PeezDog

Thanks James for the reply. Yeah I did not receive a ballot. Being that I recently switched bases from IAD to ATL, that may have been a mix up. I appreciate your willingness to be more vocal, as there has been a complete lack of that here recently. Congrats on the election. But that being said, the last election in IAD had hardly any information on who was running. More specifically, who the new names were. So when this happened, I assumed more of the same.

PeezDog

Nice Joe Dirt quote. I received one email from him one day prior to the vote, that is all. So I'll take your jab at me as a joke instead of an insult

JoeMerchant

12 June 2014

XJT Pilots:

Your elected pilot representatives convened in Houston for an MEC meeting this week. As we mentioned in an earlier communication, the MEC was exploring schedule bidding software options to be included in the JCBA. We currently use line build software provided by AdOpt, which sorts pairings built using AdOpt’s pairing software. Our company works with Scheduling Committee volunteers to achieve these solutions. Individual pilots do not have any preferences or specific input during the line build process prior to the construction of all lines.

The two vendors we have explored over the past weeks, and specifically this week with both MEC Scheduling Committees, are SmartPref and Flightline. Both of these systems are Preferential Bidding Systems (PBS) and allow the pairings to be loaded into the system in much the same way as AdOpt, but then individual pilots set personal preferences and the software builds lines in seniority order. Spirited discussions around PBS and changes to scheduling rules are clear and consistent - the overall quality of life for XJT pilots must improve or remain the same.

The outcome of this research and deliberation was the selection of SmartPref as the software provider for pilot schedule bidding negotiations. Your representatives have directed the JNC and scheduling committees to work together to adapt the new software and contract language to better meet the needs of the pilots. You can read the text of the MEC resolution selecting the SmartPref system on our MEC Meetings page.

The next step in the process of developing the new schedule bidding system at ExpressJet is for our Negotiating Committee to bargain with the company on the work rules the new system will require. Then our Scheduling Committee and the Company will work with the vendor to set up the system. All pilots will be trained on the selected software, so they can participate in several months of parallel bidding in a test phase. After listening to your feedback, the MEC will ensure the pilot group votes on which bidding system they prefer.

Next week we will begin the first mediated bargaining session with the JNC, the company, and the federal mediator in ATL. I will send an update on that session at the end of next week. In addition, I will be in DEN on June 16, IAD on June 17, and ORD on June 18 to visit pilots in the crewroom. Please stop by if you have time to talk about PBS, our negotiations, or any other concerns you may have.

newarkblows

You posted that on the facebook page with more baseless, anti-unity comments. Now that both MEC's see that they need to play together maybe both pilot groups loudmouths should stop peeing in each others sand box. Same team.

Truman_Sparks

Not really "same team" when one MEC says 'tough sh!t', this is what we are doing ---- other side be damned. Same team means they go in together and decide. This was not a "same team" move.

Captain Tony

This. The PBS issue was settled a year ago. For LXJT to open this can of worms back up now is a blaring middle finger to management and LASA. So don't give me this lip service about "unity".

AnchorDown

Well said.

AnchorDown

Nevets

So is it my understanding that you, your negotiating committee, and your MEC just want to keep the Process for Interim and Single PBS agreement?

DL31082

Well looks like we are back to fighting about what scheduling software to use. Guess this isn't going to be solved anytime soon.

FDX8891

And this is where I blame not only our inept management but UNION for f*cking this thing up. We could have had a deal a long time ago if the lifers could have settled on which crappy bidding system to use. But no, we half a lifetime fighting over PBS vs line-bidding so that one side could have more control over picking a crappy 23 hour 4-day vs. a crappy 21 hour 4-day.

5 Years. 5 YEARS is what we're coming up on here. Take a moment and think deeply about what things can be done in 5 year time frame. If someone were to have come to you 5 years ago and said "I'll bet you $100,000,000 that your guys won't have a deal done half a decade from now", would you take that bet?

Newflash: Nobody is going to hit the jackpot with this JCBA. Send this crap to binding arbitration like Compass did and let's get on with our lives.