Quote:
Originally Posted by Da40Pilot
Thank you! After looking at the document, I have these questions:
What does "Scope" mean?
What is MEC?
What exactly is a Duty/Trip Rig??
What does it mean to be "junior assigned"?
How does sick leave accrual work?
What is PBS?
How do pilots end up "bidding" for trips, airplanes, bases etc?
I understand that airlines have the 75/avg monthly guarantee, but, how do some pilots end up making huge amounts of money by flying more and getting normal pay at 65 hours and then 150% on every hour on top of that? How do people do that and is that a possibility all the time in order to make a livable wage?
I can't be alone wondering what all these things mean! Thanks!
All very good questions!
Scope is referencing the boundaries of your contract, how far does it reach. In other words, to what aircraft/flying does it apply to. All mainline contracts have scope that does NOT encompass aircraft with less than 76 seats and other provisions such as hub to hub flying, length of trips, rations between RJs to narrowbodies, codesharing, joint ventures, etc. For regional contracts, it mostly applies to language such as alter egos, subsidiaries, wet leasing, etc.
MEC stands for Master Executive Council. This is the governing body of the pilots union at the respective airline. Other pilot unions my refer to it as BOD or Executive board.
Rigs are a ratio of hours to pay. A duty rig is a ratio of how pay hours for a given amount of duty hours. A trip rig is a ratio of pay hours for a given amount hours away from base (show time to duty out). For example, if you have a duty rig of 2:1, your pay will be at least one hour for every hour you are on duty. If your trip rig is 4:1, your pay will be at least one hour for every hour you are away from base.
Junior assigned is when a trip is added to the schedule of most junior pilot available.
Sick leave accrual is different depending on pilot contracts. Generally you accrue a given amount of hours for each month you complete.
PBS is preferential Bidding System. It is a software programed used to bid for trips in each month.
Pilots bid differently depending on each contract or airline policy. Not all pilot groups bid with PBS, for example.
As for your last question, you are talking about what we refer to as soft time. The amount of hours paid that are not actually hours flown. This is the key indication to the strength of a contract. Yet its very hard to discern. That's because its almost impossible to compare the key metric, average total compensation (not just what shows up on the W2) divided by actual block hours flown. Every contract is different and have different provisions. So its something you learn with time as you become familiar with your contract.