TonyC

You should have received by now an e-mail from the Scheduling Improvement Group - May 2007 is a 4-week month


The Bid is Open for May. There is no possibility that someone can, at this point, pick up a Disputed Pairing out of Open Time, or request one specifically on a Secondary Line. What else can we do at this point to prevent a pilot from "accidentally" picking up one of these pairings out of Open Time? We've debated what to do after a Pairing has been picked up -- but what can we do to prevent it before it even happens?


Is it even important? Well, the SIG seems to think so.
FlybyKnite made this observation:
The A300 PSIT added this to the May SIG Letter:
APR 2007 SIG DPs.JPG

Does this help? Do you think it would be helpful if every PSIT did the same thing? I imagine the PSIT would appreciate feedback, either way.




And, as an aside, who is this Jim Skinner guy making up his own version of Scooby Snacks?!?! Where did he find these "products"? Do we want to know?



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niteFly84

Not sure if i am misunderstanding you here, but disputed pairings are NEVER built into the published lines so Fastbid can not get you into trouble when your are bidding. You must request these trips specifically on a VTO line or pick them up out of open time..

TonyC

I believe the point that FlybyKnite was making is that guys that use FastBid never have to look at the bidpack. Telling you that A300 MEM Pairing #430 is disputed is less helpful than you actually looking at A300 MEM Pairing #430 and seeing that it consists of 2 legs MEM-LBB-SAN (6:42 Duty) followed by a 10:23 layover and one leg SAN-MEM back, for a total of 7:57 scheduled block in 22:05 TAFB. (Of course, just seeing a 7:57 CH trip with 22:05 TAFB should be a big clue, but . . . ) In fact, even the written description above is less useful than this picture:

What's the saying, a picture is worth a thousand words?

It could be argued that even with FastBid, a guy can look up an individual pairing. While true, it would involve reviewing the Disputed Pairings while he has FastBid running to do his monthly bid, or opening FastBid at some other time when he decides to review the Disputed Pairings. In the latter scenario, it's a tossup as to whether it would be easier to open FastBid, or open the Bidpack PDF from the pilot.fedex.com website, or (for the next few months) pick up the paper bidpack. Either way, it takes the commitment of the pilot to go an extra step.


So it comes down to the question of how do we get pilots to go to that extra effort, and/or how do we reduce the extra effort required?



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MD11Fr8Dog

Baluts, lumpia and San Miguels Lights!

FlybyKnite

The ever-insightful Tony C is right. . .again. . .as always. That's exactly what I meant to say.

I was floored to open the email and saw pictures of the pairings. I said to myself- Self, there are absolutely no excuses now that you've seen what the actual pairing looks like and you should hopefully be able to recognize it in the open time lineup when you see it again and go 'deja vu' that's a DP.

Publishing all the DPs like this will certainly make the email longer, but it removes one more excuse and makes the lazy pilot's job easier. I find it much easier to view them consolidated in an email than have to search through the bidpack (paper or electronic). Because you are right, with Fastbid I don't have to look at the bidpack, except for training months.

I believe the problem is two-fold.
1) Inadequate exposure to the info/pairings: because not everyone gave the MEC a valid email address; they don't check the ALPA website; they don't get the private newsletters. And posting them on a bulletin board in the back room won’t help much either. There could be a link from pilot.fedex.com to a special ALPA page or let's just paste them to the AOC doors, but as before I don't think the company will want to help.

2) Real time identification of DPs once open time is released and guys start making VTO and CIC requests and trading. There are only two solutions here: 1) software, be that a tag on the company website (right, see above), or use a PC program like I have; or 2) the old reliable paper with DP numbers on it.

Well, maybe there is a third-- some folks just don't care.

We cared and stayed informed for negotiations, why can't we care and stay informed now? Perhaps we need an Email crusade to make sure everyone has a Good address on file with the MEC.

RedeyeAV8r

Tony
Rumor has it that a couple our MGT Pilots were on a long SFS layover and took the1-day tour of Corregidor.(SP?) They found an old Cache of McCarther's personal C-Rats. Scooby snacks? How many ways do you like your Spam?.....

TonyC

You got Corregidor, and butchered the General's name. Douglas MacArthur.

How do I get my hands on one of those, short of diverting a DC-10 to SFS? I lost my P-38 can opener a few years back, and I need a replacement!


Fried Spam, please.



Maybe I can talk the ACP into bringing a few back to Mecca when he returns.





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RedeyeAV8r

I never claimed I could spell and besides Mac the Corn Cobb was an Army Doggie not a Marine like Ol' Chesty Puller.

BTW us Marines call those things "John Waynes" . Use to wear one with my Dog Tags. I might have an extra one somewhere.

SC-7

I still do and I have a spare or two somewhere. Used to be a surplus store here that had a bowl of them by the cash register.

I think I can spare the 35 cents to mail a few, if you need one PM me with your address.

TonyC

Thanks. No need to go to that much trouble. I might stop by the local Army/Navy surplus since you've sparked my curiosity, but I don't really "need" one.

MacArthur-era C-rats should also have cigarettes, right? I'll give mine to somebody higher on the seniority list.




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