VBone

First time poster and non DP flyer

What is the incentive for the company to get rid of a disputed pairing?

Last year we were overmanned, and guys on Reserve were getting paid to sit, partly because guys were picking up trips out of open time. Guys on Reserve who would sit at home all week would pick up trips, which enabled more guys on Reserve to sit at home, etc..

So the compnay had to pay the guys who would pick up the 70 hour MD-11 trip along with a guy on Reserve to sit at home.

Now there are huge number of disputed pairing that are "off limits" to guys to pick up, so the 70 hour MD-11 pairing now gets flown by a guy on Reserve. Company saved paying 70 hours. Why would the company ever get rid of it. Seems like the only thing this process does is keep the disputed pairings out of the bid pack. And we never "win" a disputed pairing.

Now I admit this process would be different if we were not overmanned.

Seems to me the company is like big blue playing chess while we are third graders throwing checkers at each other.

And no I don't have a better solution. What do other airlines do?

md11phlyer

We do win disputes and have won them in the past. Email your PSIT representatives if you want to know the when and what. I understand your premise, that it behooves the company to keep a pairing disputed, but a quick review of the contract will show you that is not how the dispute process works. Your education can start at Sec. 25 BB. A good example will be what happens to ANC-NRT-NGO in 2 months. We are succesfully disputing it this month, we will do it again next month. If they try to build it into the May bid pack and our resolve holds it will have been succesfully disputed and, if the system works, we won't see it again. Another example is IND-STN-CDG. They built that into the ANC bid pack, we disputed it, no one touched it, the next month it was gone. (Only to go to MEM to be flown voluntarily. )

There is no conspiracy, only a CBA that governs the process. They want to build to the limits of the CBA and we want to mitigate onerous flying.

USMCFDX

Was not a disputable trip when in the MEM bidpack.

PastV1

Why?.......

md11phlyer

Just reviewed the SIG notes for that and you are correct. It was not disputable because the company claimed the sequence had been flown in the past (before my time). Although, disputing it in ANC led to the soft parameter that got the sequence removed. There were IND-STN-CDG trips in the MEM bid pack that were disputed and flown voluntarily, yet they were there with additional reasons for dispute, not solely the IND-STN-CDG leg.

Clear as mud?

Fr8doggie

Clear that there are a lot of jerks flying DP's

Yoda

Avoid the Disputed Pairings you must....

DPs are the path to the dark side. DPs lead to fatigue. Fatigue leads to lack of judgment. Lack of judgment leads to suffering in the SCPs office.

Thank the SIG you should.

md11phlyer

That is ****ing awesome. I hope you become a regular here Jedi master.

steel

stagnant airplanes cost the company a lot more than 70 hours pay at any rate....you're only hurting your fellow brothers/sisters when picking up Disputed Pairings.

SabreDriver

I thought Lack of judgement leads to flying DPs, thus completing the circle of "DP Life" .... and a trip to the SCP office is a shortcut to/from the dark side?