pilotgolfer

Flying on a day off and moving around your RSV days for a bit of money....do learn the contract. You won't find extra money in the FOM.

Grumble

Quote of the year.

exxcalibur11

how should one handle a situation where you are on your day off (no volunteer for VDO) and crew scheduling calls you out of the blue to ask if you would like to do a 3 day trip at 150%?

Is there room for a phone negotiation of that premium rate? or is it more of a take or leave it kind of deal?

This happened to me recently and unfortunately the logistics of the trip didn't work with my schedule, so I was unable to test any options

ugleeual

I think they are handcuffed at the 150% for VDOs... primarily because VDOs are called before SRMs... SRMs pay 200% as you know. I handle these calls by using my voicemail... I never answer on days off

NFLUALNFL

NEVER!!! Answer your phone!

Even on a day ON. Let it go to voice mail, quickly check the legality/sanity of it in CCS. Then, and only then, call them back.
There could be room for negotiation, but you just don't know. We don't have access anymore to the information with which to make a better decision. Additionally, there are circumstances where, by merely answering the phone, you are assigned/harpooned/skr$%^ed with something you may not want. So....

NEVER!!! Answer your phone!

exxcalibur11

I should have prefaced that by saying I was at least smart enough to let it go to voicemail first. Checked the message right away to see why on earth they might be calling me. I called back right away to find out more about the trip since it didnt yet show as an open trip. It ended up that I couldn't quite make the show time. In any event, even though I called right back they were already assigning it to another pilot.

Just want to be prepared for the next time.

Thanks

ugleeual

I think the days of making deals are over... VDOs get 150% dependent on when the trip starts. If no VDOs available then SRMs get the trip for 200%. If they make deals its definitely under the table stuff... I've heard of other pilots getting some add pay and/or trip protection when they accept only to have it taken away end of month during reconciliation... then you have to fight for it.

Dave Fitzgerald

VDO's are the reserve equivalent of senior manning for the line holders. You get the same as VDO pay if they call and you elect to work on an RDO.

The crew desk will call people who convert their RDO's to VDO's first. Then if they are still desperate, they start calling guys on their RDO's. They cannot offer anymore than the 150% of VDO. They can however offer short call out pay if you can get there quickly. If you go for this, it needs to be documented in the trip pairing. The crew desk is famous for offering the quick callout pay, then it disappears and there is no record of it.

Also, if they are calling, and you let it go to voice mail, they are doing a lot of phone calls. If you wait too long, the deal will go to someone else. I'm not saying answer the phone, you just need to check on it quickly if you want the flying. BTW, there is room to negotiate the short call out pay. Meaning, you may not be able to make the original departure time, but maybe something, say, an hour later. This still keeps the rest of the crew from going illegal, and you get the call out pay for a later departure. It all depends on how desperate they are.

DG1000

"if they are calling, and you let it go to voice mail, they are doing a lot of phone calls. If you wait too long, the deal will go to someone else"

Speaking from recent personal experience; if you don't answer the phone on a VDO they have not been leaving a voicemail at all. They just move on to the next one up. Bottom line, if you want the extra pay you have to risk answering when they call.

pilotgolfer

My experience has been that they have always left messages. I'm not sure how much other guys follow the schedule with trip alerts or watching the open time, but I've found the VDO calls pretty predictable. The 7 day Guam trip was the usual culprit...when someone banged in sick for that one, there was a very high likelihood they didn't have a reserve good for that many days. They have since changed it to a 5 day. They've learned their lesson.