I think you're right. It will be interesting.

 

Wait, so the company will be paying LESS in premium pay post CBA? That sounds like a concession. How many concessions is that now?

 

The VDA/RSA stinks. I want to see open time with premium trips marked off. No wondering where they’ll send me, no being on Reserve for the day. And I suspect most of the pilot group will prefer the system to come, albeit at 150%. And I’ll be able to take advantage of it to a greater degree than the rare VDA trip.

 

That's the point. It drives people to VDA thus costing the company money, thus paying the pilot group more.

 

I disagree. A good majority of the VDA calls are last minute trips that doesn’t have time to hit open time. The “how soon can you get here” kind of trip.

I also think people will soon realize that it’s not worth their time picking up a day trip for 7.5 hours via the premium pot, at least that’s my hope. A 15 hour/2 day doesn’t personally excite me either. RSA’s are wildly popular in their current form, which essentially is the same thing with the big caveat of being required to answer your phone.

That wasn’t really what I was getting at earlier though. Ok so EQ-Europe flying won’t have as many premium pot opportunities as the other domiciles then.

 

That’s where you’re wrong. Guys will go for the 150% guaranteed trip vs maybe I’ll get a call on VDA for some god- awful oddball trip. You’ll see...

 

They can do that now with RSA, without the control of hand picking your trip but with also the chance of not getting called in. I’m not wrong, it’s probably going to vary base by base. A commuter heavy base like JFK will probably see more VDAs, then say Orlando. You don’t even know how the Reserve Silos or Long Call system will shake out, so a little premature to say VDA is dead. Maybe your base isn’t as active as mine, so you don’t see how much help they need 24/7.

 

Yeah, no. That's not true at all. The trips that get VDAd for the most part you can see a mile away. Several hours at least. Certainly enough to be on open time long enough for global to kick and and when the company turns the board green, 150% of standard rate, it'll be like a bunch of hobos on a ham sandwich. Especially for the junior guys who never see VDAs.

As with 95% of this POS CBA, if you have any seniority, it F-d you in the drivethrough.

 

Well I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree. Those trips they post at 3am for something starting in a few hours, you setting your alarm just in case? Or what about the last two snowstorms, I saw them post 320 Boston trips in the 190 pot. Those 190 pilots obviously stayed home with pay. You have confidence when the crap hits the fan, that they’ll find time to place the regular open time into the premium pot? Or when trips pop into open time with less than 3 hrs 50 mins to show, so no one can pick it up and drives every lineholder insane? Like anything sometimes it’ll work, sometimes they’ll need VDAs.

Good portion of my VDA calls never hit open time. Sounds like you’ve had a different experience. If I had to assume you’re on the Airbus, with most of your trips having adequate time to hit open time since it’s less volatile. E190 crews can do 4 legs with the last leg being to Newark, which just entered a 3 hour GDP. Scheduling now immediately needs another crew....happens every week.

 

Not sure you know how that's going to work. They're going to turn the board green or purple or chartruce or whatever F-ing color they're going to want to turn it. And yes, I'm pretty sure there is going to be FLICA notifications or emails detailing when this happens. And yes, those trips will get gobbled up, especially by junior pilots.

Will there be times when VDAs will still be needed? Of course. But they will be limited to the severe IROPS, not the daily ops we have runnning now. I'm a BOS pilot. I do LGB VDAs, and I watch all the bases and follow the trends. Have been for a few years now, so I've seen how this place melts down and what they do to get out of it.

Believe me, as guy who's made a lot of money living off VDAs for a couple of years now, the last thing I want is for it to change. I hope I'm wrong. I don't think I will be.