Pure speculation at best but it sounds like they plan to make certain bases INTL and others purely domestic in their scheduling packages. Not really too far removed from what we are seeing right now. Notice how some bases have a ton of International flying built into the bid packages (HOU BWI MDW) while others have practically none (LAS, PHX). It's anyone's guess on how that will effect vacancy bidding and picking up trips out of domicile.


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I'm waiting to see the final product and ultimately the section 1 language before I make a decision, but so far I like what I see.

But I can assure you I am lot more excited about a 15% B-fund than a $9,500 signing bonus.

 

The Jan 1, 2016 rate is what we are on right now and it's $216.34 per hour.
If this eventually becomes a contract the hourly rates would be...

10/1/2016 $248.50
10/1/2017 $255.90
10/1/2018 $263.60
10/1/2019 $271.50
10/1/2020 $280.00

 

The want to have specific guys doing international since at sw they seem to make it way harder than it needs to be. So basically we'll all bid on if we want to do international or not and then have to stay current at it.
Personally I think that's a bad idea just for simplicity of scheduling. And it's not like we go anywhere difficult.

 

Is there gonna be an economic incentive to get on that subset, or is it just logistics for the company? Like you said, SW doesn't do any real tough intl work, it's all caribe and C.A. stuff, "no crew meals" Muffin-Man antics notwithstanding. I just don't see the impetus behind making that distinction for y'alls operation. Pre-positioning for future intl destination growth or?

 

Almost all the growth is going to come via international ops. That's why our section 1 language needs to be in our favor.
We have crew meals or should I say snacks for international now.
I think there will be some kind of override for international but not a lot.
The older bubbas don't want to do international anyways. Heck they don't want to leave the state of Texas.

 

As it is right now there are pilots who never fly int'l but might end up doing it like once a year or less because of re-scheduling or some other Irregular Ops. Company and FAA are afraid that someone who never flies to, say, MMMX or MROC might end up there at night or in bad weather and fly into a mountain. So they want to have a group that flies south often and those who don't go through some int'l recurrent before going again after too long.
TA1 introduced that notion but did it for every base where some guys were int'l approved and others weren't. Now it seems it's going to be entire bases. Who said that BWI, MDW, and HOU fly int'l often is right and I expect those to be the bases with the addition of MCO and perhaps ATL.
Right now the only extra $$ for flying int'l is $0.50/hr in the per diem, that's right 50, cents. We F'ed that one up years ago. The bullet points didn't mention any increase.

 

I think what was said above about intl by bases is correct and makes sense.
As far as I know, only certain cities will be in the intl subset, at least that was the intent in TA1. Cities like MEX, SJO, AUA, and MBJ will be included. Easier cities like CUN and SJD will not. There are plenty of guys in Houston who avoid anything intl, but if you threw a little money at it, they would be all over it. The excuse I commonly hear is about increased risk for no extra reward. Of course, these same guys will fly a full 800 into MDW in a blinding snowstorm and ice, but I digress.

 

Also a newhire here, but not my first rodeo. Let's not shoot each other before we know what we are fighting over.

 

Quick question. Your retro pay is going back to 2013, but did you have an early opener for section 6 negotiations? The the contract expire in 2013?