Hey guys relax, we are all on the same team, aren't we? We are in joint contract negotiations, how can we expect to get any gains when we can't come to the table unified. I'm sure management is licking their chops to see us divide ourselves so they can conquer. But to go back to the topic of PBS, ASA management wants to get rid of our vacation low, which allows us to work 6-8 days and credit 75 hrs, in the worst kind of way, and possibly terminating the whole system because it isnt working in their favor, but contractually they can't. We all want the best quality of life but if we push too hard against each other we all will be working 12-15 days on every vacation month. I will be the first to admit that Xjt bidding is sweet, bid conflict and get paid for both ends, trip drop and premium pickup etc. however, I have a hard time believing it will remain. In the interest of all of us, we need to foster lines of communication that aid in providing accurate information, not name calling. So can someone tell me why they think we can get the current xjt system through, without major concessions in other areas? And if it's not realistic, isn't it smart to take option 1a , which is better than most regionals and even some legacies, and not have to give concessions in this aspect of the contract, and focus our demands on other areas?.

 

Banshee, I understand that the "logic" works in seniority order. I was giving you 3 examples of the reverse happening. It's frustrating when you are the one getting screwed, our system has more the one way of doing that. Being a middle of the pack reserve in DTW I'm tired of hearing the good about PBS when I hear and see the opposite when I go to work. Only been here since April and 3 times people junior to me were awarded lines. I'm not arguing why the system did that, I am saying I don't like logic behind it. The fun part comes when I try to explain to my friends at other companies why I didn't get a line yet again. All I get is raised eyebrows and the "that's not right" look. I'm not going to argue for a system that has blatant and glaring drawbacks.

 

You serious..? I think you're confusing a stagnant seniority list and reductions in flying with PBS issues. If you're a middle of the pack reserve pilot, especially at DTW then the reason that you don't have a line is...you're junior and no one is leaving. If you were in ATL...you would be on reserve. If you were at IAD...you would be on reserve. Are you seriously saying that you DON'T like the one part of the system that actually benefits you? So one more time, just to be clear, if you are a reserve pilot and someone junior to you is awarded a line, it was not at your expense. It's simply not possible. They were awarded a line after your schedule was created. They were awarded a line because A) they had preassigned credits that allowed them to reach their min credit with fewer trips; B) you did not select "award all pairings before reserve" or C) the pre assigned credits which you selected could not create a full schedule with the trips that were left over at your seniority. Trust me, I know it sucks but remember, what goes around, comes around. A few times a year it will be your turn to benefit from the system. Maybe someday we'll see some movement on this side of the company and it won't be an issue.

 

The training part of PBS needs a major overhaul. Having to do AQP and only receiving 16 hours for 4 days really screws your schedule, especially if you have it during the summer when the window is higher. At a minimum we need 20 hrs, prolly more like 22.

 

No this goes back well into 2011, before the flying was reduced for 2012. And it happens in ATL. It just goes relatively unnoticed to most pilots because you have to be on the cusp each month to be affected by it. The problem is, we are all the same pilots month to month dealing with it because there is no movement here.

one month last year, I had vacation and people below me got a line because "the week I had vacation conflicted with the remaining open time pairings, causing me to be bumped down to reserve"
more recently, appx 15 people junior to me received lines because my carry over trip conflicted with "all remaining pairing solutions" thus having the junior line holders to me "winning the lottery." And yes, I selected all remaining pairings, had multiple bid sheets, and had more pre-assigned credits in BOTH cases than the pilots below me.

On a jag, Reserve coverage with PBS has been way too high and lurked in the 20% range until the last 2 months. Reserve rules are almost non existent with the loopholes in the contract. Now this month there are no long call reserve lines that have weekends off. If you want one weekend off, you have to work the other weekends. Unreal.

 

Missed the point did you?

 

See we don't deal with any of this bull**** with line bidding, and more importantly our contract language is very specific about it.

I honestly see why you guys think you have it good; your previous contract was such a piece of ****, that anything would've been an improvement. Well after reading both contracts I can tell all of you that there's only two things that the ASA contract have over the XJT contract. So you guys owe it to yourselves to educate yourselves, your MEC won't do it because their lips are stuck to management's ass. So take it upon yourselves to do the research, it will be eye opening.

The main reason why we will never see PBS on the combined company is because the company will never include our contractual language/protections in the system, because defeats the purpose for them. For every XJT pilot PBS is and will always be a concession, and non of us are willing to take hit for asa or management or anyone else. So deal with it, we have about 1000 more votes.

 

Well said Sir, Asa guys love the kool aid. PBS will never go thru. The things you Asa guys are now able to do with PBS we have been doing for years with our line bid system. PBS only works in managements favor. I guess you guys think your management.

 

Agree with this 100%, not cool if you're continually going to be scheduled for training in June/July/August.

 

Not a factual statement.

Let me guess, on another message board, you go by 777forever?