Oscar:

There's a little more going on @ CAL than you might be aware of. The company, with the help of a few of our pilot collaborators, acquired a scheduling system that abrogates seniority and is basically a blank check for them to steal our days off.
PBS.
I am a big fan of PBS, when implemented properly. It's a system in which a pilot submits certain constraints to custom build his/her schedule. Once all pilots have submitted their bids the company submits it's constraints and schedules are built in seniority order. The problem is that our pilot group didn't negotiate what the companies constraints could be. Therefore the company changes them monthly as they see fit. In a normal PBS system the pilot's and companies constraints are negotiated and fixed. If the bid closes at noon, the company hits the enter button and schedules are available almost immediately. Because we didn't negotiate the company's "overall system constraints", the company has 5 days to just change their constraints and re-run the program until they've achieved the most economically optimum schedules and publishes that one, irrespective of seniority. And it's usually still a few hours late. Since the implementation of PBS, sick-leave is the only option that most pilots feel they have and has therefore drastically increased. Personally, I think that refusal to fly open time would be a better solution over the long haul, but we've got a lot of scabs who'll take up the slack for the company, rendering such an effort futile. Scabs, still today, ruin the careers of hard-working, principal professional pilots. You need to understand that you are working under the legacy of Herb Kelleher, and we're under Frank Lorenzo and his scabs. You have no idea of the working conditions here and should reserve judgment to those who walk in your own footsteps. Don't mean to offend. But you've been fortunate to work for a company like SWA. Hope your plight continues to go well.

The most basic problem with PBS is that the company controls the programming. They can set all sorts of parameters at their will.

Ask yourself why the companies like PBS so much.

IMO, PBS for pilots is like buying a piece of the Brooklyn Bridge - it just needs a "little work".

[/QUOTE]It appears the differences between sick leave policies may be in play here. SWA has a pretty generous 10 for 1 accumulation rate of sick leave. You work 10 you get one trip of sick leave. Pretty easy to acculmulate if you are relatively "healthy."

I am most certainly not going to say I haven't used sick leave in some grey areas. I will say there is a difference between using it because your spouse is ill and you have young children or you have a doctor's appointment, etc., and using it for "personal" reasons that have nothing to do with being ill. Not judging, just posing an ethical question which we each have to make peace with.

The pilot group at CAL saved their pensions (as well as AA) while other "legacies" lost theirs. I believe they are to be commended for that. Did the mgmt take too much? Perhaps, but I would say that making a fellow employee work (by abusing sick leave) because you feel the mgmt got a big bonus is targeting the wrong culprit.[/QUOTE]



CAL also goes in and illegally (so I am told) looks at Expressjet Pilots sick bank when they apply, and if you don't have that mush sick time left in your bank, no interview for you, again this is what I have been told..........

I've worked under it when the company's constraints were negotiated and monitored. Worked like a dream.

Well, you never worked for the airline I did, and frankly I would not put my faith in ANY airline management out there, including SWA.

Every time negotiations come up, all the company has to do is to put a proposal across the table that they want more control over the program and you either acquiesce or pay for it ... again.

In addition, unless you actually have a pilot involved with PBS that has access to the code, and can read and really understand what the program is actually doing, you are relying on their "good faith".

Just because a management is "benevolent" today, doesn't automatically mean tomorrow they will be the same.

No he wasn't basing it on how an airline treats its' employees he was basing it on judging someone and calling them a thief, lier, and having no morals. Big difference.

CAL also goes in and illegally (so I am told) looks at Expressjet Pilots sick bank when they apply, and if you don't have that mush sick time left in your bank, no interview for you, again this is what I have been told..........[/QUOTE]

Absolutely true. 100%.

I heard it is also a requirement for anyone applying for a Chief pilot or check airman position. You must have 1,000 hours of sick time minimum. ? Who really knows? I don't qualify.

A320,

Thanks for an informative and intelligent reply. In the future I will not waste my time going back and forth with someone who will not justify their opinions and reply with insults for behavior that frankly I am proud of.

PBS is (from what I hear) off the table in SWA's negotiations. If what you have provided is true, I am very glad to see it gone (at least for now). We have some scheduling issues that are very advantageous for us currently and I don't want to mess with them. Thanks again for the info!

CPT,

While I try to not get into grammar errors because it deflects from the content of the discussion I must ask you to spell "liar" correctly or I won't be able to "judge" properly. Again, you must be the one to ultimately judge yourself. The idea of treating your fellow employee well is a concept that I think we all should reevaluate. As far as the one who will judge all in the end..... It won't be me because I will probably be in hell waiting for others to arrive.