Originally Posted by RJSAviator76

Believe me, plenty of that in the right seat as well... I turn mine off, but I won't even reach across to turn theirs off... I'll just turn the flight intercom volume down on my panel.

Originally Posted by RJSAviator76

We are about to start hiring a lot of new pilots, and I'd like to encourage our new pilots to read the contract and learn what works and what doesn't. I'm starting this thread to help the new hires work smarter, not harder.

I know everyone knows "if you pick up open time while on first year pay, you'll get paid for that trip at second year rate." That's correct, but.... let's dispel some myths:

"You have to bid straight to get second year rate."

WRONG! See Section 4.D.2.a in our contract. In short, anything beyond your original line value that you pick up from OT or that's been run through Open Time gets paid at second year rate.
- Anything listed under DOT, HOT, Short Notice (SNOT), VPF, you will make second year pay as long as you're over the original line value.
- Suppose you pick up a turn in Monthly Open Time (MOT), and then you trade it in ELITT for another trip, whatever you trade into via ELIT into will pay second year rate. In an extreme example, if you pick up a DAL-HOU-DAL turn that's even unrigged that pays 2.4 TFP, and you trade it for a 4-day trip paying 32 TFP in ELITT, those 32 TFP will be paid at second year rate.

"I will never get awarded a premium trip because I'm too junior."

WRONG! See Section 6.B.11.a and Section 6.B.12.b. This part addresses the caps and how open time gets awarded.

- If you as the junior most FO are under the cap and bidding premium against the senior most FO in your base who is over the cap, you get the trip at premium. It's spelled out in 6.B.12.b. I've seen an under-the-cap junior FO bid straight to outbid me bidding premium and I was over the cap. He literally gave the company 10 TFP because he didn't know the contract. He would have been awarded this trip despite being junior to me.

- Irrelevant if you're under or over the cap, if you are bidding against a senior FO who is from a different base, you get awarded the trip because you're in base.

- In certain cases when there are no bidders on OT, no reserves to assign, Scheduling may list the trip under VPF (voluntary premium flying) and it's first-come-first-serve. You bid on it, and if you're first to bid, it's yours and it will pay you premium at second year rate. This is often the last step prior to JA-ing someone.

- SNOT is ranked by categories such as in-base, under the cap; in-base, over the cap; out-of-base, under the cap; out of base, over-the-cap. You compete on a random basis within your category. Suppose you're under the cap and the seniormost FO in your base, who is over the cap is bidding on a SNOTP (premium SNOT). You will be awarded the SNOTP. If he's under the cap, then it'll be random.

"I should never look at TTGA for anything because it only pays first year pay."

WRONG! See above. While it is true that any trips that have NOT been run through open time i.e. everyone looking to dump their line, will pay regular first year rates, anything that's been run through open time process will pay you second year rate.

Here's are two examples:

1) A 3-day trip pops up in open time. You and 3 other FO's bid premium on it. Scheduling decides they will not award it premium, and instead they will assign it to reserve. You like that trip and wouldn't mind it even at straight. You can call Scheduling and Extra Fly that trip, and because it was run through open time, you will be paid second-year rates at straight. You can find FO's giving away reserve trip assignments in TTGA and you'll see remarks like "Call skeds to pick up" or something along those lines. In other words, no, unless you really, really, really want that trip, you do not have to bid it straight.

2) Suppose there are no reserves available and people just aren't picking up as much anymore as has been the case lately. In this case, Scheduling will reroute or JA someone to fly extra. JA's pay double time and that carries over. Often times, people will put that JA in TTGA and even though it won't show the full credit in TTGA, you'll see the code J when you look at the trip and you'll see under remarks, people will put something like "JA assignment" and possibly how much it pays, etc. I recently picked up someone's 2-day JA that paid just under 30 TFP.

Remember... anything run through OT process pays second year rate: reserve assigned trips, JA's, etc. You will see them listed in TTGA.

"What are some of the strategies I can use as a first year FO?"

First of all, be patient. Read the contract. The above mentioned sections, you should be intimately familiar with by the time you're done with IOE.

Second thing... control your block hours. Ever wonder why Southwest pilots are always taxiing faster than others? Now you know... Illegal by 1 minute can and will prevent you from picking up.

One strategy that worked for me when I was a first year FO, I'd bid to create a conflict in the overlap and force a trip in the lead-in month to drop due to legality. You will see your TFP projection drop as long as 66 TFP or so. That's good! Don't let that scare you. That's your new "original line value" threshold. Let's suppose you only want to fly your line and don't want to play the OT game during the month. Great... you can pick up something in Monthly Open Time (MOT), and it will pay second year rate. You get priority for MOT since you fell below your guarantee. Remember, you can also pick up a simple turn in MOT and then trade it in ELITT for something that pays a lot better and whatever trip you picked up will pay at second year rate. You have have picked up a 4-day trip in MOT that pays 28 TFP, and your paycheck will show 66 TFP at first year rate, 28 TFP at second year rate. If you're a commuter that can't play the game, this strategy will certainly help you during your first year.

If you live in base, pay close attention to reserve coverage for the day. If the reserves are used up, premium will start getting awarded. If it's not as high crediting trip or has been chopped up by scheduling, chances are that more senior people will not bother bidding on it or will bid on something else.

Another strategy if you don't want to really bid and play the OT game is with reserve pairings if you want "a sure thing." Unlike at other airlines, our reserves are paid per day, not a monthly guarantee. That means you get 6 TFP per day if you're sitting unused and average daily guarantee of 6.5 if you get called out. On reserve, you'll notice that you will often get rerouted so it's not uncommon for a reserve assignment to end up paying a lot more than it did when it started. If you pick up that reserve block in DOT or MOT, anything you fly during that reserve block (or the block itself if by some miracle you don't end up flying) will pay at second year rates and that includes all reassignments and move-ups that pay premium. It's not uncommon for reserve trips to really balloon up and end up paying substantially more than a line trip. The downside is, you have no way of knowing if it will balloon up or not. Reserve can be a double-edged sword in that it carries a lot of block liability which can affect your ability to pick up more flying if your reserve blocks are later in the month. See Section 7.B.2.

Questions? Comments? Cheap shots? Fire away.

Originally Posted by KaraokeMan

anyone had a chance to run this priceless info through the new contract language to see how it changes/holds up?

Originally Posted by Stitches

The 2 big changes that affect new hires are: No hard line for the first full bid period, and ANY pairing/reserve bid from open time will pay at 2'nd yr rates for new hires.

Probies no longer need to exceed their original line total to trigger the pay increase. If you bid it, it will pay 2'nd yr pay. If I was a new hire, every trip would be in give away, and every reserve block would be as well, with a comment "pick up my reserve and I'll extra fly your trip" or something along those lines.