One of the few "green shoots" I have seen in a while was a few months ago we had a "base meeting" and there was a furloughed pilot that was hired by IT.

Strangely, and refreshingly, he seemed to have a vision of where we are, and where we are GOING. I am sure the empty suits on Wanker Drive are trying to get rid of this treasonous fiend as soon as possible.

I asked him if we would ever be able to log in with one password. He said less than six months.

In just shy of 20 years here, I have never before felt like I only know 40% of how to do my job. I don't like that feeling.

Couldn't agree more.

And, to the point of this thread, I'm 14% in base and got 5 weeks of vacation all of them being my first choice. That is NOT right. I know it's utopian to think, but really seniority should not have that kind of power. We all signed up for piloting knowing it meant some weekends, holidays, and summers, but with our current system the spoils all go to a select few.

I'm 62% and got nothing I bid for. Looks like January again for me in 2015/16.

I bid Feb for the skiing. Guess what, I got it lol.

Man, the hours of my life spent working on this and PBS. Time I will never get back.

Wadr, we signed up for this job knowing that "seniority is everything." You want weekends off for the family, then stay senior. If you need the money or whatever, then bid up and accept the consequences.

"Select few"!? Its a seniority based system. That's what seniority is all about. If you think its wrong, then don't bid and let those junior to you get what they want. I got news, lots of guys could be in the top 10% in their category, but they really wanted that Captain upgrade, or that WB FO, or that 767 FO.

You get mostly what you bid for on your monthly preferencing every month right? Do you complain how unfair it is and think that some months other pilots should bid first?

If you don't think seniority should "have that kind of power" then go volunteer for ALPA and change the seniority system to some other kind of system. Until then, its all about seniority.

While I'm not happy with January vacation I also am not complaining about it. I knew the system was pure seniority (and knowing how to work PBS) when I came on. I realize that at some point in the future I'll get mostly what I ask for and the guys at the bottom won't. I'm fine with it. Actually, I prefer it compared to the "merit based" system I had in the military where 70% of the folks who got promotions and accolades deserved them...but that 30% who didn't but got them anyhow really irked me. Seniority basing is easy. I never have to think about and fret over it. Just wait.

Cheers,

HT

All true and no one is disputing that. What I'm questioning is the weighting of seniority in our current vacation bidding. Giving pilots two shots at vacation before the next guy gets a chance might be what you're used to, but it's new to the Ex-Cons. The question isn't whether seniority should have weight, it's how much weight we want to give it.

It's not a lottery