First off I want to express my gratitude to the entire union team at Silver for their time and effort in negotiating this LOA. This is a trying time in our industry and for the Silver family. I know that the entire Teamster’s team put in a tremendous amount of work and personal time to negotiate the finest possible LOA for the pilot group.
I would like to take this time to break down the LOA and do a brief synopsis and comparison to our current CBA. I encourage and look forward to any feedback or differing opinions on the subject. This LOA affects each and every one of us and potentially many others coming behind us!
·Ground Reposition:
o“The standard “15 min” reposition time”
oDefinite positive for the pilot group as a whole. Current contract does not require a minimum ground reposition time.

·Reserve Rules:
·“Minimum Daily Rate of Three (3) hours” – Removed
·Removed – 150% pay above 70.5 hours of credit while on Reserve
·“18 continuous reserve days”
·“Build-up lines”
oLosing the minimum day for reserve brings a couple of issues to the for-front. By not having a “min day” for each scheduled reserve day we lose a tremendous amount of credit at the start of the month (57-60hrs depending on the month). This combined with the loss of the 150% at greater than 70.5 hours of pay removes almost all soft pay with regards to reserve line holders. A counter to this would be the ability to pick up open time during your extended off-period, however this will result in fewer days off for the month. Another variable is not having a number of minimum days off for reserves. This could greatly affect your quality of life and time at home. Using the 2015 calendar here is an example of what I am referring to:
oExample: NO MIN DAYS OFF – The number of scheduled days off for a reserve in 2015 prior to any training events would be 149 days, an average of 12.4 days per month (149 / 12 = 12.42). For Captains you have to figure on 3 training events per year (Two 441’s and one ground school). With the new LOA reserves are not required to have a minimum number of days off. The company could choose to schedule all training on your extended periods of OFF time. As stated in the LOA these days are “Immovable”, however this does not mean by definition they are “Irremovable”. If the company did this Captains would drop down to an average of 11.3 days off per month. This results in no Gain or Loss in the average number of days off per year if the Captain is NEVER extended the 2 allowable days per month while on reserve. If the Captain is extended half of the time or 6 out of 12 months this would result in an average of 10.33 days off per month and is an average LOSS of days off per year.

§Summary:
·Min days off with no training scheduled on days off = 12.4
·Min days off with training scheduled on days off no ext.’s = 11.3
·Min days off with training scheduled on days off w/ 50% ext.’s = 10.33
oExample: OLD Contract – I start with 60hrs of credit at the beginning of the month. Let’s say I fly 10 out of the 20 days I am on reserve. This will leave me with 10 days of credit at 3hrs per day = 30 hrs. Let’s say I average 5hrs of pay for the remaining 10 days that I have worked, this would equal 50 hrs. This would total 80hrs of straight pay. I would then receive 9.5hrs at 150% equaling 4.75hrs of additional pay. This will total 84.75hrs of pay for the month.
§30hrs + 50hrs = 80hrs + 4.75hrs (9.5 / 2 = 4.75) = 84.75hrs while maintaining my 11 days off.
oExample: NEW Contract – I start the month with zero credit. During my 18 days of reserve I am “on duty” for 15 of those days and average 5hrs of credit per day. This would bring my credit to the minimum for the month of 75hrs with no additional pay. If I wanted to bring my credit to or above the 84.75 I would have been credited from the old contract I would now have to pick up open time on my days off taking me well below the 11 days we have now. If I pick up one 3 day trip at 12hrs of credit AND receive 150% pay I would make an additional 18hrs for the month.
§75 (15x5hrs) + 18hrs = 93hrs of pay while reducing my number of days off to 8
·Depending on your situation (i.e. you live in base, commute, senior reserve etc.) the 18 day consecutive schedule may be a significant positive or negative.
·The addition of build-up lines will benefit 1-2 reserves per base with the understanding that the company will work with the pilots and honor this agreement. There is nothing in the LOA that states the company MUST provide a build-up line when requested by the pilot.
·Hourly Pay:
o“5% CA and 10% FO hourly pay rate”
§Definite positive and move in the right direction. This brings Silvers hourly compensation closer to industry standard.
·Per Diem:
o“$0.05 per hour raise in per diem”
§Definite positive. Works out to a 2.9% increase in per diem rates, or 279.50 per year for somebody on 24-hour per-diem except for their minimum 11 days off a month.
·Deadheading:
o“100% pay for deadheads”
§This is a small positive, the significance is minimalized due to the current contract. Our current contract requires 100% deadhead pay after the first 5 cumulative hours of deadheading (flight or ground) in any bid period. This is only a maximum net gain of 2.5hrs per month or roughly $100-150.
·Vacation and PDO
oRemoved – Conversion of VAC to PER days.
o“VAC days can be sold back at 3.5hrs per day”
o“PER days are sold back at 8hrs per day at the end of each year”
o“up to 7 vacation days from the previous year can be retained and used the following year”
o“VAC days accrued outside of normal VAC accrual can be used during that year”
§The option to sell back vacation and the ability to retain vacation days for the following year is a positive along with the option to use VAC days accrued outside of the normal VAC accrual during that same year within the parameters of the “retained VAC day usage” rules. However, the “retained VAC day” availability and usage will not be seen for an extended period of time. The “retained VAC days” have to be from the previous year. Assuming you have bid for or already converted your VAC to PER for the 2014 calendar year, your ability to accrue “retained VAC days” would not begin until 2015. These days would not be usable until 2016.
·Example: You have two weeks of vacation next year (2015). You decide to hold on to 7 days of VAC so that you may use them as “retained” days in 2016. You will only have 7 VAC and 2 PER days for the 2015 calendar year.
oNote: If you are planning on staying at the company for an extended period of time this would be considered a net gain, however, if you are not planning on continuing employment through 2016 this would be a net loss.
·Retention Bonus
o$6,000 dollar retention bonus 12 Calendar months after the LOA is ratified.
§This is a definite positive if an individual plans on continuing employment through the 12 month waiting period.
·Training Compensation
oTraining and related travel will be compensated at 4hrs of pay per day.
oIf the pilot is required to travel and attend a simulator session on the same day then they will be compensated for 6hrs of pay
oNote: Per the company and union Silver has the intentions of moving all recurrent ground into base and all simulator training will occur in MIA. While the compensation for training and related travel is improved, if these changes in location occur the overall compensation will decrease do to the lack of need to travel. The current average training timetable is 13 days per year for a Captain (Two 441’s = 8 days / One recurrent ground = 5 days…generally). With the new locations you would see a loss of two days for ground school caused by no travel (ground school in base).
§Currently: 13 x 4 = 52hrs of pay per yr.
§New Locations: 11 x 4 = 44hrs of pay per yr.