Originally Posted by J Dawg

In 2014 I had a bid period with one week of vacation and could only hold week on week off reserve. I couldn't even get that one week to fall on a week of reserve. I managed to turn 7 days of vacation into 8 days off. I had been at UPSS 7 years.

Originally Posted by Freight Dog

Anyone near the bottom 10% of any airline seniority list is one management announcement away from a furlough and can't secure a decent QOL factor.

That said, here's my 1-10 scale (10 being best) at UPS for those thinking of making this place a home:

++QOL: 8.5
-We have the best conflict rules in the industry. Junior pilots can turn one week of vacation into 3-5 weeks off. Senior pilots can take two months off using two weeks
-You can fly international your entire career if you want to
-No PBS!
-No such thing as a "senior airplane" due to one simple pay scale for all
-No need to jump airplanes to increase your pay
-Did I say NO PBS?
-Some really hard schedules to fly, at night

++Health Insurance: 10
-Industry leading

++Pay: 8
-We are surpassed now by the Big Three
-Future Contract 2018 should bring hourly rates up 15-25%
-Avg pilot earns 15% more than guarantee
-Don't need to be a captain to earn $200k+ on current contract
-Future contract: FOs will likely make passenger narrowbody captain pay
-First year pay needs a big bump; industry lagging

++Retirement: 9
-Only better retirement package is at FedEx
-No 401K match
-No Profit Sharing

++Aircraft: 8.8
-Airplanes are well maintained and standardized
-No aircraft orders, the only major US airline without any

++Job Security: 9.5
-This is where I want to be if another 9/11 hits America
-One furlough (not one every decade) notwithstanding

++Career Progression: 3
-15 year upgrade to captain time and getting longer
-Only hiring the past 8 years has been due to attrition
-Retirements don't pick up for another 8-10 years
-BUT: someone under 35 hired the next few years will have massive career earnings because:
-Avg pilot age is 52

++Colleagues: 9.8
-UPS HR has done a good job of hiring great people

++Union: 9.8
-Very cohesive, independent union
-Works well with company on safety issues
-Pitbull during negotiations; witness the full page ads in the Wall Street Journal
-Gets *almost* everyone's job back who gets terminated
-Negative: most contracts are 9-10 years between signings; not union's fault necessarily

Originally Posted by J Dawg

In 2014 I had a bid period with one week of vacation and could only hold week on week off reserve. I couldn't even get that one week to fall on a week of reserve. I managed to turn 7 days of vacation into 8 days off. I had been at UPSS 7 years.

Originally Posted by FTFF

Now tell us what your pay check for that month was??

Originally Posted by Airbum

his pay would have been 3 hours of pay for every day of vacation that was on a scheduled day off ... but I don't think that is the point you are trying to make.

I think the point he was making was that conflict bidding a vacation is able to be done well by the senior not so much by the less senior.

If vacation is all on your days off is it really vacation?

Originally Posted by FTFF

This problem is ubiquitous throughout the industry, not just at Brown. We could equally criticize him for choosing to split his weeks up...no?

My error. I thought it was something like 4or5 hrs per day.

Originally Posted by Airbum

yes it is, I'm at a loss why vacation can't simply be on your scheduled line/reserve days. In discussing this once with a friend who couldn't wrap their heads around it. I told him i would give him 80 vacation days a year instead of his 4 weeks for the same wage. He said great, I said they will all be 2 days at a time on your weekends. He got it then.

Originally Posted by UPSFO4LIFE

Let's face it guys, if you are in the top 10% in your seat at UPS, you work for a totally different company than the other 90%.