Oct. Staffing
 

The Oct. staffing is posted on CCS. The most junior pilot has a company seniority #12571.

So you can determine your new % based on that number. This number does not include pilots in training right now and I believe it does not include furloughed pilots that have not taken jobs at CAL or recalled to UAL.

I'm not sure if the LUAL guys can pull up these staffing numbers, so wanted to pass it along to show how many people have been hired that were not on the SLI award.

That's strange. The ISL list has a junior seniority number of 12155. And my wife, who is a voluntary furlough who bypassed in the LUAL recall in February, is definitely on that list with her new number.

This list includes the new hire pilots. They were not included on the SLI award.

It is a little hard to read the list because it only has LCAL pilots on it. So the person 1 number ahead of you might really be 5 or more company numbers in front of you. So the furloughed pilots my be listed on the LUAL staffing list, which I can't pull up.

Any idea why our number would be higher in CCS vs the SLI award?

I think the numbers are wrong in CCS. I don't think we have hired that many people either. And I just noticed the same thing about some people having a lower number than the award.

Hard to believe the company would mess up loading the seniority list into the computer. ;)

Okay I have a question for some expert out there.

I have been at UAL for over 35 years and during that time seniority meant everything. Bidding monthly, vacations, equipment, the type of trips, pass travel and more. When I bid for my monthly schedule I know I am x out of x pilots and there are a fixed number of flying lines and reserve lines. PBS has changed some of how we bid compared the old days when they published the actual lines of monthly flying (trips and reserve), but basically what number one is amongst their peers is what counts.

Now my question: I read from the ex-CAL pilots they talk over and over again about percentages, "I'm 65% on the Captain list in EWR," and similar. Why all this talk about percentages instead of real actual numbers? If I am number 50 out of 100 and there are 60 lines of flying, guess what? I get a flying line if I want one instead of reserve. And if I am number 100 out of 100, well I don't have any choice in piloting life at all. Seems a lot simpler than saying, "I'm 50% of the bid in EWR" which doesn't tell me much about the chances of what type of flying I might get.

So why the percentages? It seems a bit strange to me. BTW I'm not talking here about the ISL and the finale results, just all this percentage talk over the past couple of years of this merger process.

Why do United pilots say "six seven" instead of "seven six"? Probably just the way it got started and it stayed that way. Saying "I'm at 50%" has more comparable meaning across equipment than "I'm two hundred and fifty nine out of four hundred and seventy seven."

You'll get it once you switch over to to our PBS and speak the language. Your base percentage will attempt to determine what types of trips you can get in your seat. Realistically it gives you a baseline to ***** from once you get hosed from this inferior bidding system. Such as:

"I can't believe I'm working Christmas, I'm bidding 18% in base."

"How come I didn't get FRA, guys junior at 68% have them all month."

"Overall system constraints? Denial Mode 4? I should be able to get at least one Thursday off at 46%, right?"

My personal favorite...."Sorry you went into Denial Mode, the reason the junior pilot was awarded that FCO trip was because it was required to make the bidding solution work. If we were to award your requested trip at 20%, the pilot at 70% would not have been able to get a legal line. PBS Grievance Denied!"

Can anybody on the CAL side give an update on just how many pilots are in each category at each domicile. Here is a copy of the most recent data I could find on the UA staffing. This shows only the active pilots assigned to domiciles. So, no Instructors, Management, SL or LOA people included.

Equip Pos ORD LAX SFO
400 CAP 14 - 18 - 145
400 F/O 38 - 47 - 307

Equip Pos DCA ORD LAX SFO SEA
777 CAP 161 - 94 - 42 - 78 - 16
777 F/O 308 - 246- 82 - 113- 22

Equip Pos--- JFK DCA ORD IAH DEN LAX SFO SEA
757/67 CAP 69- 149 177 39 - 119 106- 87- 22
757/67 F/O 106 185 218 88 - 112 97 - 92- 21

Equip Pos---- JFK DCA ORD IAH DEN LAX SFO
319/320 CAP 46- 159- 230 48 237 109 116
319/320 F/O 40- 168- 244 54 253 117 121

The dashes don't mean anything they were just the only way I could figure out how to get things to at least somewhat line up in columns.

If anyone can provide insight as to how many pilots are at each of the domiciles in each of the seats on the CAL side, it would be greatly appreciated. I figure this coupled with the jr man numbers that came out a couple of days ago, should give a slightly better picture of where you really stand.

The first 7 in Boeing airliner products is like the letter "J" in Spanish - it's silent. :)

For the percentages, is there a filter in your PBS that allows you to bid schedules based on a percentage? I've heard something about conditional bidding based on %, but I can't remember what it was. PBS? Equipment bidding?

Umm, there is no letter "j" in the word spanish. Geeze you guys are wierd:D

The % is only for system bids, and yes I believe we will have that ability with the new equipment bids.

Yes. The equip bid was by %. We called it a system bid. New monthly vacancy bids for all starting in next week or so. Maybe it'll be a hybrid of the two systems. Percentage was nice because you could put a standing bid in of, say, 60% in a particular seat, then 70% in a different seat, etc. If the bid ran and you couldn't hold at least 60% it would just bypass to your next bid, or to the next pilot if that was your last bid.

That's why it's so silent--just like our MEC.

The letter "j" in Spanish has an English "h" sound. For example Julio, Javier, Juan, etc.

The "h" is silent, Hasta luego (goodbye), hora (time), etc.

Enough nerd alert, back to previous discussion.

Hola mi llamo es Jorge' donde es el bibliotecha en Guantanamo?

Or, if one has a night out with Sonny, "Donde es el show de burro?"

El diablo es en mis pantalones.

That's a humane way to do it! The UAL system was a big surprise, you bid and you don't know who else bid until the results were published. Nothing better than, surprise you're now on reserve! :) Are the percentages in the system bid looking at everyone who is incumbent and bidding for that round of bids to determine percentage, or is just those bidding new equipment? It will be a welcome change to have some clarity, even if it's only for one bid cycle.

clubord

Thanks, I guess I'll find out sooner than I want to.

Dude......Donkey show major uncool! You have not been out with me in Rio.....

There are two percentage numbers when it comes to monthly bidding in PBS. There is a base % which tells you your position in CAT for that month (i.e. 85 out of 150 total or 57%). Then there is a G-line % which tells you your position relative to the G-line for that month. For example, if the G-line is 120 with 150 pilots in CAT and you are 85, then the % shown is 71% (85 out of 120). It's good to see black numbers (above the G-line). If the G-line % shows in red then a pilot is below the G-line for that month and will most likely be reserve.

These numbers are shown in the pilot's personal information screen along with carry-in credit, training credit, vacation credit, YTD flying, and system seniority.

I think most people reference their base percentage if asked. Personally, I don't know mine from one month to the next and couldn't tell you my G-line % either. Just not something I pay attention to as some do. As long as I see black numbers on the first screen I'm happy. I do check out other CAT awards to see where I would fall if I were in a different CAT.

It's cultural. I'm based in San Francisco. We refer to the base by it's proper name - San Francisco not "Frisco" . One rare occasions we will refer to the base as "SanFran" but not always. We also refer to the Boeing 737 as a "Guppy"...Why? I have no clue, but some will say it resembles a pregnant guppy fish but the term has endured since UAL received it's first "Guppy" or so I am told

I thought this was settled long ago......Whale......Guppy.....

I think almost everyone calls it SanFran.

I've never heard James use that moniker.

James is cool....

I dunno, "SanFran" sounds a tad effeminate to me. And "Frisco" is even worse. God forbid if the speaker had a speech impediment, say a lisssthp or something. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Now, if you're talking about Frisco, North Carolina....that's another story. When in Frisco, James would recommend Frisco Bait and Tackle (if he fished, swilled beer in the surf and drove a four wheel drive pickup).

I always understood that locals referred to SFO as "The City". As far as I'm concerned, if James was still with us he could call it anything he wanted.

The only thing I know about the place is that its a great city with TONS of decent watering holes and a fairly decent woman to man ratio given the preference of some of the locals.

http://images.wolfgangsvault.com/jam...R960516-PO.jpg

James been figuring mathematical ratios out in his spare time. A solid application of statistical science IMO.

From one who grew up here, James is correct. It's "The City." If you have to mention it by name, mostly for guests and out-of-towners, it is, San Francisco.

Naming it, "The City," naturally presumes that it is the only city of note in N. CA. Take that Oakland!