But if you are actually sick then don’t hesitate to call in sick. I can’t tell you how many guys I have flown with who should have been at home and not locked up in a cube with me.

 

You are still sensitive about the “guppy” thing? Grow up, nobody is threatening your masculinity. As far as sick list goes, if the people were sick then they were completely justified in calling in sick. You south Texas Guppy guys certainly didn’t complain about the senior manning gold rush in 2011 and 2012. By the way I have flown the Bus and and the NG and yep, it actually still is your grandpa’s Guppy(737)

Have a Happy New Year

 

With the new winglets, it looks like a guppy mated with a catfish .

 

By commenting on calling a plane a "nickname" makes me sensitive? I guess if that is your criteria, then I'm sensitive. You completely blew past my point that the original poster was accusing the 737 IAH base of being SCABS since they called in sick. I was just pointing out that MOST of the JM at the time was the 320 primarily a LUAL A/C. I totally agree that if you're sick you need to call in sick!! I just don't want to get on the forum and be told that if I do and my base has a JM going on I must be a scab. And why should I complain about the JM gold rush of 2011/2012? I was in the base at the time, and have done only 1 JM in the last 8 yrs. (not during the time period that you quoted but, to good to pass up 20hrs of pay for being away from home for 9hrs) You know that YOU and all your friends would pick this up in a heartbeat!! If there is no one on furlough you follow all contractual requirements then what is the issue? And just as a little side bar the last 2 FO's that Ive flown with that have picked up JM trips were LUAL furloughed guys. And the only reason it stuck with me is I felt it was so taboo on the LUAL side so it surprised me a little. I have no problem with these pilots picking up some time to help make up for some of the money they lost out on during the furlough! Plus, as a guy that usually doesn't do the JM it helps me out when they pick the stuff up it allows me to drop some of my trips. We all have our moral equivalence tests, and I don't need to get in a debate who is right. P.S.- I too have flown the Airbus, MD80 (maddog), 737 and yes the 737 is just a horrendous piece of equip.! Everyone, should stay off of it for their own health. Why are you still on it considering you could bid onto that wonderful dreamship of a "FIFI"? And after calling the 737 a Guppy on the radio do say " SEE YA" ?

 

The scab terms needs to be reserved for scabs doing scab like stuff. I don't think it's prudent to go about throwing out the scab label for sick calls.

But, I think the larger problem is this: There is not enough staffing due to the short-staffing nature of PBS. There is no flat 10 percent reserve coverage over the holidays, or any other days. It's run so lean and mean that the system can't absorb irregularities during cold and flu season, which happens to overlay on top of Holiday season.

There weren't enough management and instructor pilots available to really cover the demand.

I don't know what the difference is in terms of total block hours for November and December vs. September and October, but I would estimate it's likely close to what we need for summer staffing. Probably need to staff the airline for year round block hour projections with the appropriate reserve compliment.

I wonder if ALPA is happy with PBS. Now that the merger is over, and we've had one contract and one extension, I wonder if our ALPA Negotiating Committee sees problems with how PBS is administered?

I see this is as a PBS/staffing model problem.

 

Lighten up Francis,

I laught at how worked up people get over the nicknames of planes. Most of the LUAL guys that called it the Guppy did it as a term of endearment. The One offended by it reacted as though the N word was used to describe it. The Bus drivers don’t take offense to Fifi because many of them say it too. For the record, since you commented on it, I am back on the bus and by comparison it is a “Dreamship” as you put it.

As for those who call in sick or pick up time, people who refer to them as Scabs really dilutes the true meaning of being a scab. It has one meaning only regarding our profession. It does not include people who take advantage of sick leave, mil drops, senior manning etc. Accepting Senior Manning while pilots are out on furlough is very frowned upon but isn’t the same by any stretch as being a scab.

Happy New Year

 

Yea that’s all BS, I fly with tons of guys that just call their “commander” when they want some time off.

 

Actually, that's BS. I was a Commander and I never gave anyone time off when they wanted it. Military days (training and proficiency) are so hard to come by and budgets are so tight we don't have time or room for lazy slackers. You may fly with guys that like to brag on how big their johnsons are, but the reality of the situation is people on orders are on orders for some specific reasons and/or functions: training, military schools, conferences, proficiency, deployment, deployment spin up, exercises, exercise prep, alert duty, fill in or illness or injury, back-fill for manning shortfall for active duty ops, or contingency support ops.

It is mostly true if you live in the area where your guard unit is you do get to see your family before and after duty. However, we really don't care how our guardsmen and women spend their off duty hours. Just so long as they rest up and are ready for duty the next day. Very similar to airlines: Airline management believes you should rest up and get un-fatigued on your own time, and not company time.

We've seen a few guys try and slip in orders requests for convenient reasons. If it didn't suit the needs of the military or the unit, those requests were denied.

You will find O-3 and below will do their fair share of alert over the hoidays. Those peeps are also typically the more junior in the airline, so they will get taken off of someone's flying schedule. You won't see too many Colonel's sitting alert over Christmas.

 

Yeah I hear you bro! And just for the record I'd like to state that my johnson is unreasonably large. Not bragging just saying.

Happy new year!

 

So what kind of absence do I use if my furnace quits working in Newark in February the night before a trip? Do I just call scheduling and say I'm not coming for personal reasons and then hope the particular management folks I talk to later find my reasons and communication sufficient for continued employment? I'd actually just rather let my pipes freeze and collect insurance if that's the case.