dojetdriver

Just going by the bold part, what a PITA that must have been for the UAL MEC. Especially if that status quo was that there were pilots picking up open time.

dojetdriver

Thats a good point Juice. But to possibly take a tangent on the issue;

As far as negotiating the first C.B.A., it may become critical as far as how language is written that deals with the compensation/credit that is awarded for the practice. If there has been a precedent set, it can be hard to negotiate MORE than that. I know, we could go on and on about when Colgan will get a CBA, and how good it will be. In general, it's usually not a home run the first time around. But that's not the point I'm making.

The Juice

That is a good point.

IrishTiger

I do agree with this. I was just advocating earlier for the OP right to post.

If there are people on furlough, then yes NO OPEN TIME. But in this case, let each person decide for themselves. Either way, I think we should be able to say whatever we want to about this subject on a private board.

bryris

For the most part, those who need open time for the extra money will pick it up regardless.

Mason32

In the real world, Open Time, would be called Overtime... and historicaly at the airlines Open Time is used as a means to keep fewer benefited employees on property.

FlyJSH

At the beginning of the month there was some 1700 hours of open time or 22 pilots worth. Considering there are 435 pilots total, it looks to me like Colgan is 5% understaffed.

dojetdriver

Depends on the circumstances as to wether or not that's a valid rationale. Especially if you're comparing line bidding to PBS.

PBS is arguably more efficient, causes less open time, and results in less bodies to staff the operation.

The inefficiencies of line bidding create more open time, and the requirement for more bodies.

eaglefly

At Eagle we have very little open time and yet we have 71 pilots still on furlough. These pilots were furloughed when there was an abundance of open time and now that its dried up, you'd think they be calling pilots back or needing more pilots to cover the flying the furloughees would supposedly be doing............they haven't and are not.

The availability of open time is not always inversely proportional to required bodies. Additionally, the philosophy of rejection of flying open time by pilots doesn't necessarily assist in the return of furloughees or produce other results hoped for when trying to prove something to management.

It hasn't in the past at Eagle anyway.

dojetdriver

Point taken, it just depends on how the specific airline staffs. For some reason, my company takes this super complex approach to determine staffing needs. At my shop, there was a TON of open time pre furlough. The line improvement window was a feeding frenzy. Click of the mouse turns you crap non commutable weekend line into something completely to your liking. Now, there isn't crap for open time when you look in the pool during either the initial or secondary window.

True. It's been proven at my shop, it's simply cheaper to reassign/JM a pilot in the relatively few circumstances where they are actually short than it is to recall a pilot or upgrade some guys. Especially know since it's been a year for both, it would take a full long course as well as the time invested to get the meat in the seat.

If line pilots were able to anticipate a furlough, they'd have to do a myriad of things to keep as many pilots employed as possible that go beyond just picking up open time. Like maximizing vacation and picking up over it, bidding maximum monthly training conflict, as well as utilizing sick leave, etc. Also, this would have to be done so far out that it would be impossible to implement.