I know for a fact that the following applies at Delta, and I fairly certain it also applies at NWA (and perhaps some other US majors) so here goes:

A friend that's a Delta 757/767 FO told me the other day that due to the realities of the post 9/11 world where they have too many pilots and not enough flights Delta is offering its pilots these three major options as far as bidding for monthly schedules (or "lines") goes:
1. Bid for an actual scheduled line and get paid for a guaranteed minimum of about 78 hours of flight time, or
2. Bid for a "Reserve" line for a guaranteed minimum of 70 hours of pay where the pilot is essentially on call or the beeper for a large part of the month in case if another pilot calls in sick etc, or
3. Bid for a line where they are paid for 55 hours (and remember that almost all remaining non-furloughed Delta pilots make well in excess of $100/hour, some much more than double that) FOR DOING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, i.e. stay at home and don't show their face for a month since Delta doesn't have any work for them!

Apparently alot of pilots are asking themselves, "Why bust my a** for 78 hours pay (or 70 hours if on Reserve) when I can do absolutely nothing and still get paid for 55 hours?" Since everything for pilots is based on seniority my Delta friend said the very most senior guys are the ones that are always winning these coveted 55 hour lines for doing absolutely nothing. On top of this some of these pilots also fly in the Air National Guard or Reserve - they can easily take home $6K/mo in taxes from Uncle Sam while at the same time pocketing big bucks for not showing their faces at Delta for a month.

And we wonder why the some of the major airlines are doing so poorly...

You do understand that the company is doing this on purpose in order to save money, right?

Of course I do realize that the airlines are not doing this out the goodness of their hearts. By the same token I also realize it would be a helluva lot cheaper to just give the needed amount of pilots their walking papers, i.e. furlough them but of course we all know that the pilot unions are VERY powerful and they hold far more than 26 cards in the deck.

If the company feels that their business is going to recover any time in the near future it is by far more responsible to retain these pilots than to release them. Hiring experienced pilots and training them to company procedures would be a 3-6 month delay before additional flights could begin. This way when business does return new flights can be introduced monthly as demand dictates.

Of course this policy is only valid if you expect business to return.

First of all, this is in the wrong forum. Second of all, Delta has been laying off/furloughing pilots. Third, so what if pilots can hold minimum hour lines? Delta FA's can do the same thing if they want too (and they're non-unionized). However, a consequence for anyone that does so is a minimum paycheck. Because of that, I know there aren't many FA's that want to hold a minimum line (ie: on reserve) so I doubt many pilots do either.

[This message has been edited by scotty00 (edited 11-05-2002).]

I'm not talking about Reserve lines, I'm talking about lines where the pilots are paid to not work at all, i.e. stay home.

I can't speak for anyone else, but if I were making $100+/hr and given the option of staying home and getting paid for 55 hours as opposed to the hassle/uncertainty of being on Reserve and being guaranteed only 15 hours more pay (or for that matter holding a line and being gone from home for a dozen or more days/mo and being guaranteed only 23 hours more pay) I'd take the 55 hours and stay at home and work on the lawn!

I agree this is not a "Miles" related subject and belongs in another forum. Since the originator mentions NWA in addition to Delta, I'm moving it to "TravelBuzz".

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Craig6z
Buzz & United Moderator
[email protected]