November Pilot Bid

[BoeingBoy]

Well folks, the Nov pilot permanent bid is out. As I'm sure most expected, there are changes in PIT staffing levels.

Probably of most interest to F/A's is the reduction in "primary lines" on the various equipment and where the time is going (and remember that these are changes for the pilots, obviously F/A's will see bigger changes since there are more F/A's for each line than pilots). Here goes....

PIT A330 from 5 to 0
PIT 75/76I from 5 to 0
PIT 75/76D stays at 21
PIT 737 from 83 to 73
PIT A320 from 66 to 56

# of A330 lines unchanged in PHL & CLT
# of 75/76I lines unchanged in CLT & goes from 38 to 26 in PHL
# of 75/76D lines unchanged in PHL & CLT
# of 737 lines increase 5 in CLT & PHL
# of A320 lines increase 4 in DCA, 4 in BOS, & 2 in LGA, unchanged elsewhere

Pilot head count goes down by 19 - 24 leaving active status & 5 returning from LTD.

Jim

 

[USA320Pilot]

US Airways has been averaging a pilot attrition rate (retirement, LTD, resignation, death, etc.) of about 20 pilots per month year to date.

Respectfully,

USA320Pilot

 

[Cosmo]

BoeingBoy:

Your numbers show a net reduction of 5 A330 lines at PIT, 5 75/76I lines at PIT, and 12 75/76I lines at PHL. Does that mean that some of the discontinued international flying (PIT-LGW/FRA permanently and PHL-DUB/SNN/GLA seasonally) is not being immediately replaced with other international or domestic flying on those aircraft? Are some going into heavy maintenance and/or are some being parked for a while? Just curious.

And if I misunderstood your info, please remember that I'm not a pilot. 😉

 

[BoeingBoy]

Cosmo,

That surprised me too. For the A330, the time "disappears" in the sense that it isn't reflected in an increase in lines anywhere else in the system. The 75/76I (international) lines decrease in PIT & PHL without an increase in CLT or an increase in 75/76D (domestic) lines anywhere.

So it seems that the seasonal reductions in international flying aren't offset by an increase in domestic flying on those airplanes.

However, one thing to keep in mind is that these numbers reflect the number of "lines of time" the company expects to have in November of the various bases/planes. And for clarity, a line of time is a monthly schedule of flying that pilots and F/A's bid on. There could certainly be more lines built for November than these numbers reflect.

Having said that, however, it certainly appears that the company is anticipating one of two things. Either there will be a reduction in flying by November or an increase in the number of hours per month flown by the pilots and F/A's.

Jim

 

[Hope777]

But you can also look into the advanced schedules where the B757 RON at 1430 in the afternoon in some stations. A great use of our Assets.

 

[700UW]

The winter time is when the 767 and A330 are due for their annual HMV visit which can last 5 to 10 days or more.

 

[ktflyhome]

Jim, If I did my math correctly, that means 30 less lines in Pit total. How many heads does that effect, Pilots and f/a's???? :huh:

 

[PSA1979]

KT
I only did the math for f/a's only and it looks like PIT will be down 140 f/a positions, which includes the PIW's (also it includes 5 German LODO positions).

 

[USAirBoyA330]

ktflyhome:

Also consider the F/A base transfer-openings that were posted yesterday and throw that into the mix....

Effective NOV 04

PHL +20
BOS +30
CLT +75
DCA +40
LGA +35
PIT +0

 

[BoeingBoy]

kt,

I can give you a number for pilots - I'll just have to add them up. The numbers I posted are for captains lines. The big difference for f/o's is the international where the IRO's bid f/o lines so there are more f/o lines than capt lines.

For the f/a's you'll have to multiply the numbers from the bid by the staffing for each plane, which becomes a little more complicated for the A320 family since the A321 requires 1 more f/a than the A319/320 and I don't know what portion of the PIT flying is on each version.

Also, the numbers I posted from the bid are just changes in the number of lines, so don't reflect reserve staffing levels. And that could be very different from f/a reserve staffing (except where the international is eliminated).

For the pilots it's:

A330 loses 5 capt lines & 9 f/o lines, 9 total capt & 16 f/o positions

75/76I loses 5 capt lines & 10 f/o lines, 9 total capt & 15 f/o positions

75/76D has no changes in lines or total positions

737 loses 10 capt & f/o lines, 10 total capt & f/o positions

A320 family loses 10 capt & f/o lines, 10 total capt & f/o positions

So 90 pilot jobs will disappear from PIT.

Jim

 

[ktflyhome]

Sounds to me it is going to be the start of displacements. According to bid transfers that is 200 total the company has openings for in other bases. If 140 f/a's are affected with lines, than more will be on reserve unless they choose to chase a block. It is going to get interesting.

Does anyone have an opinion as to the company offering another VF? According to what I was told 1100 f/a's are due back Dec.1. Sounds like we will be overstaffed. :huh:

 

[ktflyhome]

OBTW: Maybe I have my information wrong, but I thought we staffed an average of 3 f/a's for every pilot. If 90 pilot jobs will be gone from Pit, wouldn't that be 270 flight attendants effected by lines??? Anyone know???? :huh:

 

[BoeingBoy]

kt,

For a quick and dirty number, take the number of capt line reductions and multiply by the number of f/a's that are awarded each of those lines. For example:

5 A330 lines X number of f/a's per line = number of f/a line reductions

As I said, the only fuzzy part is the A320 series, since I don't know how much of the PIT flying is on A319/320's (3 f/a's) vs A321 (4 f/a's).

This will give the number of line reductions for f/a's (or close). The reserve staffing is a different issue that I have no idea about.

Jim

 

[USAirBoyA330]

kt-

I think displacements are coming but they will hold off until either DEC 04 and most likely JAN 05. It would be stupid to displace in NOV and then have a huge furlough or VF enter the picture....then they just wiped out the displacement they just had. Everything will happen in a certain order to minimize the affect on operations. Well....that's if they do it the way it's supposed to be done. 🙄

1,056 are due off VF 1-2 in DEC and around 700 of those are from VF1 and CAN NOT extend further. It will be interesting for sure. It also depends on AFA and what is negotiated this week and next. If they choose to throw out the VF Program and replace it with something else or they just decide to feed the JR people to the wolves and ax it all together. Who knows....

 

[ktflyhome]

USAirboy: That does make perfect sense about the displacements. I hope I am wrong, but I tend to think the Jr's will get fed to the wolves. According to what Pitbull posted some time ago, IIRC, only around 21% of the f/a's are on reserve status, unlike 40% or so before the last round of concessions. 🙁