So given that right now they are expecting a 2500+/- hour increase in April and 3200+/- in May and assuming they think they are staffed for the current level of flying....how many additional crews would that kind of block hour increase require?

 

25 more crews, but they are saying we are staffed for the increas, so no recalls as I see it.

 

I just cant see how that's possible...we are BARELY getting by with current crew staffing levels, CVG was down to 1 LC yesterday afternoon...I just cant see how they can expect to operate a RELIABLE operation with bare bones staffing.

 

So you are a scheduler. What cuts has your department seen? Any talk there in the SOCC about moving that part of the operation to MSP?

 

That has more to do with how we utilize reserves. Seems like we have a higher percentage of pilots on reserve than virtually any other regional. If we scheduled the way other airlines do, assigning every hour of flying and saving reserves for sick calls and displacements, (not to mention assigning one reserve to cover a trip instead of sending a new crew member every couple of legs) we could operate a lot more efficiently.

I'd be curious to hear the scheduler's perspective on this. i wouldn't be surprised if the IT in that department prevented us from optimizing how it runs.

 

That is what they want. They failed if they did not use every crew. All other airlines have reserves ready to go, ours all have rest issues and are used. But they call this place Comair not Big Foot Air.

 

It could easily be done if we were all getting line values like we use to.

 

Funny how that works, isn't it?

Comair Management to ALPA: We want to extend minimum line values to prevent more furloughs.

ALPA: What's it worth to you?

Comair Management: Well we're not going to give you anything for it, but it might save twenty or so pilot jobs.

ALPA: Sorry. That concession has expired. You'll have to come up with something better.

Comair Management to Delta: They didn't fall for it again. With all our lineholders flying a minimum of 82 hours now, we're going to have reserve pilots left over at the end of the day...almost every day!

Delta: Hmmm, we can't have that. How about if we give you a ten percent increase in flying to cover the ten percent increase in minimum line value?

Comair Management: Hmmm, that would allow us to still not have any reserves left over at the end of the day...sounds great!

 

Comair is what it is because D.S. can't sleep at night if there is ANY reserve sitting at home doing nothing and still getting paid guarantee. As a result, planners and schedulers are forced to make things more complicated than they really are and the whole operation circles down the drain.

As far as staffing, I have got to believe that it would be worth our while to carry a "little extra fat" during the spring and summer months, especially with JFK/northeast so easily disturbed by weather and other abnormalities. Whether that leads to recalls is above my paygrade, but right now the math is not adding up.

 

Any one is wondering how this displacement will change the face of the Union? Now that JFK will have a larger pilot base does that mean we have to have a new mec?

Just wondering I do not know how all this union stuff works.