself isn't a status quo violation. Per the contract, it is an individual decision. If you chose not to fly any additional trips, that is your choice. If the company can prove there was a coordinated effort to influence pilots not to fly extra trips in order to put pressure on the company during negotiations, then it becomes a status quo violation.

FXLAX

Xactly! One way street…

FXLAX

It doesn’t sound like he said he deviated from the scheduled flight, only that he upgraded his seat. If so, that doesn’t sound like a deviation. What has been past practice with this? If they’ve never disallowed it before, then that seems like some kind of retaliation? Doesn’t even have to do with section 6, necessarily.

pinseeker

Well, you can't just upgrade your seat with deviation bank money either. There is a form to fill out for an upgrade request and you have to pay the difference in the upgrade yourself. So again, where is the violation?

Rock

For at least the last four years you haven’t needed to do any of that to change a scheduled business class seat to first class on a scheduled deadhead. Never even questioned. Always approved. Years ago when I asked permission to do it I was told it wasn’t necessary if I was still flying the scheduled flight. So I quit asking. No problems. I can say as a matter of fact that was the case less than a year ago.

pinseeker

Can you provide the contract reference that says you are allowed to do that? Do you still have the email that said you were allowed to do that without approval?

Rock

Can you provide the contract reference that says you have 30 minutes to refuse a RAT trip after notification? Some things exist in our FedEx lives that are done based on past precedent. “Agreements” that aren’t codified by the CBA but accepted. If every single thing we did on a daily basis had a contractual reference the contract would be more unmanageable than it already is. If I were the only person moving themselves from business class to first class on a scheduled mid trip deadhead without deviating, I’d slap my own hand and learn a tough lesson. After a couple decades at FedEx, I’ve got a pretty good handle on daily ops. Do you think ALPA published recent warnings about this because one or two guys recently decided to try something new? Or is it because the company changed how it does things and now a bunch of guys are getting bit in the ass?

pinseeker

To answer your first question, try section 25.H.6. Since I don't know the details, giving you 30 minutes to decide could be doing you a favor. The issues we are talking about are codified by the CBA. There is a section on higher class of service eligibility as well as mid trip deviations. I asked if you had written documentation saying you could do this without approval to help. However, if there isn't anything documented stating that the company said that you could do this, then the CBA is the default. I flew international for a very long time and never heard of anyone upgrading a deadhead ticket without having to pay the difference themselves. Again, there is a form for that. My guess is it did happen some in the past, but went under the radar. Then a lot of guys started doing it and it got someones attention. They then informed the expense report audit people of the error, and now it is an issue.

If pilots really feel that they are getting screwed, they should grieve it. The union doesn't have to agree to grieve it, you can do it on your own. Again, unless there is something in the CBA or other written documentation stating that you can use deviation bank money to upgrade a scheduled deadhead ticket to a higher class of service than is required, then I think it is a losing case. JMO.

FedEx Pilot

8.A.5. Higher class is authorized. They may only be required to book you in biz due to it having a lie flat seat, but FC is authorized if that aircraft offers it.