Except that if they aren't closing the base, you are bumping with the seniority of the person you replace and not your own. So if they can't hold what you want, you can't take it.

Thats true I did not realize that LAX was that much more senior to SFO.

You can turn down a call on a VDO day. Very much like senior manning, only you get paid less than a line holder to do pretty much the same thing. Fly on days off.

One of those reserve rules that could use adjustment....50% vs 100% extra pay.

Dave, you sure about that? I thought the union came out with guidance on this about a year ago...
Russ

No, not sure, off the top of my head....I've been wrong before. But, I don't answer the phone either, get the message, then decide.

But, that 50% vs 100% does need to be fixed.

You're right about 787 people trying to get back to LAX but unless there IS an SFO bump, it's gonna be a LONG time to wait.

LAX 787 captain is properly staffed right now with 62 lineholders and 14 reserves for May. In fact, in might be a bit overstaffed because reserves are averaging about 15 hours of hard time per month and that's been true since March when they took over LAX-LHR. If you look at the SSC report, LAX 787 captains fly the lowest amount of hard time per reserve of any category on the whole airline (excepting IAH 787 which is in the process of closing).

I have "unofficial" word that LAX 777 is closing for sure after they go through the NPDM process. That's 26 LAX 777 captains ALL of whom (IMO) will go to LAX 787. That will increase the number of captains by 33%! LA might take over DEN-NRT when IAH closes, but that would only require about 15 additional captains (including reserve requirements).

Then you have 99 747 captains that need to find a new home. Many of those captains used to be LAX 747 captains and only went to SFO because they closed LAX. Most of those LA-refugees will bump to LAX 787. Based on the people I know personally, I'd say at least 10 and probably more like 15.

Then you have 77 IAH 787 captains being bumped. I'd guess that the majority of them will go to either IAH 777 or DCA 787, but a few will probably go west to SFO or LAX.

I firmly believe that when this all shakes out, there's going to be pretty substantial over staffing on LAX 787, at least in the left seat (not sure about the right seat). I predict that if LAX takes the DEN-NRT trip, they'd need to have 85 captains to be properly staffed. I'm pretty sure they're going to end up with over 120.

So unless they have some new routes planned for LAX (doubtful), they'll either need to bump about 30 people out of LAX or have LAX trips that deadhead to SFO to cover some of their flying.

It'll be interesting to watch all this play out.

coinsidence: bumps and fleet adjustments 7 months before fa merger finalizes....

Correct me if I'm wrong, but there were no changes in routes out of LAX so the total flying manpower requirements will remain the same plus we have a total of 5 more 787 deliveries between now and next February plus all the 747 flying is going to either 787 or 777 and the latest Manpower update stated there will be future openings as routes are shifted.

Net net I don't think your projections of overstaffing will hold. Fleet utilization is changing, but flying is increasing. In a perfect world the company could publish bids and bumps together, but they can't so logically the company needs to bump to see where people want to go before they can determine how many bids they need. I predict that the total number of pilots in LAX will remain the same or increase over the coming year. My money is on new routes on the 787 out of LAX and SFO in the coming months.

P.S. There's nothing "unofficial" about the LAX 777 NPDM. It's mentioned in the latest Manpower update as likely coming soon.

Could you explain the note on VDO days on page 636 at the end of the annotated UPA? It's sounds like there's a phone availability and that during that time you can't back out of it.

Note - "He may not withdraw the conversion at the time of assignment or between 1100 and 1500" means: "When a Reserve is contactable (i.e., he is required to be phone available), he may not withdraw the conversion at the time of assignment or between 1100 and 1500."

I believe the time frame is the day prior during the assignment window. That helps scheduling know how many pilots they have available. As far as time of assignment it's always been explained to me that if you answer you can't say no. But you don't have to answer. I get used on a VDO once every 3-4 months ever time it goes like this. "We'd like to use you on your VDO, are you still interested? " Can you make this report time". If you can't make that time they simply move on. In addition those that "screen" the call then call back because it's a good deal usually are out of luck because they've moved on and found someone else.

As always your mileage may vary