September, 2023 Schedule

Schedules Chris's Schedule
1

In September I had some vacation, which resulted in seventeen days off, plus two more off for a trip that was dropped due to a legality issue.

  1. Off
  2. Off
  3. Off
  4. Off
  5. Off
  6. IAD-CLE, CLE-SFO
  7. SFO-YYZ
  8. All day in YYZ
  9. YYZ-ORD, ORD-MCO, MCO-IAD
  10. Trip dropped due to legality
  11. Trip dropped due to legality
  12. Off
  13. Off
  14. Off
  15. Off
  16. Off
  17. Off
  18. Off
  19. Off
  20. DCA-SFO
  21. SFO-RDU
  22. All day in RDU
  23. RDU-DEN, DEN-DCA
  24. IAD-LAX, LAX-PHX
  25. PHX-EWR
  26. EWR-IAD
  27. Off
  28. Off
  29. Off
  30. Off
4 Likes
2

I’m curious
what do you mean a legality issue? Like too many hours flown or something?
-Steve

3

In this case, we got delayed going back into IAD on the 9th and I would not have had enough rest to begin my trip on the 10th, so it was dropped.

1 Like
4

Hi Chris, how is that determined? Are you required to keep track of that or does the airline do it for you?

5

Harry,

I’m sure Chris will chime in but all duty and rest rules are determined by the FAA and included in a section of the regs called Part 117. It is the responsibility of both the pilot and the airline to keep track of these things.

Adam

6

Harry,

In my experience so far, the airline’s crew scheduling department do a good job of keeping track of flying/rest for FAA requirements. They will remove you or deny a trip if it will violate any of those regulations. However, it is ultimately our responsibility to keep track and ensure that we are legal. Our union gave us ID sized cards, which most people wear on their lanyards, that shows the duty/rest requirements.

Roscoe

7

Harry,

I know at Piedmont, our Crew Scheduling team does a fantastic job at pinging reminders if we are near Crew Rest Minimums and gives us emails and voicemails to call when we get to destinations, to confirm our minimum rest, if we’re close. It is both the pilot and airline responsibility, as Adam mentioned. Only once in my year at Piedmont have I touched crew rest minimums and scheduling adjusting had to be done.

Roscoe brings up a great tool for duty period, I carry around a Part 117 table for “Maximum Flight-Duty Period Limits for Unaugmented Operations.”

Brady

8

Harry,

At my airline, Crew Scheduling keeps track of legality issues. The FAA has made a system of rules so complex that it really needs to be tracked with a computer.

Chris

9

As do most if not all but that doesn’t relieve your responsibility.

Adam

10

So if you get paid by the hour as a pilot, and you fly less during the month as you build more seniority, how do more senior pilots get paid more if they are flying much less during the month?

11

Eric,

Wellllll
we get raises EVERY year, you get paid more on larger planes and Captain pay is often double FO pay.

Adam

1 Like
12

Eric,

As Adam mentioned, every year you’re getting a pay raise. The other thing is, when you upgrade from FO to CA, you keep years of service pay, if you’re a Year 3 FO going for upgrade, you will receive Year 3 CA pay if you’re still within 3 years of service. Plus, companies have what is called minimum day guaranteed (i.e., “MDG” of 75 hours at Piedmont), which is a guaranteed number of credit hours whether you fly 24 hours or 90 hours. If you go over the “MDG” it’s hours over guarantee and it’s like ‘overtime’ pay.

Example: If I flew a monthly credit of 90 hours, my minimum guarantee is 75 a month, I get 15 hours of extra pay for the month. I may have only flown 70 hours, but some trips earn more credits. Or if I flew 20 hours because I was reserve, I’m awarded a pay of 75 credit hours.

Brady

2 Likes
13

Eric,

Besides annual raises, plane changes and seat changes there is also more efficient flying! The senior guys know how to bid for the most efficient trips with the most pay time for days away. They can also drop trips so they can be open for premium trips to drop in open time often paying 150, 200 or even 300%.

Hannah

1 Like