notEnuf

Are you in your new hire category? Why/why not? Sounds like a junior (by choice) problem. And yes, we all went through that at least once. In a few categories right seat senior pays more than left junior. How did you do in the latest mega AE? Several categories went unfilled that were junior and would allow weekends off more quickly.

DWC CAP10 USAF

New hire category? Yes

Why? Because that’s the category I got at Indoc last year....got the last plane to the domicile that was closest to my house.

I like the GS...want more GS....don’t want them diluted in the next contract.

Just pointing out that when it comes down to how the GS chips actually fall in a given bid period, it’s not a smoove peanut butter spread as some were alluding to earlier.

notEnuf

Sounds like you chose your category for a QOL reason, closest to home. GS are issued in seniority order for those available to fly them. The availability is the key and up to the individual.

If you’re going into your second year my only advice would be choose your next seat very carefully after evaluating your priorities. Fast upgrades to bigger equipment and captain never allow you to control your schedule and create that availability. But if you want to be home more (family etc.) that doesn’t make GS availability easy either.

My weekends are usually filled with kids sports and activities and they come first for me. I would never count on a GS. It’s found money for us. The tactical GS game is reserved for the top 20% in category and the top reserves who “roll thunder.” So yes, if you forgo an upgrade you can be a GS master but that’s the beauty of our company, choice.

Just trying to help. Good luck. BTW, bidding off just the last weekend (or as much as possible Thursday through Saturday or Sunday through Tuesday) of the month has worked for me in the past. YMMV

Han Solo

For us junior guys, don't forget that over the span of a career there's a good chance you'll be senior far longer than you'll be junior, and after a few years if you're junior it's by choice and not necessity. With that in mind why would you dump a system that is far more lucrative to the pilot group as a whole; and to senior pilots more specifically, when the majority of your career will be spent as a more senior pilot with a higher hourly rate? Yes, I'm a guy who works every weekend due to my juniority and I see GS after GS go out when I can't fly them only to have a zillion guys on reserve during the week when I'm available. I haven't had a GS since NYE but I accept the short term lack of premium flying for the knowledge that in 5 years I'll be in the top half of the company's seniority list and I'll be the guy benefiting from the current GS system.

Any move to 1.5x when we've already got 2x is short-sighted stupidity.

80ktsClamp

Is math that hard? 1.5 vs 2x? Factor in straight pick up to get to 7 above ALV on top of that? Sure, let’s give up a thousand jobs or so...

Scoop

At the risk of sounding like a geezer I will point out that when a lot of the current senior guys were junior there was no GS leveling. If a senior guy was available he would get GS-2 etc prior to a junior guy a GS so the system we have now is pretty fair.

And at the current hiring rates everyone can quickly get senior if that is their goal. By quickly I mean up to 2 or 3 years not 2 or 3 months.

Keep in mind we had folks sitting FE for 5+ years and others who were the system plug at the 5 year point after being recalled from furlough.

All of our work rules can and should be continually improved to increase QOL for all Pilots, junior and senior but I just wanted to shed a little perspective on the discussion.

And yes Clamp, math is hard.

Scoop

Go Cards go

Agreed...that would incentivize working ourselves to death.

3 green

Guys that chase the bigger planes and stay junior are almost always the ones pushing for 1.5 pay above ALV. I say keep the current system for greenslips just like it is now. Don't forget greenslips cycle thru the entire list before gs#2 can be issued to a "senior guy".

DWC CAP10 USAF

That’s exactly what has been discussed over the last 1.69 pages of discussion. Folks (me included) stating that the junior guys (even in junior categories) get stuck with ****ty weekend trips so they 1) aren’t available to accept GS#1, and 2) they are less likely to be able to drop said ****ty trip in order to make themselves available for GS #1, especially when the category hasn’t had a positive reserve coverage in 6 months and levels are so bad even the APD aren’t getting approved.

The senior guys who can actually get weekends off in their initial bid award, thereby making themselves available for when a majority of the greenies drop, will get 4 or 5 in a month when the junior guy can’t even get the ARCOS call for #1.

Not saying it’s right....not saying it’s wrong....not saying it needs to be changed...just saying thats how it actually plays out in execution.

sailingfun

That’s certainly not how I have seen it play out in several different categories. FAR 117 makes much of what you post impossible. The highest paid pilot in my current category is a very junior bottom line holder and commutes.
If you want GS’s you need to bid accordingly which might mean trips that would not normally be your first choice and blocking trips together leaving long blocks of availability. You need to be willing to bid low time lines and drop trips to free availability.