Rolling Thunder

[clippyrip]

Can a Delta pilot give me a rundown on what rolling thunder is and how it works.

 

[dalad]

You green slip on your days off while on reserve. It is ideal to start the month off with four days off and get a green slipon the first day. Let's say you get a 4 day worth 23 hours. You get 4 pay back off days tacked on to the end of your trip, and are payed that 23 hours above the reserve 70 hour guarantee. Now you have 93 hour month and you've only flown 4 days so far. It's called rolling thunder because every time you green slip on days off you get payback days and don't get used on "real" reserve days hardly at all. Obviously, the company hates this. I've seen instances on the ER where some guys get 150 hours pay and only fly 80 hours.

 

[tomgoodman]

Cheaper alternative?

Obviously, the company hates this.

But they must prefer doing this to increasing the manning formula and hiring additional pilots.

 

[Green Banana]

and here I thought it was the ride back to the hotel after the chili crew meal.

 

[Getter]

Green Banana... Gotta ask, have you ever been cleared direct HNL?

 

[Green Banana]

Green Banana... Gotta ask, have you ever been cleared direct HNL?

I ask, but they usually make me take the Zulu track.

 

[tblosser]

But they must prefer doing this to increasing the manning formula and hiring additional pilots.

I did it one month when I was on reserve and flew 80 hours while being paid 130. The previous month I flew 80 hours and was paid for 80. It only works when your seat is short staffed. Delta hates it because the more green slips they hand out to reserve pilots the fewer reserve pilots they have available later in the month. If you work it right you can work the first 15 or so days and have the last 15 off. In months where guys are doing rolling thunder the end of the month gets ugly for scheduling.

Rolling thunder is such a bad deal for the company that they are staffing the aircraft so we can't do it. It is a self correcting problem.

 

[BLUE BAYOU]

I thought he was looking for a Vietnam Veteran to give us a history lesson....

 

[lowlycfi]

Exactly. I started thinking of F-105s over Hanoi and F-4s flying BARCAP.

 

[Helos2Galaxy]

I did it one month when I was on reserve and flew 80 hours while being paid 130. The previous month I flew 80 hours and was paid for 80. It only works when your seat is short staffed. Delta hates it because the more green slips they hand out to reserve pilots the fewer reserve pilots they have available later in the month. If you work it right you can work the first 15 or so days and have the last 15 off. In months where guys are doing rolling thunder the end of the month gets ugly for scheduling.

Rolling thunder is such a bad deal for the company that they are staffing the aircraft so we can't do it. It is a self correcting problem.

That's why the company agreed to raising line holder green slips from 1.5x to 2x pay; they are hoping some of the line holders that sat on the sidelines for overtime at 1.5x pay will bite at 2x pay. This will distribute some to line holders leaving the reserves available a bit more. But a line holder will not get his second before an availble reservist gets his first.