Qotsaautopilot

So you see the point. Now how does a senior guy on rsv with the inability to use float vacation get his balance to 28hrs to roll over to the next year? If you cannot get it to 28 you either lose anything you have left above 28hrs or you are forced to take a payout at straight pay for all of it and you get to roll zero. So if you want to use float you have to know to bid a line ahead of time for that month which defeats the purpose of float (short notice). If you’re not senior enough to hold a line you’re screwed. And there will be situations in certain bases and seats where pilots could have the longevity to have substantial vacation banks but not the seniority to bid off rsv and utilize their vacation efficiently through float. Thus forcing a straight pay payout in November and rolling zero or losing any balance over 28 to roll. Also the forcing of using GFDs more often which don’t pay premium either.

BKbigfish

I’m not certain what percentage of the pilot group this exact scenario could potentially affect but I would imagine it’s minuscule. Everybody has the ability to bid for all of their vacation as hard vacation weeks. Those who end up electing to reserve some vacation as float are doing so by choice. The ones who aren’t are those who are either upgrading or switching bases, at which point they are entitled to bid on any open vacation weeks in their new position. If they are unable to hold any open weeks, the 28 hour vacation carryover limit does not apply. This is all 100% seniority based as it should be. For those who don’t plan accordingly, GFD days are always available as a last ditch effort to burn that vacation down to 28. Did reserves take a hit with the inability to drop with CBA 2018? Yes, albeit much less dramatic a hit than some claim. Did the majority of the group feel this was a reasonable concession to make in exchange for the gains made elsewhere? Yes.

BKbigfish

BTW... the smart move if you want to have a week of float at your disposal is to bid one of your weeks late in the year. If you’re senior enough to hold a line, you can burn that float prior to your scheduled November/December hard week of vacation. Worst case scenario, if you’re on the cusp of being a line holder you get your hard week of vacation awarded in November/December and don’t have to worry about exceeding 28 hours at years end.

Qotsaautopilot

It’s more about some guys wanting to be on rsv and use float all year long with minimal conflict on actual vacation weeks. It translates into over 100hrs of what is essentially PTO to use throughout the year on top of having your full vacation weeks off. Then always rolling as close to 28hrs as possible because it’s litterally worth more the following year unless we are amendable and at year 12. Being forced to bid some terrible 75hr credit line just to use a day or two of float vacation is silly. May as well just bid the line that has the actual day off if you knew about it ahead of time. Float is great because if something comes up with the family on short notice (after the bid award) you can just drop a single float day in there. You get to be there for the kids and it cost you 4hrs out of your bank instead of having to burn 20hrs and hope for four green days together.

Losing float on rsv will affect more senior guys than I think we realize. Still a small number yes but some of them will go back to bidding lines pushing others backward to rsv that maybe didn’t want it. A lot will determine how vacation days are credited and built under PBS in a vacation month. We didn’t get much on how that will be implemented other than there will be a ASA style “vacation low” type bid to get large blocks of days off.

For some it’s more about having our vacation weeks to take a week long trip with the kids and using the saved credit for float all year long not having three weeks off at one time and burning 50hrs of vacation bank.

BKbigfish

I don’t necessarily disagree with any of this. Reserves definitely lost a tool in their belt under this CBA with the inability to drop reserve or use float vacation (other than MFV). We probably just disagree slightly on the extent of the impact here.

Green Giant

If you commute and don’t get commutable schedules, your actual time at home is reduced for the commute to and from work. The 22 hour 4 day trips seem to be mostly early report and late releases. It really becomes a choice, time at home VS monthly credit.

Halon1211

Looks like they are starting to post premium trips... very cool to actually see that column being used.