Any rumor why scheduling is short at AAI

[wood pecker]

I use to work at AAI and these past few times my coworkers tried to fly they were delayed. The reason was due to crew shortage. They eventually left a few hours late. (I know gate agents are sometimes misinformed)

Has the weather been more harsh than usual or is the company getting an unexpected result after announcing layoffs?

I still have friends at AAi and they are getting extended if their trips finish early.

Just curious. Thanks and good luck. Not flying is not fun either but you can at least control your own fate meaning if you work hard your rewarded and their are no mind games or revisions.

 

[gt1900]

its BS.. If there short they haven't told me, and I haven't been extended either.. I fly my trips and go home, get a few swaps on occasion but thats it. My swaps are usually for the better as well...

 

[easydoesit]

They are short. They have tried to draft me twice in the last week. Too bad I have kids to take care of at home. They are short and my prediction is that there will not be 177 furloughs. I'd be willing to bet the furlough number will be under 100.

 

[jehtplane]

They are short. They have tried to draft me twice in the last week. Too bad I have kids to take care of at home. They are short and my prediction is that there will not be 177 furloughs. I'd be willing to bet the furlough number will be under 100.

I think it will be less. The company played poker and got exactly what they wanted from our weak a@# union. They are LOA'ing a new contract from our union who is folding like a lawn chair from Wal-mart.

 

[FlyFastLiveSlow]

....our union who is folding like a lawn chair from Wal-mart.

Nahhh....WalMart lawn chairs are much stronger than our union.

 

[wood pecker]

At least things are consistent from when I was there. Some were getting mega credits getting extended while others never flew at all or got their res days removed.

You may have issues w/ your union but at least you have the power to refuse an extension due to personal hardship or did that get negotiated away?

Being part of a different company I do see things from a different point of view. Good behavior is expected, bad behavior is punished and no behavior gets things changed. Meaning if no one came to work and a project did not get finished things would have to change.

However a project does not impact lives like an airline so your screwed.

Good luck, and invest all of your money in teleconferencing. The TSA and delays are justifying the cost plus it is much easier vs everyone flying for a 2 hour meeting.

 

[General Lee]

Just remember, flights will be cut September 1st at all airlines probably. The end of the Summer is always busy, and then as the kids come home and go off to school, the flights become empty. Not trying to burst your bubble, but that is unfortunately going to become reality. ABC news said 2000 or more flights will end in September, or 8% of all flights in the US.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Citrus531]

Got the email today from planning...AirTran's system will go from 765 daily flights throughout the system at the end of July to 615 for September. October sees a slight increase to 680.


And yes they have been very short...I've worked the crew position in ops a few times over the last month and in that period we had 4 irop nights in which we averaged 18-22 diversions a night because of thunderstorms here in Atlanta....causing HUGE crew problems....those coupled with callouts caused major shortages and we're still seeing this pattern into August.

Back in the middle of July one night we had the 2nd worst night EVER at AirTran because of the wx.....52 cancellations out of 265 flights in Atlanta....24 diversions causing crews to be scattered everywhere and our D0 % ended at 3.3% for the day...never seen it that low for one operating day.

 

[BSkin]

Citrus531,

I diverted on the 2nd (saturday)due to wx in ATL, into MCN. My question to you is, why is our system so poorly developed to handle such situations? I arrived in ATL probably 2 1/2 hours late due to the diversion, and waited another hour+ for a gate! Then get to my other flight and find out the the FAs and pax have been on board for 2 hours -- the FAs being told the whole time that we were on the way. YEAH, on the way from MCN and waiting for a gate. Please tell me who makes these bone-head decisions! Obviously no one that knows what it's like to get on an aircraft with a full load of pax that have been sitting there for 2 hours. Yeah, a great reception it was!

For what it's worth, they were drafting many on Sunday!

 

[BSkin]

There has to be a willingness to lose some things in order to gain another in these adverse conditions (WX). OPs frequency is a joke when this occurs. You hear sometimes 'well, that FLT is waiting for FAs untill they push', then 'yeah they're on this FLT'. Same with pilots. Why is there not better tracking of crews, etc., and enough reserves in place to help out the situation?

 

[BSkin]

.....

 

[Ty Webb]

in that period we had 4 irop nights in which we averaged 18-22 diversions a night because of thunderstorms here in Atlanta....causing HUGE crew problems....

Thanks for the info . . . we only see the circus 1 ring at a time, kind of interesting to see the scope of things.

About the diversions- there should be a plan in DX to make sure that when it is likely to be "that kind of night in ATL" that the fuel management (savings) program be put on a shelf for the night. Better (and cheaper) to have hundreds of flights tankering fuel than a dozen diversions wreaking havoc.

Regards,

TW

 

[Eagle757shark]

Got the email today from planning...AirTran's system will go from 765 daily flights throughout the system at the end of July to 615 for September. October sees a slight increase to 680.


And yes they have been very short...I've worked the crew position in ops a few times over the last month and in that period we had 4 irop nights in which we averaged 18-22 diversions a night because of thunderstorms here in Atlanta....causing HUGE crew problems....those coupled with callouts caused major shortages and we're still seeing this pattern into August.

Back in the middle of July one night we had the 2nd worst night EVER at AirTran because of the wx.....52 cancellations out of 265 flights in Atlanta....24 diversions causing crews to be scattered everywhere and our D0 % ended at 3.3% for the day...never seen it that low for one operating day.

Transparency in scheduling could eliminate some of these questions. It is very easy to put a fluid list on FLICA of who is on reserve daily!

 

[CatfishVT9]

Back in the middle of July one night we had the 2nd worst night EVER at AirTran because of the wx.....52 cancellations out of 265 flights in Atlanta....24 diversions causing crews to be scattered everywhere and our D0 % ended at 3.3% for the day...never seen it that low for one operating day.

I flew in fron SEA that night. Made the call to skeds like a good reserve and they asked if I could hang around for another 45 minutes. I told them that they were supposed to play me within 30, but since the scene was a madhouse, I agreed to stay. After that, I never could get skeds on the phone and no one I talked with in the crew lounge could get them either. Plenty of pilots were available but they completely lost the picture. It's clear to me that Crew Skeds has no reliable "real-time" way of tracking flights and crews.

In addition to that, you have to watch your pay on almost every leg. My first 3 years, I had maybe 2 or 3 pay discrepancies total. The last year or so, I call multiple times a month for being shorted. Coincidence? I doubt it. But that's a whole nuther thread.

 

[~~~^~~~]

It is just common sense to refuse extra flying as your Company threatens to furlough, or fire, new hire pilots.

Unfortunately common sense is increasingly uncommon amongst folks in our profession.