Your thoughts on OPEN TIME

wheelsup

wheelsup

Well-Known Member
I'm just curious on what others thing of picking up open time. Of course, it goes without saying that:

You would never pick up open time if there were furloughs.

For those that don't know - open time is basically lines of flying that the company has scheduled to complete that Company hasn't built into the bids, and as such can be "picked up" or swapped by line pilots on their days off for 1.5x your pay rate.

Generally speaking, if the line pilots don't pick it, it will get assigned to a reserve, if a reservist cannot pick it up a pilot will be junior manned (ie asked 'nicely' to fly into their day off to do the flying). If there isn't anyone to junior man, the company would have to cancel the flight.

This poll is also anonymous.
 
When I needed extra flying, I alwasy tried to pick it up from other F/As who were (for whatever reason) trying to drop a trip. We had a really neat partiton in SABRE called HIBOARD, where you could post trips you wanted to drop. Others could browse listed trips, and pick them up. This was not only getting me the extra flying/money I wanted, but also helped out another F/A by taking a trip they wanted/needed dropped. To just drop a trip required adequate staffing, and we all know how 'padded' every airline keeps their staffing levels..... so dropping a trip was seldom possible. HIBOARD was sometimes the only way to get off for a doc appointment, kid's birthday, etc.

I seldom picked up company open time. I just would rather help out another individual F/A than take a trip out of company OT.
 
Open time is straight time where I work. I got no problem with guys picking it up. It means less hiring, but that's really not the problem of the guy picking it up, nor should it be. Maybe if a guy picked up a little open time he could afford to tip the van driver.....
 
When we had guys on furlough, I didn't pick up open time at all.

Kind of hard to check in on the furloughed pilots I was sponsoring and say, "Dude! I got a green slip! Hey, how's the job search going".

Since all furloughs have been offered recall, I'd pick up open time in excess of my regular schedule if I needed it, but I'm a days-off kind of guy.
 
im going to have to go with doug on this one. im not in the airline industry but when i do get a taste i dont think i will be hitting up the open time that much.
 
In our last contract, we got the right for the union to declare an opentime ban during a furlough. Isn't it crazy that a pilot group has to negotiate the right to not have to work extra?

If you don't, a judge will tell you that working overtime is mandatory.

What a country....
 
I miss the opportunity to pick up open time. I kinda like it when the company is run a bit "leaner" than it is right now. I'm guessing summer will change that.

The only option here right now is to put in a request to fly on our days off, which basically is like a voluntary JM. You get the trips that the reserves would be assigned (lineholders get 1.5x pay over guarantee), although you can decline them. If they assign the trip to a reserve and you were legal, you get paid for it too. I heard one instance where they skipped over 6 CA's and gave the trip to a reserve, and it cost the company over $15k for that one trip. Oops.
 
DE727UPS said:
In our last contract, we got the right for the union to declare an opentime ban during a furlough. Isn't it crazy that a pilot group has to negotiate the right to not have to work extra?

If you don't, a judge will tell you that working overtime is mandatory.

What a country....
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Our union got sued for failing to volunteer to fly voluntary overtime at historic levels during some labor strife at Southernjets.

That one'll make your head spin.

True story. Good stipulation in your contract, btw!
 
With the arrival of PBS, open time went out the window at the place that the old man works at. You have to bid the amount of flying that you want. Every once in a while a trip goes in there. Dad hasen't picked up flying in a day off in a loooonng time. Swaping trips on the same days for more credit, definately, even with guys on furlough.

A couple of times the company "bought" his trip to do IOE and has picked up another trip over the same days.

Actually, pre-PBS the open time window would open at noon on the 25th of every month, and I would swap the trips back when he was more junior. I ended up getting pretty good at it. One month I turned a 100% non commutable line that worked saturdays (a little bit of a mis bid) into a 100% commutable line working one weekend. Another time I turned a 76 hour line into a 104 hour line (with DH) without adding any days, that included new years eve in HNL instead of OSL. It went from 4 SNN trips and a long OSL to SNN, GVA, CDG, MXP, ZRH, HNL.

To sum it up it happens every once in a while. Keep in mind this is at a place that has been hiring for a couple of years now.

Just curious, what is your feelings on swaping trips for more credit while guys are furloughed?
 
PBS whipped our tails too. Bid what you want, want what you bid and if you didn't get what you want, better start begging your cohorts to see if they'd do a trip swap for ya.
 
Our union has been holding off PBS as long as they can, but I think they are slowly losing the battle. I guess most of the other small lift providers have gone to it and it is saving a ton of money (saving money and lower QOL go hand in hand though...). I'm not looking forward to it, as it would mean an end to the single best thing about our contract - and the reason I am still here - the long call lines.

That, and it means the end of turning 10 days of vacation into 20+ days off in a row.
 
You know, PBS is incredible if you're super senior. But if you're not super senior, it bites monkey butt in my opinion.

The company love it because they can cut staffing down to the bone. And when staffing is too low, just wait until you discover the joy of "unstacking".

"Unstacking" is more or less, "The bids are done, but we've got too much open time" so it starts assigning stuff to people that they really didn't ask for.
 
"That, and it means the end of turning 10 days of vacation into 20+ days off in a row"

Wheels, you have no idea how to win people to your side of an argument. Don't go off on not tiping van drivers and then talk about turning 10 days of vacation into 20+ days off. It just doesn't help your cause on the other thread about how poor airline pilots can't afford to tip van drivers.

You almost had me convinced there for a minute....
 
Offer the guy some patience, he's new and he's trying to learn.

We can either alienate him so he's afraid to ask questions or help guide him to find a better answer. :)
 
As a rule, I only pick up advertised trips, so I guess that really doesn't count as open time. There are usually enough advertised trips to accomplish whatever I'm trying to do pay-wise without digging into the pure open time.
 
DE727UPS said:
Wheels, you have no idea how to win people to your side of an argument. Don't go off on not tiping van drivers and then talk about turning 10 days of vacation into 20+ days off. It just doesn't help your cause on the other thread about how poor airline pilots can't afford to tip van drivers.
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Did I ever say I wanted to change peoples' minds?

I already stated multiple times in that thread that I wasn't concerned with changing anyones' view point. I don't think my posts came across as "ranting", if they did I apologize to anyone that was offended by them. I just wanted to see who, and why, people tipped the van drivers.

I'm interested in stretching my vacation time because I'm getting married and want to enjoy it rather than have to rush back to work ASAP.
 
Have you spoken to your chief pilot about your "life event" yet? Generally speaking, if the airline you're working for is worth a poop, they're going to work with you on a serious life event like marriage.

If it's your fifth, well, that's another story, but for the most part, they'll work with you.
 
Doug Taylor said:
Have you spoken to your chief pilot about your "life event" yet? Generally speaking, if the airline you're working for is worth a poop, they're going to work with you on a serious life event like marriage.

If it's your fifth, well, that's another story, but for the most part, they'll work with you.
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Yes, I can get whatever time I need off if I am unable to trip touch (although we planned the vacation time around the wedding, so I will only need two days prior off at most).

I still want as much time off as possible, and want to make my vacation time count. I'm not sure what parallel that has to tipping. I'll be sure to tip a lot while on the honeymoon though :).
 
"Did I ever say I wanted to change peoples' minds"

No, you just started a thread about van driver tipping and gave reasons why you don't do it. You're motivation for that again was....?
 
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