GerryG
Stirrer of pots
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2004
- Posts
- 147
Flight Options perspective.
It's interesting this discussion comes up just as you guys are on the cusp of voting for representation, just as it did at Flight Options. I guess management knows rolling rest is the first thing that will go away after the union is voted in, again just as it did at Flight Options.
Prior to our representation by the 1108 our SOPs (as it still does in our GOM today) stated that pilots were "expected" to answer their phones and accept duty assignments after 10 hours of rest. You see if they had said "required" that would have put them into a "present responsibility for duty" situation (legally duty starts at the time of present responsibility) and they didn't want that. By telling us we were only "expected" not "required" they were exploiting what they hoped would be a legal loop-hole for them.
Enter the 1108: The union put out an extensive amount of information to educate our pilots on this topic. As a result our pilots stopped answering their phones when "expected" too. I can tell you from personal experience that the first time I did that it was a gut check. But I was never confronted with my failure to answer the phone by management - because they knew they were on shaky legal ground here and would be confronted by the union's legal if they did.
As more and more of us began to collectively stand up for ourselves and word got out, the majority of our pilots began to reject management's directive in this area. Now the vast majority of Flight Options pilots do not answer their phones until their assigned duty on times. Regardless of the time. Duty on at 4pm know one picks up the phone until 4pm.
I can also tell you that this was a very positive change relative to QOL on the road, something that in spite of everything else that is going on at Flight Options these days, has made the job much more tolerable. I can now go to sleep, knowing exactly when I will be going to work the next day. Might even get to sleep in, who knows.
Management initially responded to this effort by the union, by scheduling everyone who had a history of not answering their phones for 5am duty at the FBO. That lasted about six months, but after everyone was on board with the program - solidarity is a wonderful thing - they can no longer get away with doing that, because most of us would be sitting at the FBO at 5am if they did. Now they have to actually schedule properly - some crews duty on early, some crews duty on late. And the system seems to be working well.
It feels good to collectively stand up for yourself, you guys should give it a try.
Thanks 1108!!
It's interesting this discussion comes up just as you guys are on the cusp of voting for representation, just as it did at Flight Options. I guess management knows rolling rest is the first thing that will go away after the union is voted in, again just as it did at Flight Options.
Prior to our representation by the 1108 our SOPs (as it still does in our GOM today) stated that pilots were "expected" to answer their phones and accept duty assignments after 10 hours of rest. You see if they had said "required" that would have put them into a "present responsibility for duty" situation (legally duty starts at the time of present responsibility) and they didn't want that. By telling us we were only "expected" not "required" they were exploiting what they hoped would be a legal loop-hole for them.
Enter the 1108: The union put out an extensive amount of information to educate our pilots on this topic. As a result our pilots stopped answering their phones when "expected" too. I can tell you from personal experience that the first time I did that it was a gut check. But I was never confronted with my failure to answer the phone by management - because they knew they were on shaky legal ground here and would be confronted by the union's legal if they did.
As more and more of us began to collectively stand up for ourselves and word got out, the majority of our pilots began to reject management's directive in this area. Now the vast majority of Flight Options pilots do not answer their phones until their assigned duty on times. Regardless of the time. Duty on at 4pm know one picks up the phone until 4pm.
I can also tell you that this was a very positive change relative to QOL on the road, something that in spite of everything else that is going on at Flight Options these days, has made the job much more tolerable. I can now go to sleep, knowing exactly when I will be going to work the next day. Might even get to sleep in, who knows.
Management initially responded to this effort by the union, by scheduling everyone who had a history of not answering their phones for 5am duty at the FBO. That lasted about six months, but after everyone was on board with the program - solidarity is a wonderful thing - they can no longer get away with doing that, because most of us would be sitting at the FBO at 5am if they did. Now they have to actually schedule properly - some crews duty on early, some crews duty on late. And the system seems to be working well.
It feels good to collectively stand up for yourself, you guys should give it a try.
Thanks 1108!!
