I think we had 2 months this year (June/July) that weren't scheduled to MMG. They JA'd very little, and now they want to hire to get rid of the VDT at the cost of what in LG? This place continues to astonish. This is going to turn into hire for the summer months and furlough the rest of the year.

The company has the option to do zero hour lines, I’m sure many of us would take those in certain months.

No LG in rsv lines this summer. I was JA’d in July and the guy jr to me was JA’d 2x last month. At some point the dam is gonna break and rsv’s gonna call off sick to avoid the abuse too. They wanted to cut rsv coverage because we were sitting around last winter/spring. This is what you get…

we have 200+ retirements in the next 12 months, plus red eye reserve will require more staffing in the west coast, and we still have more routes that are going to be announced.

not to mention with the rumor mill swirling that STL is going to open as a base, we will QUICKLY become short staffed.

Where do you read that in the contract?

Hiring for the training float created by a 2nd type?

Could be. Never a good thing because once the training float ends you're left significantly overstaffed unless there's some growth to absorb it.

Even if we announced a new type tomorrow we'd probably be 2 years from the the initial cadre of check pilots training and almost 3 years from line pilot bidding. Enough time must be allowed to figure out how to set the altitude on the MCP when conducting an RNAV approach in a new type.

That's a lot of pent up anger directed at something that a CKA said that probably isn't true. I find check airman rumors have less reliability than regular line swine rumors. Something about the training center rots their medulla oblongotta.

The company absolutely wants to run a lean schedule 9 months out of the year and an all out schedule the other 3 months. To do that in the current environment where seasonal furloughs don't save money, you just have to accept that you are paying line guarantee for 9 months and VDT for 3. The schedule is optimized to maximize RASM. Pilot hiring is optimized for CASM in order to barely squeak by in the worst summer months.

If August 1st proved nothing else, it is that you can put out a couple emails and throw a little VDT out for one open time close and get enough participation to save the company from itself. Guys were stepping on each other to get any trip for VDT, even if it barely paid more than premium. VDT....so hot right now.

In any case, we are hiring for something. I don't know what it is, but to pay for a whole pilot and their family's insurance to be employed here for a whole year costs a lot more than paying an existing pilot a little extra in VDT. VDT saved the company this summer, full stop. The network would have melted down multiple times had that tool not been used.

How is that enough time to completely reinterpret the Boeing manuals into SWA Speak?!