Well that's a different story, I too am willing to meet in the middle, without a doubt.

 

Been here over a decade and never have dropped to zero until the last three months. Typically get good lines with weekends off so don’t have need to improve much. Wanted our summer to be flexible and it’s been magical. No problem dropping my entire weekday green schedules.

Went to a clean slate. We’ve traveled and had lots of family time, and I’ve still worked. Just when and where I wanted when our plans allowed. We can pick up out of base any time so I’ve worked through several bases this summer.

Red/green (arbitrated and set in stone) rules allow people to drop and swap easily with some exceptions (often weekends can be a struggle). Drop to zero allows people to get what they need off if the days are green without worrying about credit thresholds then focus on building back up later. This creates a much more free flowing pool of open time which gives people more freedom to drop because they know something will pop up to rebuild which creates even more free flowing open time and on and on.

I imagine most that drop to zero don’t stay at zero but it allows for a lot of flexibility. Red/green is the key but DTZ goes hand and hand and I’d say being able to pick up out of base does as well.

delta profit sharing formula should be a non negotiable

 

This sounds amazing. I hope we can incorporate a lot of that here.

We need to become the leading QOL of airline with the JCBA. Removing credit restraints and improving the grid, incorporating many of Spirit's QOL items will make this place quite unique in that regard, especially if they match the legacies on rates and PS.

This is the time to do it.

 

This is what I do on a monthly basis and I'm just over a year in. I dropped my entire December 22' schedule (including a 4 day over Xmas). Didn't work all month until I decided I wanted to work towards the end of the month. Grabbed a CAP (company available premium) 4 day to credit 46 hours for the month; 27 days off. I currently bid at 75% of lineholders in ORD and can hold a decent line with two weekends off. I usually drop every trip maybe I keep one, for whatever reason, and then build back up to work on the days I want to work. I've got two young kids and our red/green & DTZ systems allow me to be home for literally every event/day that I need to be. With the flexibility to drop and list for x/y trips, I'm on pace to credit 1400 hours this year.

 

I will say the current trip mix makes things easier as well and we don’t have anything to require a certain trip mix. When the pairings were mostly 4days things are a lot more difficult. Not impossible but a lot more difficult. They switched to a much mor even trip mix last year knowing on paper it was more expensive but it would stand up the airline faster in irops and it appears to have worked. If any management newcomer wanted to put us all on 4day I believe they could and grid would turn red a lot faster. The semi senior will try to dump their 4days in hopes of getting the few turns and two days and everyone else ends up with an open time deadlock because the grid turns red after the 4day dump from the semi senior pilot that couldn’t hold shorter trips.

I’ll bid back to rsv if I have to go back to lines of 4days and nothing but 4days in open time.

 

I have a short and very easy commute and don't mind the 4 day trips in ORD. I have found myself backing up two 3 day trips together to make a 6 day block. I don't bid turns but enjoy 2/3 and higher credit 4 day trips.

 

We are so far from dropping to zero it’s not even funny. Probably our largest pilot base/seat for August had 2 days in the green, and each by only 1 duty period. So basically 1 very senior guy got to drop two day trips out of a base of 500+ guys.

Nobody was dropping anything.

Trade board? Yeah good luck dropping much of anything.

 

Its really interesting to me that Spirit pilots are willing to trade away a lot of money and other contractual pieces in order to keep there schedule flexibility and JetBlue pilots are happier to have a tight reserve grid with less flexibility but significantly higher pay and other contractual benefits. Its just funny to me how different each pilot group views their wants and needs. I predict much friction and bad will after the JCBA.

 

why not fight to keep both in the JCBA…

 

Spirit FO here - DTZ doesn't equal trade away alot of money - I dropped my entire schedule in June and listed for premium. Ended up with 4 trips, 3 being premium, 160 credit & 17 days off. DTZ allowed for that.