SWA wants to fly from HOU to MEX and SouthAmerica

[SKC]

No, they are using a benefit agreed to in negotiations. Now, other work groups may be exceeding their qouta.

Sick time is negotiated so you will be paid when you are sick. Not to be used anytime you want to go to the lake. At that point, not only are they paying you, but the person who has to cover your shift.

That hurts my profit sharing. If you are sick, use it. If not, go to work.

 

[PCL_128]

Sick time is not a synonym for vacation time. Just because it was negotiated does not mean that it should be abused when you're not sick.

 

[scoreboardII]

I never said abuse it.

 

[SKC]

My point was that anyone that is calling in sick when they're not is taking money out of my pocket.

 

[waveflyer]

I never said abuse it.

I don't blame you for your interpretation- personally, "sick time is like an insurance policy" is a foreign concept to me. But, we all know there are pilots who strategically call in sick when it benefits them-and take advantage of the fact we can't be questioned too much about it. it's not just about being sick or fatigued- pilots use it to get legal 30/7, and be available for premium trips they know are coming up. Cartels will solicit junior folks to join up and call in sick at the last minute, triggering a FCFS that they are dialed up to get, and legal for bc they called in for their weekday trip- then that junior pilot is now legal for a sweet weekday trip he'd never hold when another cartel member calls in for that- its kept quiet and to credible amounts- but it goes on. The motivations are there in the contract and regs.
It's just as short sighted as the legacy pilots who slow taxi to pad the check- It works, but it weakens a company that doesn't deserve it nearly as much as the corrupt legacies do.
That said, I do think it should be countered at two levels- peer pressure culture- but "the few" won't be affected by that- got to revamp the whole thing-
I think if you call in sick - the value taken out of your sick bank ought to be artificially applied toward 30/7, so pilots aren't benefitting from sick time-
We should have some way to cash it in well ahead, and maybe even at a discount to get a day off we need, so at least we won't have the chaos of a 'line improvement sick call'
But it's a bit irresponsible for the union to fight for 'something for nothing' benefits in our contract and expect everyone to just leave it on the table-
Until then, we lose a lot of credibility if we fail to do the right thing- when management does do the right thing by us.
Too much of this behavior and we lose profitability- it'll end up being paycuts in equal or greater amounts-
It's already paycuts in less profit sharing and less capital to grow with-
My feeling is, I will make a lot more money if I get to the left seat quicker and I have confidence our mgmt will grow if we rise up and cut our absenteeism in half-
So I called in for 11 days last year, 3 3-days and a two turns.
My goal is to call in for 5 or less this year-
Reserving the right to break that goal if 100% needed.

 

[fr8doggie]

Question:

Doesn't SWA use reserve pilots to cover sick calls? If that is the case then they are already being paid to stand by so I don't see where the $500M/yr comes from. If guys are getting called in on their days of then I could see it.

Regards,
Fr8doggie

 

[texman]

What ever work group it may be, we need to foster a team effort to battle the cost.

 

[texman]

Question:

Doesn't SWA use reserve pilots to cover sick calls? If that is the case then they are already being paid to stand by so I don't see where the $500M/yr comes from. If guys are getting called in on their days of then I could see it.

Regards,
Fr8doggie

This includes FMLA and other costs, Not just sick calls.

 

[fr8doggie]

Question:

Doesn't SWA use reserve pilots to cover sick calls? If that is the case then they are already being paid to stand by so I don't see where the $500M/yr comes from. If guys are getting called in on their days of then I could see it.

Regards,
Fr8doggie

This includes FMLA and other costs, Not just sick calls.

So that's company-wide then? Not just the pilots?

That ($500M) seems so high. Wonder what it is at FDX? Company has never said sick leave usage is a problem.

Has your management come to the pilots saying sick leave usage is a problem? just curious.

Regards,
Fr8doggie

 

[outerlimits]

Sick time is negotiated so you will be paid when you are sick. Not to be used anytime you want to go to the lake. At that point, not only are they paying you, but the person who has to cover your shift.

That hurts my profit sharing. If you are sick, use it. If not, go to work.

What do you consider sick? I know the flu is, but?

Family problems ?
Sick wife ?
Sick child?

How about some very very special occasion, that is a once in a life time, and your to junior to get it off?

 

[Flopgut]

It's just as short sighted as the legacy pilots who slow taxi to pad the check- It works, but it weakens a company that doesn't deserve it nearly as much as the corrupt legacies do.

Huh?! I'm not sure I understand what you're saying? But SWA taxi speeds are as unsafe as flying with the flu.

And if SWA has "cartels" of employees gaming sick calls en masse, then you are just as "currupt" as any legacy.

 

[tankerhead]

You two trolls need to bug off.

 

[XR650R]

I think if you call in sick - the value taken out of your sick bank ought to be artificially applied toward 30/7, so pilots aren't benefitting from sick time-
We should have some way to cash it in well ahead, and maybe even at a discount to get a day off we need, so at least we won't have the chaos of a 'line improvement sick call'

Brilliant! I'm all for crushing the cartels. If you are sick and that includes your head not being in the game due to personal issues, then by all means call in sick. The liability is too high not to. Strategic sick calls on the other hand should be dealt with severely. We can't afford it anymore.

 

[vixin]

IMSAFE simple!

 

[texman]

So that's company-wide then? Not just the pilots?

That ($500M) seems so high. Wonder what it is at FDX? Company has never said sick leave usage is a problem.

Has your management come to the pilots saying sick leave usage is a problem? just curious.

Regards,
Fr8doggie

It's other stuff like FMLA, and yes the whole company knows about the problem.

 

[bizicmo]

What do you consider sick? I know the flu is, but?

Family problems ?
Sick wife ?
Sick child?

How about some very very special occasion, that is a once in a life time, and your to junior to get it off?

Your lucky you have a job. Remember you were born to spend the maximum amount of time at work. Wife, kids and special occasions if you happen to be off your lucky if not get back to work. Remember everyone on their death bed says, "Boy am I glad I missed so much quality time with my friends and family so that I could slave away at some job." "If only there was a 25th hour everyday, I could have spent an extra hour at work."

 

[tankerhead]

How about some very very special occasion, that is a once in a life time, and your to junior to get it off?

Your never to junior to get it off. Or learn grammar.

 

[SWA Bubba]

Question:

Doesn't SWA use reserve pilots to cover sick calls? If that is the case then they are already being paid to stand by so I don't see where the $500M/yr comes from. If guys are getting called in on their days of then I could see it.

Regards,
Fr8doggie

SWA may work different than other airlines, but as a rule, we don't have enough reserves to cover all the uncovered flying, including sickcalls. Manning is run lean, and reserves don't generally sit around waiting for someone to call in sick. I'm a junior captain in a medium senior base, so I've been on reserve for the last 14 months. That's generally 15 days of reserve per month, in 3 or 4 day blocks. In that 14 months, there's been only two days where I didn't get used for something. And only one month when I didn't overfly my guarantee.

In the summertime, this problem is even worse. Bumped up flight schedule, lots of people with vacations, and people with "sick call vacations," because they need or want time off. During the summer, they are using every reserve and still paying premium for people to fly open time, every damn week.

The other problem with a sick call is that when you call in sick the night before, they often have to use several pilots to cover various parts of your trip, plus deadheads to get people to and fro. And since deadheads pay the same as flying, it adds up. I think I read that to cover the average three-day sick call trip paying 21tfp, the company ends up paying something like 29tfp to others to get it covered. (Not to mention the 21tfp they're paying the sick guy.)

Boy, talk about thread creep! I thought this was about SWA flying international out of HOU.

Bubba

 

[SKC]

What do you consider sick? I know the flu is, but?

Family problems ?
Sick wife ?
Sick child?

How about some very very special occasion, that is a once in a life time, and your to junior to get it off?

I have no issues with someone calling in sick if you're taking care of a sick child. My wife works as well and we will take turns on who stays with the kids when they're sick. If my spouse truly is sick enough that she needs someone at home, I have no issues with people using sick time for that.

My primary problem is those that use their allotted sick time as xxx hrs of available vacation. Eh, it's a nice day out, let's call in sick. That's crap. It's those folks that are collectively taking a dump on my profit sharing.

 

[fr8doggie]

I have no issues with someone calling in sick if you're taking care of a sick child. My wife works as well and we will take turns on who stays with the kids when they're sick. If my spouse truly is sick enough that she needs someone at home, I have no issues with people using sick time for that.

My primary problem is those that use their allotted sick time as xxx hrs of available vacation. Eh, it's a nice day out, let's call in sick. That's crap. It's those folks that are collectively taking a dump on my profit sharing.

You may not have an issue with that. Does SWA management have an issue with that? A serious question because the answer is probably yes. When your kid is sick do you call your boss and say "I need to use a sick day, my child is sick." Or, do you just call in sick. If so, that is fraud. At least in the eyes most management types it is fraud. I'm not condoning it or condeming it. I'm just calling at as most airline managements would see it.

Regards,
Fr8doggie