SocialD

I have yet to see a guard PILOT get involuntarily, individually mobilized to a 179/365...only Reserve pilots. I'm not saying it hasn't happened or those days aren't coming, just that I haven't seen it yet in the ANG. I think leadership is smart enough to grasp the reality of the mass exodus that would happen after the first one. Either way, this is just another reason why I'll always recommend the Guard over the Reserves to all my buddies leaving AD.

What makes sense? Are you sure we're in the same Air Force?

Lol right. One of the few places where an overwhelming majority of your experience is on the "JV team." Also, I've consulted with the OFPs and they think the F-4 was a better fighter than the F-35 could ever hope to be. Brb, gonna go hit up Pierre Sprey...

LOL, the Fresno of union events.

Hold on, let me go consult with the Old Fighter Pilots FB group, they all seem to be experts on how shitty of a jet the F-35 is...and how great of an idea this will be.

Ya, I don't compare myself to other industries because it's a massively different dynamic and set of nuances. I guess if I were going to look at another industry I would also look at the Maritime industry and see how that has worked out for the American worker. In their case, only the Jones act has saved what is left, and even that is under attack. But again, lots of different dynamics. I don't disagree about our inability to change between airlines, but I don't see that changing if unions were eliminated because you'd still have to contend with seniority issues wrt to basing and upgrade. F/As have no union, yet have the same issues and get treated infinitely worse than us. How do we decide on schedules, upgrades, etc....merit, the pilot willing to fly more overtime for single pay, the pilot who has the biggest kneepads? That seems to be working out well for the AF right now. I'm certain of one thing, DAL management would be salivating over the idea of no union on property. They've already stated that if they could, DAL pilots would be flying about half as much of our current international flying. If that were to happen, I'm guessing our hiring woes would be solved overnight for at least the next decade. Along with slashing our section 1, I can see them dismantling many of our QOL items yet still be able to make it bearable. IMHO (which isn't worth much), we'd lose big on QOL and pay and only potentially gain the ability to move between airlines. By chance, did you go to B school? Either way, interesting discussion. Openly is a relative term. Fighting to force us into shittier rest facilities. Building trips in the quest to cut credit, with zero regard to fatigue. Attempting to completely disregard the contract. Trying to readjust profit sharing rules so they can take management bonus money from the PS pool, also lets me know how they feel. Many have been squashed by then union, while some still need work. Imagine if we weren't governed by an archaic and extremely employer friendly law called the Railway Labor act and we could more freely exercise even the most basic form of self help. Many places do have protections over and above FAR 117, just because APA is faltering doesn't mean unions are useless. Protecting WB CA spots is huge with respect to jobs and will always be a fight worth fighting. That said, the work rules need to be good for the entire work group. Remember that WB CA spots at AAL make up < 10% of the pilot group...you can easily out vote that demographic. If your union isn't listening to the majority, it's time for a change. I don't disagree with you there, I briefly worked for AAL and saw that act when they wouldn't adjust our pay dates to align with the USAir hired guys that were in our very own indoc class. However, the union does so much more than just the bullshit politics you see. If you want change, start a grass roots effort. You're airline is about to go through a massive transformation in age demographics over the next decade with LOTS of young blood. Reach out to IPA for some lessons...while their contract isn't perfect, those dudes have a good idea of what it means to run a union. Again, we're cut off at the knees by the Railway Labor Act. It's a relic that needs some serious updating to allow some basic forms of self-help, short of a full blown strike. As it's written now, we're hamstrung by this employer friendly law. Our effort should be more focused on changing the law, not getting rid of the union. UPDATE: Just learned about another employer friendly section of the RLA. We must file a grievance within 120 days of the issue, but the company has no requirement on their response time...Awesome!

Why do you think they're not so great? Do you believe that we would continue to have many of the contractual items that make our QOL so nice? Tomorrow I get to rest in an actual bunk, rather than the 1st class seat right in front of the mid galley (banging carts/dishes) that the company fought hard for us to use. On my next trip I'll get to enjoy using KCM to go to work. I'm certain we'd lose many of our contractual flight duty period limitations. Hell management applied for an exemption so they could block us up to 9+45 hours (2 pilot), until the union found the filling on the web. It caught the company with their pants down and they quickly retracted it. I'm also guessing that section 1 would be completely dismantled ASAP. I'm all for helping the company run an efficient operation, but we're running pretty damn good and giving back Billions to shareholders. IMHO this gig wouldn't be anywhere near as nice if our unions go away. I have friends who have worked for non-union operators in this industry and it isn't pretty. I'm guessing the UPS guys are extremely happy they have IPA. Having done union work as well, I'm damn glad we have a union. Glad to hear you're doing what you can to help as well.

Leaves non-union gig for cushy, higher paying/less working union gig...is anti-union. 🤣 Mostly messing with you Ratner, but I'm quite surprised by the amount of anti-union guys I've ran into, almost all of which seem to be former mil. This was my heart burn with LOT. There would be a few good lines, a few more REALLY shitty lines, then the vast majority of the lines were just OK and often spread the crap evenly. I'm 91% in my seat and I finish a trip tomorrow and don't go back to work until after the new year (though a 42 hour 3-day will be tough to pass as long as I can still make the family shindig). This is all based on my regularly awarded lines for each month. I do like the idea of how quickly the schedules were released with LOT. If your union negotiates that, you can still have this with PBS. But ya, I wouldn't switch to PBS unless you kept trips touching or the sweet ass deal UPS has wrt 2 weeks vacation in one month. No matter what side you like better, these are some good discussions for all the dudes looking to make to jump to the airlines.

It indicates the speed at which you'll get your best lift to drag ratio. Technique only, but I usually throw flaps 1 as I hit green dot and decelerating.

LOL that remind me of our last TDY to DM. I'm leading the first 4-ship out the gate, and since we're TDY and we get last pick of airspace, it was ballz early (first t/o for the day). Controller says, bring on the the noise complaints, you're cleared takeoff... Holy crap did they ever pour in! Apparently, those north of the 10 don't like us. I think some of the complaints made it to the the base before I hit the airspace. Sadly many are retired military who, "know how them jets should be flying..." Reminds me how fortune we are that our city loves us...I'm often approached when in uniform by people who are mad that we don't fly low enough or loud enough over their houses. 🤣 Back on topic, we can carry onto base, but still have to keep it locked in the car. Argued for days with the SF shirt (buddy from my enlisted days) on this. His argument is that his guys who know who is who... I've seen your reaction time, I'm not worried about being confused by our cops as the perp...I'm more worried about the minutes before they show up.

Wow, one of the first years in a while that w/o dependents didn't get fucked...even got a bigger increase than w/dependents. Up 7% and 6% respectively. I know you're referencing AD, but to clarify for the ARC bros out there. Unless something has changed in the last 4 years, you're only grandfathered until the end of you're current order. Fairly certain if don't break your orders you're ok, but if you have a single day off orders, your lucky day...lower BAH rate!

This right here...also what Hoss said. If you want to see a commander pucker up fast, bring up an IG complaint, you just have to be willing to follow through with it. The AF sending you somewhere, then being unwilling to just reimburse you for legitimate costs is perfect grounds for an IG complaint. If you want to go the nuclear option, call a congressman...nothing gets shit moving like a politician calling a wing king. Not always recommended but sometimes you're left with no other options. Best of luck, finance battles get my blood boiling. These fuckers should have to actually go TDY with us and deal with all the shit we do while out on the road. Then they might start to understand why some things are not always black and white.

Mostly agree with JeremiahWeed with an exception or two. PBS is only as good or bad as your contract language and you can still have some of the niceties like trips touching, etc... the pilot group just has to be willing to expend negotiating capital to get them. There are plenty of other efficiencies gained by PBS even if we still had trips touching. When I say all this, I talking about carriers who currently have PBS. If your carrier is currently LOT, I can't see any reason to give it up. That said, even at 92% in my seat, PBS works great for me as a reserve bidder a majority of the year. Based on my experience with LOT bidding, I highly doubt I would be able to execute my current bidding strategy without PBS. Even the months I bid a line, my strategy is largely based on how our reserve rules work wrt trip length. Even at my low seniority I was able to get 20-31DEC off this year, while getting my preferred trips.

Wow...dudes over here absolutely lose their minds when schedules aren't published by the 15th (2 days earlier than contractually required). I'd be ok with it if it meant having some of the contractual items that allow for your secondary lines.

Not sure of the accuracy, but I had heard over over 50% of the F-105 production run was lost in Vietnam. I also think the early ones also had an issue with randomly blowing up. Still would loved to have flown on. Awesome website.

If that doesn't work, give it a few months and try first.last@delta.com.

Awesome, glad to hear that got changed. It was seniority based when I was there in 2014...not fun getting booted off the last JS out of town after a reserve block.

There is a 69th Fighter Squadron as well. Of course it's in the ARC now.

Code 2 FCR, still good for red...it's my last day out here for the month and I'm on probation. We have a swing shift now...thanks AD for sending your LTs and some MX jobs. I feel like when people click on this thread, they should just be directed to the CC's dropping like flies thread.

Guys, stop drawing dicks...this is serious business!!! Navy: We temporarily grounded and gave paperwork to the guys who drew the giant sky penis. AF: Hold my non-alcoholic beer!

As others have said, besides non-rev, most carriers have a discounted ticket program. I've found DALs is pretty hit or miss with Orbitz sometimes being a better deal. We also have a perks program that has all kinds of discounts on various things for travel (hotels, rental cars, cruises, etc...). If you're still MIL, I would look at grabbing the AMEX platinum or Chase Sapphire Cards as the fees are waived while your still AD or on AD orders. They offers some additional perks like pay for global entry (must have IMHO), some travel expenses and club access. Might even be worth it once you're flying for an airline, especially if you commute. I've had pretty good luck with non-revving, but it's usually just me and a chick, traveling with kids might be more stressful. At DAL we can reserve the JS for pleasure travel a few days out and once you sign up for it, it's yours, unless a FED or LCA kicks you out. I think all other carriers are similar, though when I was at American it was still strictly seniority based and senior dudes could/would kick out last minute (terrible, but that may have changed). Some things I have learned from non-rev travel; - If there are multiple flights a day, try to show for the earliest flight. - Travel on off days/seasons (each market is different) greatly increases chances of success. - Seek out the oddball legs when trying to get to Europe (IND/CVG/RDU to CDG come to mind)...they almost always have open seats. - Even if the flight shows negative (or no open seats) I often get on. - Figure out how to use ID90.com and get a ZED fare BEFORE you show up to the airport....painful lesson for me. - If it's important, just buy tickets, we make plenty enough money. - Be willing to call it a failure and make an impromptu vacation out of wherever you end up. I've actually found these to be quite fun. - NOTHING in Europe is worth riding in coach...come back back tomorrow when 1st class is available lol. To add to Torques post. ALPA App - You don't have to be a member or even sign in. It has a section that tells you how to JS on every carrier out there. It also has a listing of all the KCMs, their locations and hours. FlightStats App - Great for finding flights between two destinations. Individual carrier apps - I've downloaded them all and found them useful from time to time. Aside from the above, I find the following useful for non-rev travel Mobile Passport - Great for getting through international security. It's quick, free and easy to use...I often zip through security and have to wait for my crew to get through Global Entry. Hotel tonight - Not bad/not great. Good for finding nearby hotels if you get stuck. CityMaps2Go - Great for foreign locations.

I couldn't agree more with your 3 bullet points. You most certainly should not feel the least bit guilty about doing legit mloa that may happen to fall on a holiday. Hell, I had to drop a holiday trip because I was thrown on orders for a deployment earlier than expected...and Guard standard, I didn't get my orders until a week out. This isn't what I'm talking about. It's habitual shit that happens month after month (and two months running to drop holiday trips when seniority/staffing doesn't allow). I get it, some people give zero fucks about anyone other than themselves, that's life. It's just shitty when there are dudes that habitually use it to give themselves super-senioirty, while the rest of us are out there get to deal with the increased scrutiny while trying to do the right thing.

...Side bar... Standing at the ops desk last month with a fellow pilot...he has 20+ years and I'm at 17+ (both prior-E) and neither of us had a fucking clue what the ARMS A1C was talking about when mentioned calling SecFo. Makes sense now, but that was the first time we've heard that term. We're both life long guard guys, so maybe we're just sheltered. ...Back to your regularly scheduled programing... What's wrong with the AF/ARC, is that they talk like they have a crisis on their hands but they won't, or are way to slow to, institute logical changes. On the ANG side, we also get to fight "optics issues" wrt to solving this manning problem. Anyway, do we have a fucking crisis or do we not? If I were a tin-foil hat guy, I would almost think they're purposely dragging their feet to justify stop loss.

To add to the above posts by Sneedro/JS, they seem to be raising he eyebrow at blatant shit, not going back on long term orders. Stuff I've heard of getting dudes highlighted is using one day of MLOA (per trip) to drop their entire schedule then picking up trips that gives them weekends off (multiple months). Dropping MLOA and working at their contractor gig (really stupid). Dropping a trip that spans Christmas with one day of MLOA to sit SOF...perfectly legal, but really? A few of the things I've personally seen that are probably low-level and I doubt get highlighted unless it's habitual. All perfectly legal, but fits solidly into my bro fuck column and makes the rest of us look bad. - Doesn't pre-post MLOA. Gets a coverage trip (forced to work) over Christmas. Drops trip with a day of MLOA on day one. Picks up a shorter (highly lucrative trip) that starts on day 2 of the original trip and gets him back early on Christmas eve. - Last week of the month. Dude (who lives four states away and hasn't flown a trip yet in the month) gets assigned a trip on long call. One hour later trip is dropped for MLOA. Guess who got to go fly that trip... - Bids 3 day reserve blocks then drops MLOA on the middle day of each block...days that can't be dropped normally due to staffing.

The forum for Academics is down the hallway on the left.