CAL Pilots and Opentime

[Dewey Oxberger]

What are the poor w h o r e s going to do under the new contract when they can't waive DH or VAC anymore? Maybe that's why they keep bending over for Fred, the more they do it, the longer they get to keep working under POS '02 and bend over some more! FUPMFUPMFUPMFUPMFUPM

P.S.- Any chance the previously mentioned ladies of the night are RFL pilots? That would at least excuse their actions in my opinion.

 

[Paul R. Smith]

Why is that? Seems like a reasonable question.

Not everyone's international trips go to Europe or Asia and return. The trip keeps going around the world resulting in ONE Atlantic "crossing" and ONE Pacific "crossing". Others end on another continent after only one "crossing" and the pilot commercials home.

6 one-way "crossings" a month is a lot but seems reasonable every once in a while. 12 is over the top. Hence my question to get clarification.

I suppose. I certainly meant no ill will towards you by making that cynical comment.
I meant more that...Only a chap from a reasonable airline would assume that a 75-76 crew would do 3-5 transatlantic trips a month. At CAL a 75-76 crew normally performs 6 x 15hour trips .

 

[whymeworry?]

IMO, this bid says more about right-sizing for a merger (or downsizing to give flying to our alliance partners, take your pick) than anything else.

 

[ATRCA]

I've worked for more than one carrier who's pilots picked up open trips with guys on furlough. While I think CAL has a larger % of losers (95% of which are either on the 777 or based in IAH or BOTH) than the average major, the practice is not uncommon. Unfortunate but not entirely unique.

 

[denny]

Open time has no relation to furloughs. Whether the time is covered or not, it has absolutely no relationship to furloughs. Why pilots don't get this after 75 years is completely beyond me.

 

[Billsflyer]

Open time has no relation to furloughs. Whether the time is covered or not, it has absolutely no relationship to furloughs. Why pilots don't get this after 75 years is completely beyond me.

You are correct for the most part, but it would send a unified message to the company the we will not cover for your lack of staffing.

But instead many will continue to get on their knees for the company, only to claim that they need the money to support a lifestyle which is beyond their means to begin with.

If you pick up a trip here and there to help when life happens that is one thing. If you pick up as much as possible, some of which is in the right seat, and then brag to everyone how big your paycheck is, that makes you a scumbag. IMHO

Cheers

 

[densoo]

Open time has no relation to furloughs. Whether the time is covered or not, it has absolutely no relationship to furloughs. Why pilots don't get this after 75 years is completely beyond me.

Block time divided by hours flown per pilot equals the number of pilots needed. If pilots fly more hours there are fewer pilots needed. Am I missing something here?

NWA pretty much proved this point a couple of summers ago when they stopped picking up open time. They ran out of pilots to fly the planes and had to cancel hundreds of flights.

While it may not be apparent tomorrow or next week, a company will calculate the long term need for pilots based on how much time each pilot flies on average. The time that is picked up above and beyond what is assigned monthly is going to be part of that average.

The problem at CAL is that the company looks at 100 hr/mo and 1000 hrs/yr that the FAA allows and essentially makes this their goal for each pilot to fly. Top level management sees annual block hours divided by 1000 and says why do we need more pilots than that? Then many pilots buy into this save the company from themselves mentality and work themselves into the grave. And it isn't just the early 80s hires.

 

[Superpilot92]

i heard a couple Captains the other day talking about how nice it was to sell their vacations and pick up time to maximize pay. people like that want to work that much amaze me, especially with pilots on the street. uke:

 

[Homer Jay]

Block time divided by hours flown per pilot equals the number of pilots needed. If pilots fly more hours there are fewer pilots needed. Am I missing something here?

NWA pretty much proved this point a couple of summers ago when they stopped picking up open time. They ran out of pilots to fly the planes and had to cancel hundreds of flights.

While it may not be apparent tomorrow or next week, a company will calculate the long term need for pilots based on how much time each pilot flies on average. The time that is picked up above and beyond what is assigned monthly is going to be part of that average.

The problem at CAL is that the company looks at 100 hr/mo and 1000 hrs/yr that the FAA allows and essentially makes this their goal for each pilot to fly. Top level management sees annual block hours divided by 1000 and says why do we need more pilots than that? Then many pilots buy into this save the company from themselves mentality and work themselves into the grave. And it isn't just the early 80s hires.

It's sad. I see an awful lot of G numbers and early M numbers picking up open time. Weren't a lot of the G numbers furloughed after 9/11? You'd think they'd be a little more compassionate.

 

[OTpilot]

The Gs were the first group hired after 9/11

 

[ERfly]

The Gs were the first group hired after 9/11

Weren't a lot of those Gs sons/daughters of those in management or ScabSpawn?

 

[OTpilot]

Yes, most all that are scabspawn are Gs, but there are a lot of Gs that aren't.

I'm on the cusp of being pushed to reserve with the EWR cut, so I end up with all the crap from PBS. God I hated 6 trips to Europe in a month, I took a RFL just to avoid the burnout and have some control over my schedule. Now with that RFL, I'm down to 3 trips a month, and I'll pick up 2 on the days that I want to work, not the days that CAL wants me to. I perfer to pick up ADVS trips, but every once in a while I'll have to grab a trip out of open time to pay the bills. Now I know that pisses off a few of the diehards, but I did my part my taking that RFL, and I'm still only working 70 hours a month.

 

[100/hour/5y]

Thanks for the RFL, I thought about doing the same, but I like to bid reserve and RFL sucks for Reserve.
I have no prob with you picking up opentime on the RFL days, it's the guys that do it to pad their lines... Every month this G-turd flys 6-7 IRO crossings... 9 days off and gets about 110-120hrs... Loser... But it gets better... every 3rd month he pickup 3 days trips to stay current giving up 3 more days off... He love CAL... its his life!
CAL sucks,it's just a job.... Wake up!

 

[Plug]

Does this G-tard commute out of CVG by chance?