Lear70
JAFFO
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2003
- Posts
- 7,487
Good stuff Don, but I'll expand on the Junior Assignment question.
Junior Assignments are indeed a way to staff (or rather understaff) an airline, but more specifically, a way that the company may FORCE you to work on your days off.
Probationary pilots are most succeptible to this kind of abuse. As a reserve pilot or junior line holder, you will be, more often than not, receiving a monthly "line" award of flying with only 10 or 11 days off. The company can then, at the end of your week, assign you MORE flying that takes you into your days off; we call this Extensions. You refuse it, especially on probation, and you're walking a thin line towards unemployment.
Junior Assignment happens when they schedule you to fly on a day off, but not necessarily immediately after you finish your line. For instance, on reserve you fly 5 days on, then get three days off. On your last day they tell you that you've been Junior Assigned into a trip that happens on your 2nd day off - right in the middle of your off days. To make matters worse, half the time it's a trip that starts at 0800 so you can't easily commute into it, so you don't get ANY days off that week, or at least none that you can get home on.
The company is now supposed to give you a comp day when you are JM'd below 10 days off (LOA 05-01) which is something we already HAD in our contract but the company refused to award them. I can't believe we negotiated for a side letter to give us something we already had but that's another story for another time. Either way, we don't know if the company will be any better about comp days or not from here on out, but I wouldn't count on it with our current staffing level.
I lived for three years under this reserve system and I can tell you that it's the most draconian, grueling, mind-numbing experience I have ever been through in aviation. If you're going to come here, do it SOON. Getting stuck on reserve, especially as an F/O, is something I would only wish on my worst enemies and not even all of those.
Junior Assignments are indeed a way to staff (or rather understaff) an airline, but more specifically, a way that the company may FORCE you to work on your days off.
Probationary pilots are most succeptible to this kind of abuse. As a reserve pilot or junior line holder, you will be, more often than not, receiving a monthly "line" award of flying with only 10 or 11 days off. The company can then, at the end of your week, assign you MORE flying that takes you into your days off; we call this Extensions. You refuse it, especially on probation, and you're walking a thin line towards unemployment.
Junior Assignment happens when they schedule you to fly on a day off, but not necessarily immediately after you finish your line. For instance, on reserve you fly 5 days on, then get three days off. On your last day they tell you that you've been Junior Assigned into a trip that happens on your 2nd day off - right in the middle of your off days. To make matters worse, half the time it's a trip that starts at 0800 so you can't easily commute into it, so you don't get ANY days off that week, or at least none that you can get home on.
The company is now supposed to give you a comp day when you are JM'd below 10 days off (LOA 05-01) which is something we already HAD in our contract but the company refused to award them. I can't believe we negotiated for a side letter to give us something we already had but that's another story for another time. Either way, we don't know if the company will be any better about comp days or not from here on out, but I wouldn't count on it with our current staffing level.
I lived for three years under this reserve system and I can tell you that it's the most draconian, grueling, mind-numbing experience I have ever been through in aviation. If you're going to come here, do it SOON. Getting stuck on reserve, especially as an F/O, is something I would only wish on my worst enemies and not even all of those.
