Adlerdriver

I'm having some trouble interpreting the contract re: custom lines during the first month of ITU. Any advice/lessons learned would be greatly appreciated. Training starts about two-thirds of the way into the month, so there is no single departure line that falls completely under the training footprint.

A few questions I'm trying to answer:

Not saying I would do this, but if you bid a single departure trip that does not conflict with the training and protect min days off, do they remove the trip and you get no pay for the month unless you do makeup?

What do you get paid if you bid a secondary and how many CH will they build into your line?

90 CH single departure line overlaps the first two days of training, so it is removed. According to the contract formula for custom lines, they compute the 2 days of overlap x R-day value (~4.75) plus 12 CH for the buffer - so 21.5 CH. Then they subtract that from the 90 CH value of the trip in conflict which gives 68.5 CH they can add back into your custom line. 68.5 CH is going to be about an 11 day trip plus 12 days of ITU would be 23 work days. Do min days off still come into play somehow in this process?

Thanks.

Overnitefr8

I recently got a secondary line (all I could hold besides reserve) and had training in the 4th week of a 4 week month. They gave me about 52 hours of actual trips in the beginning of the month and then 20 hours of trips that I was removed for ITU, making my line about 72 CH (about BLG).

Flyinhigh

Check out Section 11 of the CBA. I don't think you can have 12 days of work in 12 straight days in ITU. You will have some days off scheduled in those 12 days.

Raptor

http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/cargo/85820-bidding-fdx-transition-training.html

This post has same info. Union published an article called Scheduling Matters--Schoolhouse Cash from January 2014 that answers all kinds of questions on how to bid first month, last month, and months during training. Different strategies for each of the 3 cases. It can be found http://fdx.alpa.org/Portals/26/docs/010814%20Schoolhouse%20Cash%20Final.pdf

Raptor

The month you start ITU min days off protection doesn't apply. You are only required to have 12 hours off prior to starting ITU. You could theoretically have these three lines pay the same: 1) work first two weeks flying, have 12 hours off, have beginning two weeks ITU
2) bid a line that has a two week trip under the last two weeks of the month where you have ITU...you would then have the first two weeks off, and then work the last two weeks ITU
3) bid a line that works week 1 and week 3. ITU is weeks 3 and 4. You fly first week, have second week off, work weeks 3 & 4 for ITU.

All three above pay the same!

Adlerdriver

Ugh. It sounds like they could build a secondary with a full month's flying in the first half of the month if they wanted. So, if all you can hold is reserve or a VTO, your best option is reserve with max days under the training footprint (if you want to maximize time off before training).

Adlerdriver

They built trips into your secondary that conflicted with training and then removed them?

Raptor

Absolutely every question is answered VERY clearly in the Scheduling Matters -- Schoolhouse Cash Article from the union. Click on the link I provided at the bottom of post 4.

That article tells you what happens if you bid reserve, bid a secondary, or bid a normal line. It tells you what sections of the contract apply. It gives you examples of each situation. It gives you information for bidding for the month ITU begins, during ITU, and the month you exit ITU.

Anyone entering training MUST read that article. It is very clear and the examples are great.

Raptor

I'll try a quick synopsis and simplified examples of the entering ITU month, but the article is correct while I may miss something.

There is no min days off protection for the month entering ITU. I'll assume your ITU starts the last 7 days of a 4-week bid month. You need to know two things: reserve credit hour value (I'll assume 4:50) and average BLG (I'll assume 72 CH).

1) Bid a normal line where all trips are outside the ITU footprint with 12 hours buffer prior to ITU. You work like a dog that month. You work all your trips and start your ITU with only your BLG for pay.

2) you get a single departure line of 14 days that touches ITU footprint by 2 days. The trip is dropped and you get a custom line. You had 2 days of conflict times 4:50 for 9 CH credit. You get a 12 CH training credit per CBA. You now have 72-12-9=51 hours to do in a custom line and you get a 48 hour buffer before starting ITU. Your pay for the month is BLG.

3) You have a line that works week 1 and 4 that works 12 days--6 each week on. You will work week 1 unchanged. Your second week (on week 4) has all 6 days (assume they are AM out and backs so also 6 calendar days of conflict) of 36 CH under the ITU footprint. The six days dropped have a value of 6 x 4:50=29 hours credit. You get 12 CH of credit for having a training conflict, so you have 41 total hours of credit. You owe no additional days of work under a custom line. Your pay for the month is BLG.

4) You bid a line that are mostly 6 CH trips except the last trip of the month. The last trip of the month falls under the ITU footprint and is a 30 CH trip that covers 3 calendar days. The 3 calendar days conflict x 4:50 = 14:30 CH "conflict". What do you owe? You begin with 72 hours, minus working 42 hours at the beginning of the month, minus the 14:30 conflict, minus 12 hours training credit = 3:30 owed on a custom line which has no trip that has that few credit hours, so you're free.

5) You bid a reserve line that works all days in the first 3 weeks. You work like a dog, need only 12 hours off before ITU, and get paid only RLG.

6) you bid a secondary line. Your ITU footprint is 7 days x 4:50 credit per day = 33:50. Owe 72 - 33:50 = 38:10 CH of custom line work with a 48 hour buffer before beginning ITU. Your pay is BLG.

Bidding the month starting ITU is very complex. Want max days off? A reserve line with maximum days under the ITU footprint may be for you rather than a secondary or normal line. Whenever there is a conflict you get a 12 hour training credit which can help things out. When you get a custom line due to owing additional work, you always get a 48 hour buffer. Remember that the min time from last reserve day or trip to ITU is only 12 hours if you don't bid correctly.

Bidding in months where ITU begins should almost always be done by line number and almost never by "any normal line" type if code or "bad" things may happen.

Hopefully I haven't gooned up anything too badly. Look at this instead: http://fdx.alpa.org/Portals/26/docs/010814%20Schoolhouse%20Cash%20Final.pdf

Overnitefr8

yes, that is correct