scooter mack
Member
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2006
- Posts
- 8
Not on a CD; Rest not an issue
I have never posted on this board, but I am interested in sharing some info with all of you. I am intimately familiar with Comair's trip building and have some experience with CD's and why we build them.
First of all, my heart goes out to every family member who is impacted by this tragedy. I feel sick inside every time I think about it. There is a reason why they call this an accident, and I do not envy your position that requires perfection. I am not a pilot and I thank you for all the safe flights you have provided over the years. I also envy a lot of you because I believe a lot of you truly love to fly and that must be awesome to have a career that gives you a daily thrill. I wish mine did.
In terms of rest, this crew was well-rested. The original trip that was in the bid packet had a 30-hour sit in LEX. I know these long sits suck, but the recent DL schedules that we have recieved force us into some unproductive pairings. Anyway, the original crew awarded this trip ended up being reassigned as they got stuck out at JFK. Flights cancelled and they did something else. The FO and the FA on 5191 were part of the crew that ferried that aircraft from JFK to LEX on Friday night. They had over 25 hrs rest in LEX. The CA was deadheaded from CVG into LEX on Saturday and had over 13 hours of rest. That's how they got on that trip.
I see a lot of backlash on the CD's. I wanted to give some perspective on how we handle these flights at Comair. Our Agreement requires that at least 80% of all CD's must be built into hard lines. We can put up to 3 CD's back to back on a line. Most lines have 12-14 CD's per month. These lines are popular with our crewmembers and almost always get bid. I cannot recall an instance where a CD line was junior assigned in the CRJ50. The purpose of the line is to allow the pilot to establish their circadium (sp?) rythym. The problem is most of these crewmembers choose not to sleep during the day. Therefore, they are operating these trips on a reduced amount of sleep. If that is the case, than I agree that there is an issue.
CD's are not some great benefit to the company. They save us on hotels (because we don't have to stage a crew) but they cost us extra crews. The average CD line blocks 30-35 hours per month but credits 76 hours. So every 2 CD lines produces around 80 additional "soft hours" or one additional crew. Until recently, we built 35-40 CD lines a month which equates to almost 20 additonal crews. The real key to CD lines is that they greatly improve the rest of the pairing solution. If we were to stop building them, the overall trip productivity (which already stinks) would be drastically reduced. The pilots who like them would revolt and the pilots who don't would see their days off further reduced. It's a Catch-22.
Anyway, I want to reiterate that I have a lot of respect for the pilot profession and I truly feel sick about this accident. May you all fly safe.
I have never posted on this board, but I am interested in sharing some info with all of you. I am intimately familiar with Comair's trip building and have some experience with CD's and why we build them.
First of all, my heart goes out to every family member who is impacted by this tragedy. I feel sick inside every time I think about it. There is a reason why they call this an accident, and I do not envy your position that requires perfection. I am not a pilot and I thank you for all the safe flights you have provided over the years. I also envy a lot of you because I believe a lot of you truly love to fly and that must be awesome to have a career that gives you a daily thrill. I wish mine did.
In terms of rest, this crew was well-rested. The original trip that was in the bid packet had a 30-hour sit in LEX. I know these long sits suck, but the recent DL schedules that we have recieved force us into some unproductive pairings. Anyway, the original crew awarded this trip ended up being reassigned as they got stuck out at JFK. Flights cancelled and they did something else. The FO and the FA on 5191 were part of the crew that ferried that aircraft from JFK to LEX on Friday night. They had over 25 hrs rest in LEX. The CA was deadheaded from CVG into LEX on Saturday and had over 13 hours of rest. That's how they got on that trip.
I see a lot of backlash on the CD's. I wanted to give some perspective on how we handle these flights at Comair. Our Agreement requires that at least 80% of all CD's must be built into hard lines. We can put up to 3 CD's back to back on a line. Most lines have 12-14 CD's per month. These lines are popular with our crewmembers and almost always get bid. I cannot recall an instance where a CD line was junior assigned in the CRJ50. The purpose of the line is to allow the pilot to establish their circadium (sp?) rythym. The problem is most of these crewmembers choose not to sleep during the day. Therefore, they are operating these trips on a reduced amount of sleep. If that is the case, than I agree that there is an issue.
CD's are not some great benefit to the company. They save us on hotels (because we don't have to stage a crew) but they cost us extra crews. The average CD line blocks 30-35 hours per month but credits 76 hours. So every 2 CD lines produces around 80 additional "soft hours" or one additional crew. Until recently, we built 35-40 CD lines a month which equates to almost 20 additonal crews. The real key to CD lines is that they greatly improve the rest of the pairing solution. If we were to stop building them, the overall trip productivity (which already stinks) would be drastically reduced. The pilots who like them would revolt and the pilots who don't would see their days off further reduced. It's a Catch-22.
Anyway, I want to reiterate that I have a lot of respect for the pilot profession and I truly feel sick about this accident. May you all fly safe.
