Originally Posted by tomgoodman

Personally, I preferred Red Wing clodhoppers, Osh Kosh B'gosh bib overalls, and a plaid lumberjack shirt.

Originally Posted by fanaticalflyer

Though i agree with your sentiment; the reason they pushed new hires starts to NOV was that the training dept is swamped. That is not an exaggeration. They need to get thru this summer firehose and they'll be able to handle the rest of the strong demand during the fall/winter. I think proper manning is when they are a bit tight during the summer and holidays. If they have to do some SRM during that time, then our staffing is fine. When they have to JRM, then you have an issue, but that has mostly gone goodbye. By the end of the summer, SRM will be basically done for the long haul. look at the trends of SRM from last year to now, and you'll see there is barely any of it left. We are finally getting staffed the right way. L-UAL, which i am, always wanted too many pilots which was ridiculous. Keep the manning tight, and it limits the number of furloughs IF WE EVER NEED THEM. Go too fat on pilots, and it's easier to cut a lot more, since the cost isn't much more. Too many L-UAL guys want more pilots and want work rules that allow more pilots on the lot. That's old school and they need to move on and realize we are not being competitive. Keep manning tight, and if we have to do some senior manning for 4 months, then we save money not being overmanned the other 8 months. And realistically, if you look at SRM numbers, it is prevalent anymore. So it's really minimum 3 months of limited SRM to offset 9 months of good staffing.

Originally Posted by Floyd

I'm particularly fond of the notion of work less and make more. If the union can negotiate effective work rules with the company then by all means bring them on. It's not our job to make the company competitive. If that was the case we'd all fly to FAR limits, eliminate what work rules we have left, and take a 50% pay cut. Sound familiar?

I'm tired of getting stuffed with 85-89 hr lines month in and out. At what point in time have we gotten so greedy that we continually choose money over quality of life? I'd gladly choose an 18 day off/80 hour line over the 15/89 option. It's better for my sanity and allows for more upgrades.

Originally Posted by Floyd

I'm tired of getting stuffed with 85-89 hr lines month in and out. At what point in time have we gotten so greedy that we continually choose money over quality of life? I'd gladly choose an 18 day off/80 hour line over the 15/89 option. It's better for my sanity and allows for more upgrades.

Originally Posted by MasterOfPuppets

I flew with a guy who needed to credit 93 hours a month to maintain his life style. The day SRM dries up he is cooked.

Give me 70-80 hours and 18+ days off a month with the option to drop down to 50 if I want.

Originally Posted by MasterOfPuppets

Give me 70-80 hours and 18+ days off a month with the option to drop down to 50 if I want.

Originally Posted by Andy

But you're fairly deep on reserve, aren't you? When's the last time you had a line? And doesn't the -400 closure/bumps move you further away from the G line?

Could you have a line on fifi or a guppy? Might be advantageous to bid down when your freeze ends.

Originally Posted by Andy

While it's not always possible to do a direct drop of a trip, there are other ways to get rid of trips by having others pick them up. By advertising a trade as both a drop and a pickup, you make things more complicated and much less likely of having it execute.

I've both dropped trips without picking up any trips and have picked up others' advertised trips without dropping my own trips. Clear your schedule by getting a drop then pick up as desired.

Depending on your fleet/seat/base/trip length, you may want to just drop one trip every other month, flipping between 89 and 70ish every other month.

Originally Posted by Floyd

It's not our job to make the company competitive.

Originally Posted by Floyd

My QOL should not be tied to a "trip pickup system" with arbitrary limits set by the company. Nor should my QOL should be bound by those who possess the ability of a straight pickup. If high time lines are forced upon a BES how exactly will those pickups occur when there is very little room in one's line?