Non-sequitur from “UA 787 Emergency”

derg said:
That’s what I’d tell my new hire OE students when they asked if I had any advice. If you get a call, DO NOT LIE (they’re not on a fishing expedition, they’re asking questions to confirm data they already have and establishing trust), if you did something wrong, admit to it when asked, do not steal or collect things that are not yours.

“Were you really sick or simply out of range for a short call assignment you missed?”

“Oh, I wasn’t feeling well”

[thumbing through pages of social media posts about your two-day park hopper at Disneyland]

(True story!)
Click to expand...


My favorite was in all the years representing pilots in investigations, was when they lied to me, their union rep. Then the company slid evidence across the table.

99% of my job dealt with 1% of the pilot group. Sometimes you questioned your sanity on why you’re fighting so hard to save these dudes job, when you kind of agree with management axing them. But it’s the job you signed up for, and you try your hardest to keep them on the list.
 
jhugz said:
My favorite was in all the years representing pilots in investigations, was when they lied to me, their union rep. Then the company slid evidence across the table.

99% of my job dealt with 1% of the pilot group. Sometimes you questioned your sanity on why you’re fighting so hard to save these dudes job, when you kind of agree with management axing them. But it’s the job you signed up for, and you try your hardest to keep them on the list.
Click to expand...

You're defending the contract, not the person. If a company actually follows a contractual discipline process correctly, there is very little a union can do to protect their job.
 
Apophis said:
You don’t even work here, so how would you know how “retributionary” things are?

There are several contractual exemptions from good faith basis calls as well as using more than 120 sick credit hours in the previous 12 bid periods.

Stick to Eskimo’s problems. You certainly have enough of your own over there.
Click to expand...

whoa guy, chill. I have enough friends over there (aka almost all my airline friends) to have a pretty good understanding of how things work. Might be a particular base, vs the whole system of course. Don't really care either way, didn't realize this was an airline measuring contest. Really have no interest in that at all. If id wanted to be at delta, I would have been.
 
Last edited:
///AMG said:
whoa guy, chill. I have enough friends over there (aka almost all my airline friends) to have a pretty good understanding of how things work. Might be a particular base, vs the whole system of course. Don't really care either way, didn't realize this was an airline measuring contest. Really have no interest in that at all. If id wanted to be at delta, I would have been.
Click to expand...

Defensive behavior screams insecurity. Ego can be the enemy of a coherent response as emotions take over. I’m sure most who are at Delta realize you didn’t mean any harm by your statement, as you said from the start no chip on your shoulder. I’d put a fiver (yeah I know, I’m cheap) on you having your choice of airlines to go to when that time came for you a few years back.

I will say I thought I’d get a call for my sick calls this winter, not a peep. My kid was a serious Petri Dish of fun for us. I’m still trying to recover cardio wise from whatever I caught in November, it suxx.
 
derg said:
That’s what I’d tell my new hire OE students when they asked if I had any advice. If you get a call, DO NOT LIE (they’re not on a fishing expedition, they’re asking questions to confirm data they already have and establishing trust), if you did something wrong, admit to it when asked, do not steal or collect things that are not yours.

“Were you really sick or simply out of range for a short call assignment you missed?”

“Oh, I wasn’t feeling well”

[thumbing through pages of social media posts about your two-day park hopper at Disneyland]

(True story!)
Click to expand...


I have a good story for calling in honest and still getting the boot…. With that being said, I knew the reasons on paper that led to that decision and to this day honesty is still my best policy as well.
 
BobDDuck said:
You're defending the contract, not the person. If a company actually follows a contractual discipline process correctly, there is very little a union can do to protect their job.
Click to expand...

I mean, I can somewhat agree with this statement...but the company doesn't want to fire people if they don't have to. There are times you're going in there and they're fighting for their job with the help of your prep. The company hasn't made their mind up yet and they're looking to get a feel of this person before they make their decision.

If the termination is even slightly dicey, the company has to weigh the decision and if they're willing to gamble the reinstatement/back pay/training costs etc.

Yes, you are defending the contract and making sure the process is followed correctly. The ALPA lawyers are defending the association. However, their is a more personal aspect that you're fighting also.
 
JDean3204 said:
I’m still trying to recover cardio wise from whatever I caught in November, it suxx.
Click to expand...

Oh man, this. I caught it visiting my dad in the hospital in November, was coughing up a lung from then until December, and then basically still intermittently until now that I think of it, just pretty recently. I know they were saying the kids had "walking pneumonia" whatever the hell that is. I think I had it too.
 
jhugz said:
I mean, I can somewhat agree with this statement...but the company doesn't want to fire people if they don't have to. There are times you're going in there and they're fighting for their job with the help of your prep. The company hasn't made their mind up yet and they're looking to get a feel of this person before they make their decision.

If the termination is even slightly dicey, the company has to weigh the decision and if they're willing to gamble the reinstatement/back pay/training costs etc.

Yes, you are defending the contract and making sure the process is followed correctly. The ALPA lawyers are defending the association. However, their is a more personal aspect that you're fighting also.
Click to expand...
“You’re going to be fine. Don’t you ever do it again, though.”
 
BobDDuck said:
It's all a matter of perspective. Your future seniority list friends have been saying the same thing about the Eskimo.
Click to expand...

Interesting you mention this. Im in a bit of a chat group with a bunch of former naval aviators on the AS and HAL sides. The HAL dudes were asking specifically about this today. Someone must have brought it up recently over there. My take is that the old AS guys have a lot of stories. Stories that I'm sure were true, about CP's of yesteryear. Those stories haven't been my experience.
 
///AMG said:
Interesting you mention this. Im in a bit of a chat group with a bunch of former naval aviators on the AS and HAL sides. The HAL dudes were asking specifically about this today. Someone must have brought it up recently over there. My take is that the old AS guys have a lot of stories. Stories that I'm sure were true, about CP's of yesteryear. Those stories haven't been my experience.
Click to expand...

The double digit number of company investigations/discipline cases related to sick utilization over the holidays (up from zero in previous years) begs to differ.
 
BobDDuck said:
The double digit number of company investigations/discipline cases related to sick utilization over the holidays (up from zero in previous years) begs to differ.
Click to expand...

Was that not the reserve folks who weren't physically available during their RAP, and then subsequently called in sick when they got the call? That was a thing, this winter. Like I said, you're not the first HAL person to ask me about this today. I'd just say that if you want to be worried about something, you're barking up the wrong tree with this one. There are plenty of contractual and/or other "eskimo" things to focus that energy on
 
Last edited:
///AMG said:
whoa guy, chill. I have enough friends over there (aka almost all my airline friends) to have a pretty good understanding of how things work. Might be a particular base, vs the whole system of course. Don't really care either way, didn't realize this was an airline measuring contest. Really have no interest in that at all. If id wanted to be at delta, I would have been.
Click to expand...

I mean, it isn’t, but you’re also kind of judging the entire place by a couple of incidents of hearsay.

Conversely, I’ve called out sick several times, including one the day of the 2nd ATL meltdown a week or so ago (was legitimately sick), and nary a peep.
 
Apophis said:
Conversely, I’ve called out sick several times, including one the day of the 2nd ATL meltdown a week or so ago (was legitimately sick), and nary a peep.
Click to expand...
That would be because they may not be allowed, under the new PWA, to peep at you, depending on your sick leave usage in the previous year.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top