DAL 88 Driver

Yeah, I'm really not trying to... but I can see how it might come across that way.


I'd be careful with making that assumption. Delta is well known to change the mix of mainline/regional on a whim. Not that this is a perfectly comparable example... But when we moved to Little Rock 5 1/2 years ago, there were 3 88's and probably about 5 or 6 RJ's per day to ATL. It was a very doable commute because of the 88's. Eventually, it became 11 RJ's, 0 mainline, and the commute became an absolute nightmare. And that's with only maybe about 10 Delta pilots commuting out of LIT!

With the entire pilot base going away in MEM, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a higher percentage of RJ's flying between MEM and ATL than there is today. (Just look around in MEM next time you're there and see how many RJ's versus mainline you see.) Plus, I suspect you're going to have a lot of folks trying that commute. Ask the DFW/ATL commuters how well that works out.

Anyway, like I said before... just some things to consider. There are many other factors in making a decision like that.

tsquare

I think it would be fair for a pilot removed for company convenience to go to the bottom of the list. With the proviso that they are used within a couple of hours of their original sign in time. Other than that.. yeah.. you get removed for company convenience... go home and have a nice mini vacation. (BTW, having a lineholder do this IS a concessionary issue)

BigGuns

In your opinion what do you think Parker, Anderson, and Smisek want?

tsquare

That's easy.. the crown jewel of AMR's collection... South America.

NERD

Dear Richard,

DFW. Pretty please.

sailingfun

I had a friend who took 5 years off from Delta by playing the IOE game as a senior copilot. He showed up at a major interline event with a beard that rivaled most mountain men. A Southwest pilot asked if he was out on sick leave. He said no and the Southwest pilot asked how he grew the beard. He replied that he buddy bid with line check airman and swapped trips so all his trips were dropped. The SW pilot asked how he could afford to do that. He replied that he got full pay for the trips. The SW pilot replied that Delta was going to end up bankrupt doing that. This was in 2000.
Recovery flying needs a major cleanup, recovery flying should come after reserves and you should always have to be back the same day. The 6 hour leash needs to go also. I don't however have a problem with using someone who is already getting paid.
Some airlines still pay for removed trips however in most if not all cases they have a different method of scheduling IOE's and check airman so that removal is not that common. We could also go to a method like that and have full recovery. Its all in the details.

johnso29

You're citing one pilot in a 7000+ pilot group. I hardly doubt his actions drove Delta to BK. At the very least one should be placed below reserves.

And being back the same day isn't good enough. It needs to have one back NO LATER then their original release time. If I bid for a trip which allows me to commute home, & the company TAKES that trip from me then they need to get me back by my original release time or pay for my hotel room.

TeddyKGB

Could someone please explain in Layman terms what this recovery LOA does for us? I'm new and have only sat reserve so far.

Boomer

I don't know what's more shocking...

That Batman let himself go this badly,

Or that he needs a "HulkSMASH!" glove on his left hand to get the job done.

johnso29

Without details no one can answer your question, but we can share our speculation. As it stands now, if you hold a line & the CA on your trip is a LCA it's possible that LCA may have to give OE on said trip. For simplicity in your category let's say it's a domestic trip.

If training removes you from your trip so that OE can be conducted, you have certain obligations listed in Sec 23. The short is that if there is an open time trip that does not report EARLIER then your original report AND does not exceed the original trip length then you are the first one to be assigned that trip. However, this trip could now be uncommutable on the back end resulting in another night on the road & another hotel room out of your pocket. For instance, I could have a 5 day with an report too early for me to commute in(but ends early enough to get home) so I come in the night before. That's 1 hotel room. Now they replace it with a 5 day that has a release time too late for me to get home. There's another hotel room out of my pocket, & an extra night on the road. There are restrictions listed for how quickly scheduling must assign the trip, & things are different if it's an international trip with an augmented crew.

Speculation is that these obligations have been eliminated through an LOA, but we will have to wait until info is released. If you're interested in all this it's listed in the contract Sec 23.