What concerns me MORE is that if they try to "tighten things up" it may actually result in a DECREASE of pilots. I'm flying 6 day trips worth only 24 hours or a little more three times a month. They have been able to spread around the flying and that may actually be keeping some people employed right now (junior reserve guys).

It seems like our block hours are way down on each aircraft lately. There is room for them to do more flying and I fear that flying 85 hours a month may become the new "norm" around here. Our sick calls will likely increase (its just too hard on the human body to fly that many hours month after month).

If they try to fly us that much, it will backfire, and they will have to bring guys back in time.

 

Hard to second-guess these guys, but it is hard for me to see them not recalling in the near future. IMO, recalls are more tied to marketing/
routes/ticket sales than the actual arrival dates of new airplanes.

I also heard they will try to do the 85hr/13dayoff squeeze for awhile. But they still have to comply with contractual limitations and reserve coverage, and we have to hold them to it. I agree with ALPO, with building very high hour schedules comes more sick calls, as well as little room for anybody picking up the open time. Speaking of picking up open time, maybe it's time to refocus on holding back on that.

It has happened before that the higher ups in management have mis-judged this stuff. We'll see....

 

Keep in mind also that the company is having a difficult time forecasting demand because passenger travel habits have changed. Most folks use to buy tickets more than 21 days in advance; therefore, airlines had the advantage of being able to staff their operations with some level of certainty.

Nowadays, passengers are booking their tickets much closer to the date they actually travel because they are getting the best deals on unsold seats (in this weak economy). This makes staffing really difficult to judge.

I would expect us to run critically lean for some time.

 

And pilots should do their part. If you are sick...call in sick. If you are tired and fatigued...call in, period. PO's latest "bullet-points" clearly states his opinion. Surely the union supports that position.
My previous carrier played the same stupid game during negotiations... More flying, less days off, squeeze all they could from us and guess what? A TON of more sick and fatigue calls. Soon, they were short of crews and canceling flights left and right. Literally hundreds of flights canceled due to pilot fatigue, timeouts and sick calls in a single week. I'll never forget that. Even though the company never formally admitted it, I knew an internal computer code where I could look up the true cancellation reasons: "crew ops". Make no mistake. Our company will attempt the same.

And for the Reserve guys and gals: No favors! Got a call from scheduling to be at the airport "as soon as possible please"? Do as a good buddy of mine did last week: "Well, it's raining outside so I will need my full contractual show time. I'll be at the crewroom in 2 hours and after accurately checking the weather, notams, picking up my jepps, reviewing read-files, etc..THEN, I'll head to the aircraft. If that is good for you, it's good for me."
He told me the captain was in a hurry to push, and my bud told him to cool off, cause "I gotta do all my checks. Can I see the logbook please?".
And when it comes to open time... well... we all know what the right thing to do is.
Peace!

 

2/19 Informational Picketing 10:00 am–2:00pm
FLL, Upper Level Terminal 4
Staging Area: Marriott Courtyard FLL Airport
400 Gulf Stream Way
Dania Beach, FL

2/22 Informational Picketing 10:00 am–2:00pm
Corporate HQ, Miramar, FL
Staging Area: Courtyard Marriott Miramar, FL
(airport shuttle is available)
4500 Hotel Road
Miramar, FL

For those interested......

 

Alright, got some great news from a buddy working at Airbus. All 4 Airbuses are confirmed for Spirit Airlines. Here are the official delivery dates:

msn 4206 to be delivered on 4th of March.
msn 4264 to be delivered on 9th of April
msn 4321 to be delivered on 28th of May
msn 4431 to be delivered on 8th of September

 

So what.
I don't care how many "shiny new airplanes" they're promising......(yeah, that's right, I'll believe it when I see it).....They still need to sign a new, FAIR and EQUITABLE contract with us. Anyway, unless this guy works in Hamburg at the factory it's just a rumor.......On the internet.............
Keep your eye on the prize, not distractions.

 

Must be nice to have a job right now. I care about both.

 

I care about both too. Thanks for posting!

 

The March FLL bid package shows the following segments flown by an A320 series aircraft starting March 13th and 14th:

NKS845 DTW-FLL (Saturday, March 13th ONLY)

NKS395 FLL-SJU (Starting March 14th...red-eye sequence)
NKS202 SJU-FLL

NKS202 FLL-DCA (Starting March 14th)
NKS301 DCA-FLL

NKS394 FLL-DCA (Starting March 14th)
NKS395 DCA-FLL

I only looked at the FLL package. Looks like the aircraft starts in DTW on the 13th and flies to FLL. Then, it goes back and forth between FLL and DCA and does the FLL-SJU redeye occasionally.

Bottom line is that the schedule shows an A320 aircraft. I have also heard we have some A319s going in for maintenance so the net gain is zero aircraft? Can anyone confirm that data?