There seem to be two different scenarios. One is when they call you on a day off. I have answered the phone many times in those situations if I am truly available and willing, but sometimes what they have to offer falls outside my available time frame and I tell them exactly what you said (wife, etc...) No issues there, they know that you were nice enough to answer the phone while off duty. I'm not even sure if they are really trying to junior assign you when they call on a day off, or if they are simply asking for help.

However, when they get a hold of you on your last day of a trip, or when you are about to go home on day 5 of reserve, etc..., and they tell you "check your schedule, you are working tomorrow too," and you say "I'm not available" you will most likely get an UJR on your schedule. And I disagree whit the fact that it is a meaningless code, otherwise they will not use it at all. That code means that you don't want to help the company, so they probably won't help you either if you ever need help. Not to mention that I have heard cases in which the company easily turned a UJR into an UFW. I'm also very skeptical as to how far can the Union go to help.

 

Those codes will become VERY meaningful to the few of you who will qualify for the CPP. That program is chock full of things that will get you removed from it.

 

During my first two years there I was never late for a show, never turned down a request to fly (even before the 300% offers), and never called in sick. But when I needed a day off for something truly important ... forget it. Even when I found someone willing to swap with me they still wouldn’t allow it. So, when I arrived in back in base after ten straight days of flying (made possible with a couple of long layovers) I wasn’t in much of a mindset to help them out when they called me at the end of that trip on a Saturday evening. They wanted me to do a Pensacola overnight or the flight would cancel. I felt bad about turning it down but I really needed to commute back home to take care of some things the following day before going out on another trip Monday morning. They told me that they were then going to give me a UJA. I suggested that they go right ahead and, in that case, to expect the same response from me the next time they needed a favor. The bottom line here is that, where crew tracking/line adjustments are concerned, it doesn’t matter how good of an employee you are at Mesa. Even the most stellar employee will not receive one single favor and should only be ready to be screwed by them at every turn. That’s just the way they operate. Even the chief pilot can only do so much. The treatment crew tracking dishes out to you comes from them only with top management’s given authority and blessing. And, as for suggesting the union might be able to do something to help get rid of a UJA? PLEASE .. are we talking about the same union, lol. Don’t expect the union to raise a finger to help you until you finally receive a termination notice. Then they’ll try to help.

 

Yeah, I was mostly talking about a last-day-of-your-trip scenario. And like Out of Trim said, they’re not in the business of doing favors back anyway. The code only has as much power as you give it.

 

To each their own... but to say that we do not junior assign here is wrong. We DO. Unless you have a golden day, be ready to work more if you are legal or to have ding on your record (whether you think it's meaningless or not, the fact of the matter is that it is a negative spot on your record).

 

If it was something TRULY important why didn't you bid for it? After two years with the company you certainly could get that day off, even if you needed to bid reserve.

If you read my post, our opinion of the union is the same. Most union guys tend to side with the company on this. If they (Crew Tracking) are talking to you, and you are not protected by a golden day, you are not sick, and you are not fatigued, then you are the junior available. It doesn't matter how good of an employee you are.

 

Exhibit A.

 

When you do some of the really fast upgrades, it’s done out of seniority because those above you either can’t or don’t want to upgrade yet. They’ll eventually trickle above you, keeping you junior in your seat. IAD is very junior for Captains, but also very senior for Captains. A Captain there could easily be on reserve for a couple of years if they do a 4 month upgrade there.

 

There’s no ding in your record. Companies your applying too will never see your attendance record. The UJA is just a placeholder. Refuse as many as you want. Even at the end of a trip.

The CPP program details aren’t known yet, so it’s pure speculation anything having to do with it.

 

This is not about me. This is about telling people that are considering coming to Mesa that we do junior assign here. A lot of pilots here at Mesa think that because the contract says "junior available" they can always turn down a JA by simply saying "I'm not available," and that the UJA (or UJR??) code means nothing. I personally think it's a naive way of thinking. Do you really think that's how the company thinks it is supposed to work? Then why they even bothered to put junior assignment language in the contract? And what exactly a "placeholder" is? Why do you think they want to track down how many times you have refused to be junior assigned?

Now, in four years I have only been officially junior assigned two or three times. All while on reserve. So it's not something that happens often, but it happens. It's in our contract.

ALPA sent out an email talking about PRIA 7 months ago and they mention that in addition to the usual stuff...

"Some pilots' personnel files may contain nonstandard documents, such as:

Disciplinary letters
Reliability letters
Training Review Board letters"

I believe that too many UJA/UJR (however its called) could potentially get you a disciplinary or a reliability letter. And remember, if the company is really desperate and a pilot is being a jerk, they can easily get back at you and turn an UJR into an UFW. It's as easy as saying, "you seem pretty available to us (no GLD, no SIC, and no FAT, and we are talking to you), you have been notified of additional flying, be there ."

Done.