24seven

How easy is it to trade a trip with the current system?

Is it feasable to just drop a trip if no now will trade? How likely is this? (DCA and ORD FO is what I'm most interested in at present)

dmeg13021

If you're a lineholder, the process is relatively straightforward. Starting on the 20th, you can submit drop requests via Seniority Trip Trade or Crew Companion for next month. Whether that gets approved or not depends on your base, reserve coverage, percent of flying in open time, direction of wind, whatever. Some bases say it's impossible, others it's fairly routine. If drop is approved, it's off your schedule. You can do pilot-pilot trades and pickups in base as well through Crew Companion. If you've got a question, talk to trip trade desk sometime other than 1100-1500, they've always been very helpful for me.

dmeg13021

Remember though, drop = no $. Unless it's a vacation drop, but you don't have any vacation yet.

Scott Stoops

No would be the short answer. The system is broken and we, as a pilot group, lack the will to get it fixed. The company controls the drop equation, and they simply aren't offering any in most fleets and seats. Been like this for a long time. That is why I generally the lowest time possible then rebuild by adding flying, not trading or dropping. Fwiw.

Scott

Master of FiFi

The answer is no. As in "no coverage". You can trade trips starting on the same day or for more days, but you cant trade trips for different days.

When line holders say that dropping the reserve part of the extension doesn't affect them, I tell them that this is how it does. My buddy at Delta says they can drop and move whatever they want because they went after the company about this no coverage non sense. In September, DCA320 FO, 30 reserves in a base of 120 pilots, but no coverage? Please...

gettinbumped

This issue has nothing to do with the extension, as trip trading was never one of the items to be discussed. It's not a "reserve improvement". It's a line holder improvement.

To the OP, it's worth mentioning that you should ALWAYS put in what you want. It can get very complex but one open trip can trigger 4-5 trades. The more people that play in the system, the better the chance of it opening up. I've had success trading a 4 day for a 2 day on different days. I've had a trip that I wanted to pick up go to a pilot junior to me because of "branching", which means that some pilot senior to me put in a trade which only worked by giving the pilot junior to me "my" ID as part of a 5 person trade. And then I've had a 1 day trip that I can't get rid of for all the tea in China with plenty of reserves available. It's a weird system that could use some tweaking for sure. But ALWAYS put in what you want.

svergin

It is "feasible" to drop a trip with no one picking it up. It is also feasible that you could date a Victoria Secret's supermodel.

You probably have a better shot with the supermodel.

Master of FiFi

[QUOTE=gettinbumped;2049676]This issue has nothing to do with the extension, as trip trading was never one of the items to be discussed. It's not a "reserve improvement". It's a line holder improvement.

It is an improvement to the reserve system as a whole. Better reserve parameters, ie using some kind of formula to determine how many people actually need to be on reserve on any given day. A result of this would be better ability to trip trade for line holders, but it would also mean a normal amount of short calls for reserves.

I was not expecting that to be part of the extension anyway, but I think we can all agree that it does need to be fixed at some point. It is fixed at Delta, and last time I checked all of their flights were still operating and the airline hasn't come to a screeching halt.

gettinbumped

[QUOTE=Master of FiFi;2049759]I DO agree with you that it needs to be fixed. For sure. But the company has proved over time it doesn't matter HOW many reserves they have, the answer is ALWAYS "no coverage". It wouldn't matter if reserve were "fixed" in this TA. There would still be no trip trading relief without specifically addressing the fact that the company controls what the threshold is for trip trading, and they simply always make it unattainable.

Master of FiFi

[QUOTE=gettinbumped;2049776]Agreed. It would have to be in the wording. "if there are more reserves than required plus amount needed to cover currently open trips on any given day as per the agreed upon formula (which I would hope ALPA would negotiate to make required reserves is a normal number), then there shall be no restrictions on trading/dropping..." etc... or whatever wording or process. It's not really going to happen, so it's all really a moot point.