ancman

Those are my favorite. The passive aggressive “We’re just calling to see how you’re doing, and to see if there’s anything we can do for you.” calls. Then if you don’t call back right away, they become offended and keep calling back with more “courtesy calls” (in an increasingly hostile tone).

I once had 3 different voice mails from 3 different CPs and ACPs to “see how I was doing”, none of whom acted aware that the others had called. I thought for a second I was working at Initech, not Delta.

I prefer to leave my phone on DND, ignore all calls, and rest when I’m sick. I’ve already advised the company “how I’m doing” with my initial sick call.

saturn

There's lots of "sick" calls for not being personally sick, but I wouldn't classify as abusing the system. Ex: I bring home the flu. I'm sick. I infect my spouse and kids. I'm all better now, but my spouse is incapacitated. I'm supposed to report for work. Wife can't caretake. WWYD?

The problem is tying everything to personally being "sick". I worked at a PTO airline, and it was weird transitioning to our "sick" leave. I've had personal emergencies and family issues which prevented me from being able to come to work. It happens to everyone. But per the PWA, those are just unpaid trip drops if you call the CPO. All this really boils down to, is money. Your sick bank is just a fund that pays for your absence. Yet, we're only authorized to dip into the "I cant make it to work" contigency if it's a personal injury/illness. We should expand it. People are going to miss work for these things regardless, no need for harrassment nor financial hits.

Personal example: When I was a new-hire, my wife was pregnant. She had a rare condition that was life threatening to her and the baby. I called CPO office ahead of time, as she would need to be preemptively hospitalized as we got to the end, and I would be the only one to take care of my toddler. CPO had my back. When the hospitalization came, I called CPO. They PD my trips for me. I asked if I could use my sick bank, and they said "no, since you're not the one sick." So I had no income at an extremely stressfull and expensive time. IMO, we should be able to use our "sick" time for that.

I flew with a CA later who said: "You did it wrong. You should have never talked to CPO. Just called out sick. If CPO calls you, say you're in no mental condition to fly due to your situation". He was right. I was so busy trying to do everything right by Delta, all so I could save them money at my own expense. Contrast that to my previous airline, where wife gets into a a car wreck, ambulance, hospital etc. I call-out family emergency, and my PTO covers it. Nobody cares how I use it. Just a different perspective on sick leave pro/cons vs what the forum has discussed thus far.

saturn

Not going to defend the SC abusers one bit. I'm equally not going to act like the company is justified in overreacting or being spiteful. You getting max SCs after that fiasco wasn't those pilots fault, nor ALPA's. It was Management's. They had choices, and chose to take it out on the pilot group in a petty way. We can understand why, but I doesn't justify it.

FangsF15

^^100% This. Couldn't agreeem more^^

Whoopsmybad

I now doubt this.
It’s March, I get it’s spring break, last 2 weekends my phone has rang constantly for green slips.
Also, guess silver slips didn’t kill green slips (pulls pin and runs)…..

Jonny Drama

Can we sticky this post for all the noobs who are fresh out of the military or were short timers at their previous shop…

As a new hire here I remember flying with a wise old former AF guy who was doing some valuable mentoring and counseling about my sick usage…. “You do it once a quarter or you are doing your peers a disservice” was his line. I think that’s fair.

PilotWombat

Instead of being sly about it, please let us know how to drop a trip below standard reserve coverage limits for any reason we want and get paid the full value for it? Even better if we can utilize our annually refilled sick bank for it, and not be subject to GFB/verification?

crewdawg

This! Also, explain how to do this when you've already used your vacation for the year.

Viper25

Ok, go on. Don’t say “read between the lines.” Let’s hear it.

notEnuf

1) sick time is pay and credit
2) credit can be banked over 80
3) all banks can be used to fill up - VAC, full service, sick (23.I.19 allows vacation bank to be used for any drop)
4) 3 times a year we get higher ability drop requests, anytime during the year sick is an option, VAC slides and partial end of the month weeks can be split
5) call in sick when you are sick
6) sick time is pay and credit

Every month I use sick time I credit as much over 80 hours as I can and bank those hours. The average pilot uses 60-80 hours of sick time per year.