Because the concept will be normalized.

In future negotiations this will be a hot button issue.

Company: You did it once, lets do it again.

Union: OK

 

I think you answered your own question. This is true during the 2020 pandemic, and it will be true in 2024. Perhaps a new contract comes in 2027 or thereabouts. If they don't want to carry excess workers that means they won't want to pay those same workers.

 

For some reason I thought this was in the permanent section, which would have been a deal breaker for me. However it’s not. I’m more concerned with how the “New” PBS would be? I’m not with the “we gotta vote it in to see how it works” crowd though. Nobody seems to be talking about that. How much worse could it be though?

 

One major lesson I have noticed in my 30 year career thus far is that once a pilot group gives up a concession it never comes back or snaps back to pre-concession status.

Two such issues in my opinion:

1. How our vacations are implemented. The value of a vacation day is poor. The way pilots use vacation is never beneficial to the pilot. A non pilot employee can easily turn 5 vacation days into 9 consecutive days off with the weekends before and after the work week. We don't seem to be able to maxmimize our vacation utilization or the value of it.

2. PBS. It's the concession that keeps on giving. The company determines the constraints, and the solutions, and determines manpower formula. We are merely spectators.

Perhaps other pilots would like to opine as to the other "give backs" that were never returned when times improved.......

 

I can't remember how the company got around those temporary changes? What did they pull when the date came to snap back to line bid and get rid of pbs?

 

The company also builds the lines in line bidding, so PBS in itself is not a concession, it’s dependent on how much of each program is controlled/dictated by the employees.

 

So, I have 7 days vacation in November. With the MPG set at 60, but the LCC set lower, the ALPA vacation / mpg spreadsheet says I'll be working 4 days and earning, with vacation add pay, a total of 68:30 in take home pay. I can live with that.

 

Bottom line, nothing happened to the value of vacation unlike what happened with ESR LOA. It’s still paid the same value.

 

It’s not the vacation add pay that’s the issue - it’s the MPG proration that didn’t occur that’s the issue. 2:20 is based on 30 day 70hr line guarantee. New 60 hr line should have adjusted the vacation mpg down to 2 hrs. But that didn’t happen and was never explained. It’s a fine example of sleight of hand....

 

A new MPG calculator is available on the MEC website and has been updated to reflect the LOA. It includes vacation in the Pre-PBS tab. You’ll need .xlxs program.