Didn't you get the memo, reserve is senior now. I'm in the top half in my base and was not senior enough to hold the reserve lines I really wanted. Managed to snag a partial weekend line.

What was scary this month was that on my first reserve block, each time scheduling assigned me a trip, someone came in an extra flew it. I wasn't until I was assigned a really ugly trip that it stuck.

 

Fake news. Reserve is terrible. Stop bidding pm reserve if you’re senior to me.

 

I used to be coy about my reserve bidding going as far as "I kinda screwed up my bid this month", but the cat is out of the bag when fellow pilots post images on Facebook of not being used all month...too bad you can't convert internet bragging rights into cash.

 

I haven’t found a trip worth EF in awhile. It’s all low credit, unrigged garbage. At least in my base. Curious to see if it’ll stay senior as we get into the spring/summer months

 

That’s the same thing as saying the bar should be set low.

If you are scared of management resisting SWAPA’s ask then feel free to tell your rep but please stop broadcasting that info in public.

 

LAS reserve isn’t going very senior... however I think many are bidding lines and trading into reserve where they can/want.

I gave away every reserve block in FEB and all my 3 day blocks in January.

 

Maybe the way Delta and others do it is more effective. You mention they’re asking for a 25% B-Fund. Their B-Fund has been superior to ours since before our current CBA. It was already 16% and pensionable when we still had our non-pensionable sub-10% 401k match. They also best us in other important areas of the CBA. Maybe there is some effectiveness in the approach Delta takes?

You mention entering mediation as if it’s an entirely bad thing. It’s not. In fact, many unions attempt to enter mediation earlier rather than later because it starts the clock on the mediation timer. The NMB itself acknowledged this in their 2010 "Dunlop II" report: "One problem noted is that a party may prematurely file for mediation. This may be motivated by a desire to “get on the clock” to establish an early start date in order to more persuasively argue later for a release."

Why would a union went to "get on the clock" earlier rather than later?

Because the courts have established that time spent prior to entering mediation will not be considered when later determining if a release from mediation is appropriate. If we spend two or three years in direct negotiations and then file for mediation, those two or three years count for nothing.

Mediation is a necessary step under the RLA for eventually creating the leverage of passengers "booking away" from an airline due to rumors and news reports of a possible release to a cooling off period on the horizon. Without entering mediation, there is no threat ever to an airline that a work group could potentially be released.

 

I thought split to cover was being used to fly the reserves and it sucked. Is this not the case anymore?

 

As stated, we know that management types troll these threads.

For example, flyguy81 represents a certain demographic within the pilot group: regional guy for over a decade, applied here for many years. Probably born in '81.

Combine that info with what he has already stated he's willing to settle for. It forms a data point that can be used to serve as a proxy for what other members of this pilot group with a simar demographic profile might be willing to settle for.

That helps management do their job. Like Kahuna said, please do not broadcast info like that. Tell your reps. Management already has enough advantages in this process. They don't need us helping them along.

 

It probably is, but it's not as common as you might think. If I get something on my schedule, (it's usually the first and/or second rsrv block of the month), it's mostly min guarantee trips. In a way I prefer a split to cover, it's usually very little work and a couple of DHs. Still pays min guarantee for very little work. If that's the worst that can happen, please sign me up. Beats guaranteed flying at 19.5 TFP for a 3-day with 4 legs a day any time. My average utilization in the last 6 months is less than 6 days per month. I usually pick up a turn or two (usually TTGA) and I'm easily at 100-110TFP. Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not selling reserve. Bid lines, especially if you're senior to me in my base!