4a2c Overtime
 

A few questions for guys that were here during 4a2b. Let me start with some assumptions which may or may not be valid…

This provision is a distributed and partial furlough for the entire pilot group (yes, I understand it’s not distributed evenly and for some not so partial). The intention of this provision was to prevent or at least delay a furlough in the case of overstaffing. This is possible in effect by senior pilots subsidizing junior pilots. The company benefits by negating the required bids and training costs associated with a furlough.

If the above is valid, why were the triggers tied to this idea of a “SAM” that can be manipulated and have carve outs? Why were they not tied to actual hours flown?

With all of the various stipulations in the section (no volunteer flying, company hires pilots, etc) was it really just an oversight to allow Draft calls and individual flying above BLGs, RLGs etc?

Why would a guy be required to sit the same amount of reserve days (15/4, 19/5) but be paid less for those days? If overstaffed, seems that there would be enough for reserve coverage. What possible good comes from a bid pack that has an option of 10 day trips or 15 days of reserve? I understand there’s always a disparity and more senior trips etc., but this is gross.

What are the benefits to allowing certain guys to fly extra draft trips, extend availability, work 25 days a month during 4a2c when most of the seniority list is subsidizing this extra flying? Is this something that the union supports?

Honest questions. I realize that we can’t write a contract to enforce common sense. I’m just wondering what I’m missing. Seems that 4a2b/c was written specifically to be abused by the company and their independent contractors.

It’s supposed to be a circuit breaker to protect jobs in the darkest of times. Saves jobs and saves the company money. In this case they’re abusing it. But it’s horribly written so it can be exploited.

The question that needs to be answered is “Why would the company that proclaims to be all about its people and promises purposely drive their employees into a protection mode when there’s no criticality presenting itself to the company to warrant such action?”

It’s because this company has always been anti-labor and only cares about the bottom dollar. $1.6B Quarterly Profits are hardly a hardship for this behemoth of a corporation. There are questions about this company’s future but look towards the distortion of performance metrics in their logistics reporting and you’ll note it’s not pilots making up the lies. It’s the company. We suck again.

-Bubs

Short answer to some thoughtful questions and keen observations.

It’s probably the dumbest thing ever conceived and implemented in a pilot contract. That used to be a wildly unpopular thing to say but now after the 2nd bamboozlemet, of us by the company, it’s viewed in a different light by most.

Agree.

At least '09 was actually a down year.. a 90% decrease in net income from '08, recovered quickly into '10. This time around we've seen a YOY improvement in net income since 2023. Given the stark differences, one might be tempted to believe our grievance (25-01) could bear fruit.. but, again, this is ALPA we're talking about here.

It’s sad and unfortunate that the first time in history FedEx pilots have had the backbone to say no to a bad deal and try to improve things is at the same time the company is on a historically unprecedented cost cutting initiative. But here we are. Makes you wonder why they offered and are continuing to offer “improvements” to the pension. Maybe it’s a win and overall cost saving to them to sunset it, and not a win for us?

It’s sad and unfortunate you do not the real history of our negotiation battle. We turned down a contract in the mid 90’s.

Also in other economic down turns the company went into similar cost cutting measures.

I know you new guys are so much tougher now.

Gentlemen, focus. Otherwise, we’re going to lose the thread to wife beating. This should easily be viewed as a discussion that concerns everyone on the seniority list. Regardless of age, seniority, seat, previous vote… You and your family are currently subsidizing any extra flying taking place under 4a2c. What the company did or didn’t do to get us here isn’t the point. There’s nobody that believes the company has managed this in any reasonable or even decent way. If there’s anything that should be unifying, it should be this.

And for clarity, I don’t mean “draft”, I don’t mean adjustments to your schedule to improve your commute, QOL, manage your family, etc. This IS NOT a “Fly your line!” discussion….. so easy for a senior non commuter to manage. I mean the language that allows for extra flying during 4a2c. Specifically, I mean one pilot doing the work of 2 or 3 over consistent months in a staffing situation that tripped this “circuit breaker”.

why does everything have to be old versus young with you? It’s obvious you’re insecure or regretful about getting older. Give it a rest already. Go get a hobby

Hopefully this helps answer some of your questions.

In our first two contracts, it was stated that this provision was to prevent or delay a furlough. The mins were set to 48/60. That was it. No trigger, no exit parameters, no limits between the high and low lines.

The last time we entered 4a2b, we grieved it and the company got a partial win and so did we. The arbitrator ruled that the company was allowed to enter 4a2c, but they also ruled that there should be triggers and an exit parameter. They stated that if we couldn't come to an agreement with each other, then they would rule on those parameters. Hence, the SAM. We also added the line value differences fleet wide and a max pay provision because we had pilots that were MD FO's that were displaced to 72 SO now making 50 hours a month while 777 pilots and some MD pilots were making 70+ hours in a typical 4 week month. We codified the agreement in 2015. If the RLG hits certain parameters, they take 1 or 2 R days off your calendar. In 2020, pilots at other airlines were looking at something to reduce guarantees to avoid a furlough and were interested in our 4a2b/c. Then the government helped them out.

Yes, we either need to make it harder for the company to indiscriminately change flying, draft, and limits such as a mandatory buy up to average BLG in the highest paying bid pack if entering 4a2c and an easier exit such as 1 month above the trigger that caused the entry and a reset of at least 6 months before the trigger counter can start again. Otherwise, we should scrap the whole idea.