To back this up, on short call I've gotten calls that are 2 hrs prior to departure, not sign in, departure. I've also gotten the "how soon can you get here".

 

Not true. DAL and many pilot would love to have some sort of technology like this. SMS is cheap and existing, but there is not confirmation that said individual got the text, so at best it could just be a text directing you to look at DBMS.

RIM (Blackberry) technology is great as well, but there is a huge cost associated with it. Maybe with the new rest rules a electronic signature icon stating you are OK with your fatigue level will push something like this along.

Either way, the point is that, pilot and DAL like it. They are just looking for something that gives them the most bang for their buck.

On the tech issue, DAL has one on the brightest people heading this up. She is quite capable and came from NWA. I expect we will see great things from her dept. Patience.

 

Happens all of the time when they cannot find a reroute pilot.

I have also gotten called told departure is when I get there, only to have them call back and tell me that they found a reroute pilot.

I do my job, and never play games. It seems to work well for me and the schedulers I have communication with. Only a few times have found them not aware of a PWA section, or having not imputed said trip in to my schedule to confirm legality.

Most times they are ready with the PWA section and subpart and will read it to you, if you have any questions. There are "issues" here and there, but with any operation the size and scope of ours that is to be expected. The reaction and resolution are the key.

 

No the "reality" is that if DAL went with a SMS technology which is existing and really cheap, many pilots and fa's would claim they did not get the text. This would in effect nullify any benefit for the company and for the pilots. It would a "nice to know" kind of item, but with no real operational impact. That is the "issue" with SMS.

Moving to a message read notification like RIM software et al, requires money and outfitting the pilot and FA communities with a device that could knowingly support the software. Well 20K FA's and 12K pilots is a ton of a expenditure for this option. AKA, the ROI is very low. Add to the fact that some may opt not to read it, not know how to read it, or lose the device, sink it in a toilet, etc. See the issues with the true cure all? Now multiply the issues you have had with your phone by 30K+ and it is a department unto itself.

That is why DAL is taking the time to do this correctly, and for the most bang for their buck. It is not that they do not care, it is that they are actually trying to find a solution that will not cost close to 10 million bucks.

 

That's exactly what I'm talking about - from what I got from the road show was - it's a nice idea to have immediate notification to the crews about changes to their schedule, but what we have now works. The ROI just isn't there when it comes to a way of confirmed notification of a trip or reroute (aka blackberry). The company already has systems in place (call you on your phone, or ACARS message) that are either inexpensive (phone call) or piggybacked onto other systems (ACARS).

I'm not against a simple solution - I just think that we're not going to see anything that costs money - which leads to a simple solution. But - as we've seen here, what we think is simple (online jumpseat booking) took a while to get implemented, and required a cost savings (eliminating the XCM desk).

In the end, I think we'll see an option in iCrew saying "If you want notification of a change to your schedule, enter you email address here. Delta is not responsible for the cost of receiving any notifications." They won't have a place to get a TXT message on your phone, because that probably costs Delta some money to send. Most cellphone providers have a way of receiving a txt message from an email. (ie, [email protected] or whatever).

 

Actually most cell companies do not charge the sender of a text and they can do a voice to text message that is computer generated for free. The technology is there and is quite cheap. College campuses have this after some of the shootings that have occurred.

 

How many of the Delta new hires are on property in some capacity by now? Just curious how many ASAers are still waiting on class.

 

I interviewed the last week of July. It took 5 weeks to get the cleared to train letter. That was two weeks ago and still waiting for the phone call for a class date. I assume the delay is that they are making every attempt to place people in classes with respect to when they interviewed. What the delay is in background checks I have no idea. It took my current employer a long time to return the training records so maybe that's the kink the hose.

 

I know someone who was assigned the October class. I'm not sure if there is going another class after that other than to accomodate the flow-ups who were held back. I heard the next classes wont be until next summer. Congrats on getting hired.

 

With the impending rest rule changes, increase in schedule for 2011, and an unknown number of retirements, I would be shocked if they waited until next summer to hire again. My guess is that we will see some interviews in the beginning of the new year.