Originally Posted by
prestonh
What I read from multiple sources is that crews could not contact scheduling or had to remain on hold for hours on end which did not result in a repaired line.
The trip repair is queued automatically for the schedulers to repair. We don't have to contact them for that. Hotel requests are also queued automatically for the Hotel Desk to assign. The system didn't fail, the phones were overwhelmed and the queues were long and took time for the schedulers to work through.
We can self-help our hotels when we can't get through to the hotel desk. Same with transportation to the hotel. We then send a message via email with where we are and when our rest started. When we wake up, our schedules are repaired and return transportation has been setup. If we are reassigned, we get notifications on our company app on our iPads. The F/As get them through their company link devices.
A lot of the biggest problems where when all of the lodging was sold out. If it's all sold out, the crew desk can't get us a reservation either. The hotels are getting overrun and the hotels aren't answering their phones as they're dealing with the people standing in their lobbies.
The automation in the scheduling process is increasing and continuing to improve. That is, and has been, a high priority but it takes time. No large airline has solved this yet. It is a complex problem to solve.
If the bases are away from the hub then how are reserves handled? What good does it do to have reserves in Orlando when you have a meltdown in EWR and can't get in? If ua is going to have a hub in ewr you would think you need reserves there
There was not a big reduction in reserves at EWR when the MCO pilot base, and several Florida F/A bases, opened. The MCO 737 pilot base has about 100 crews. The EWR 737 pilot base has over 550.
The non-Hub bases have their own reserves and those reserves can be deadheaded to wherever they are needed. An advantage to having pilot reserves, for example, in MCO when EWR is a mess is that you can get them out of MCO to ORD, DEN, IAH, etc. where the pilots who are stuck in EWR were supposed to be. Meanwhile, you don't end up with a few dozen crewmembers, who are supposed to be in EWR, stuck in Florida unable to commute.