Originally Posted by RJRJ

May I humbly say this... I am currently at a regional that transitioned from line bidding to Flica PBS years ago. Our PBS is the envy of the industry. We weren't for it initially, but we all love it after we gave it a chance. Please think about PBS as line bidding on a WEEKLY (not monthly) basis and it makes sense. No, it will not allow you to conflict out trips. It looks like some of you guys are bidding an entire hard line based on what happens the first week of the month. Junior guys like PBS because with a line bid, a senior guy takes 4 weeks of trips based on maybe one or two trips he cares about. With PBS, a junior guy might get trips he wouldn't have received. Its about the language the company puts into the PBS. We can get 28 days (or more) off in a row for a 7 day vacation block. We can credit as high, or higher than line bidding. My two cents is that PBS works. If you have questions, I would seek out ExpressJet MEC guys that deal with PBS. You might be surprised. The company sets a credit window. Say.. 70 to 90 hours. You pick trips each week to add up to that window. Don't want to fly a lot and get paid 72 hr guarantee? This month our min is 60 hours. So I can bid three 20 hour 4 day trips, and get paid 75 hours (our min is 75). Or I can bid more trips and if my seniority holds it, get more than 90. Are you a commuter that wants the third week of the month off and like weekday 4-days? Tell PBS you want 4-days starting at 11:00am on Mon or Tues on the 1st, 2nd, and 4th week, and Flica will clearly show all the trips on those weeks, and you can even put them in order of preference, EACH week. You can submit 3 different bid sheets (if it cannot complete you on the first sheet, it moves on to the next.) Not trying to open up a ball of wax. I'm just commenting from experience with a company that reluctantly transitioned from hard lines to PBS. IF mgt is asking this of Spirit pilots, and it seems like it is pilots against mgt, seek out the the guys I mentioned and it could very well go in Spirit pilots favor. All bidding systems are based on seniority, hard lines or PBS. (Just do NOT select a "globalization" option).

Originally Posted by Lakeaffect

Concerning the lopsided pay scales that were proposed which are out of whack with the rest of the industry, I've been told from a rep that it's too expensive to bring the junior captains up to par. So basically the company is saying we can pay a minority of the captains industry average or slightly less only if we can pay a majority of our captains way below industry. If this is the thought process what's gonna happen at some point down the road when a majority of the captains are on the top side of the scale? Is it then gonna be too expensive and thus the top end will be brought down and the bottom end will come up? This is not a junior vs. senior rant by any means. I certainly think the senior pilots should be compensated better than the junior pilots to the extant that the industry sets. United, American, Southwest, Alaska, Southwest, JetBlue, and Virgian have a majority of their captains either topped out or if not topped out making a slightly less rate than top pay. So how can those companies afford to pay fairly across the board but spirit can not?

Originally Posted by gatorbird

The clues we've been handed from reps is that transition language as it stands is a non-starter, which is why I brought up some alternatives a few pages back. If that's the way it's gonna be- fine. It'll be up to us (NC via I assume polling) to come up with a solution. I heard it best from LEC 18 CA Rep P.D.: regardless of how much money or credit a guy makes from transition, the MEC/NC view it as a QOL provision. I agree with that viewpoint, so with that in mind, it should only be modified/replaced by other QOL items (not sold for a rate/PS/etc).

So what solutions are out there? Not PBS in my opinion, for the reasons I stated in my last post along with many others. That's why I'm a fan of a solid min calendar day, elimination of trip averaging, and higher min days off than currently agreed to. If anyone else has other possible solutions let's hear them.

Originally Posted by RJRJ

Wow. That's amazing. I thought you guys were only crediting 82ish...

Originally Posted by skybolt

I'm with you Gator, I support the "it's a QOL issue". I just don't understand why the union is trying to spin us with Bovine Scat. It seems to me, that they don't see us as team members, but as people that they have to fool into agreement. Note to MEC, stop telling me to get in line, just lead the fornicating line.

Originally Posted by daves

I've been here 2 years, top 30% in base, schedule has varied from 72-90 hrs and 14-19 days off (Most months are 16 days off and 75ish credit). I've benefited from a few transitions here and there, but when it's set up, I bid the whole month around it.

I've never taken a JRM - been called about 5 times in 2 years around the holidays, couldn't take any.

My YTD is just under 70K - all on year 2 pay.

Unless you want to work on your days off, that's what you can expect. I want industry leading pay rates. If that means PBS, I'd consider it. I don't want to work on days off to make the salary we should be getting. Our trips are so unproductive. I don't think 18 days off with 80 credit is too much to ask for. Trip averaging and 18-20 hr four days are killing us.