Friday, March 15th, 2024
This is the SWAPA Ride Report for Friday, March 15th, 2024.
The SWAPA Ride Report is your source for headlines, updates, and answers to frequently asked questions regarding your new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
I’m your host, Captain Matt McCants from SWAPA Communications.
Let’s get started with benefits and disability. There is quite a bit on the horizon, so let’s s begin by explaining the rough timeline of all the parts that are moving in the next 8 weeks or so. Because of the depth and complexity of the various programs, this will be an information campaign along the lines of what you saw during the TA Education period.
Next week, after the Joint Implementation Committee meeting, the Benefits and Negotiations committees will record a podcast that will air on Monday, March 25th. This will help capture some solidified details coming during that meeting.
Also next week, SWAPA will be releasing Open Enrollment details for the SWAPA provided Short Term Disability and Long Term Disability. This is different than the open enrollment period for the company provided life insurance and AD&D. Open enrollment will then run From April 1st through April 12th. A payroll file is due to the company on April 25th.
On May 1st – the new Short Term and Long Term Disability plans will go active, and we will verify paychecks on May 5th and May 20th with weekly communication.
Now you might be wondering if you will be able to drop STD and LTD on May 1st. Yes you will, but you might want to review the new plans to make sure you are doing the right thing for you and your family. Is 50% of your MBE enough to cover the bills and live off of? Do you have enough sick time for the 60 day elimination period and still have some when you come back? Only you can answer these questions. Additionally, you might wonder if you will still need to keep the Voluntary Loss of License plan. Well, you should compare the LTD B to the VLOL and see which one makes the most sense. Keep in mind, the VLOL only pays for 5 years and the LTD B pays until retirement age.
Again, lots of moving parts, lots of new material to process. So, along with the upcoming podcast, rather than laboring through insurance jargon, all departments are working on audio visual aids to assist you in making an informed decision.
In world of Contract Administration, there were some very unique circumstances this past week and this edition of the Q&A has a lot of different touch points:
I recently saw a trip go through Open Time that did not maintain domicile integrity. The flight appears to have come from an operating pilot and scheduling built it into a trip based on a domicile that was convenient. Should the company have to build the rerouted flying out of its original domicile or is this allowed?
The answer comes down to timing. If there is enough time to build this rerouted flying out of its original domicile, scheduling cannot build it out of another. While the old CBA made an allowance for reroute, sick calls, and others; those allowances are not in the new CBA. The new language only offers an exemption of domicile integrity when there is insufficient time to maintain it while offering Open Time or utilizing reserves. It also makes an allowance in the case where Last Resort Flying is offered. The reference here is Section 11.A.11.
Next question- On the last day of my trip, I was rerouted and delayed, and the duty day was over 13 hours. Am I eligible for Leg Change Override, Late Return Override, & Long Duty Override?
For sure that is a heck of a day. Unfortunately, you cannot be eligible for all 3 concurrently. But is 2 possible? Here’s the breakdown: Leg Change Override (LCO) is specific to reassigned flying and deadheads; while Late Return Override (LRO) is specific to original flying that runs more than 2 hours late. Long Duty Override (LDO) can be triggered on reassignments AND original flying, as long as it exceeds 12-hours in operation. Since Trip Hour Ratio or Duty Hour Ratio might not always be triggered if your last day runs late, the purpose of Late Return Override is to capture some additional value for returning more than 2 hours late. So in this case, you will get LCO and LDO concurrently. For more, see Section 2.J.2, 4, & 6.
Now this one is a true easter egg involving Holiday Override: Another pilot has a single leg, of his 3-leg duty period, in TTGA for Easter Sunday. So can I pick up one leg in TTGA and still trigger the full Holiday Override of 6.50 TFP? Will the pilot that is giving away the leg surrender any of his own Holiday Override?
Out of Section 2.J.13, Holiday Override is paid out for, “A Pilot who performs duty or is on a RAP at any time…” Therefore, you can trigger Holiday Override for yourself by picking up a single leg out of TTGA. The pilot giving away the single leg will still receive their own Holiday Override, so long as they still have any duty left on that duty period.
How about a non-standard sick call question? I need to call in sick at the start of my trip, but I want to pick it up on day 2 as it comes close to my domicile. The new CBA does not mention “split points” as an option like the old CBA did. Can I still expect those stations to be available for this purpose?
So while it is reasonable to expect that the old split points are a good reference that could be used; The language only mentions, “domicile or another mutually agreed upon point”; so, your options are to pick the pairing up in domicile or whatever you and crew scheduling can agree to. The reference here is Section 17.C.2.d.2.
Moving on to an overfly question- I recently flew and over-blocked the scheduled block time for my flight. When I looked in the payroll report, my over-block pay was being consumed by the daily RIG. I thought that everything in the new CBA was supposed to pay on top of the original values. Is this correct?
The new language allows for overrides for reroute, excessive ground time, late return, and even ground duties to be paid above the original trip value. However, In the case of over-block pay, it still gets added to the value of the flights flown. Unfortunately, this means that it can still be consumed by daily or trip RIGs. But - we were able to remove the 4-minutes of free over-block that the previous CBAs allowed. This provision was effective for pairings starting March 1st , and Reference Section 2.C.2, the data shows this should benefit you, more often than it gets consumed.
Moving on, the Schedule Research Committee has officially launched the C2020 audit tool, and continues to refine the logic to better assess all scenarios. There is an old contract version on the website for all pre-February 2024 pairings, but the new one is a separate version all-together, and able to calculate the correct pay depending on when the pairing took place. As a reminder, the pay for the first four minutes of overfly will display in our SWAPA audit total, but is not yet programmed in CWA, so you may see more pay due, which should get added to your pairing pay later this month.
Also on the Scheduling side of the house, even if you have no intention of heading to Nashville when it opens in May, take a listen to the last SWAPA Number Podcast about all things BNA, you might be surprised how this new base opening may affect you. SRC also has a blog out that covers additional details regarding that projection.
Lastly, speaking of new tools and services, the Communications Committee and IT are moving along in the development of a re-vamped SWAPA App. With the user experience and mobile versatility in mind, the new SWAPA app will have a variety of new features. From facial recognition to everything one would need to analyze and execute a commute, it will also include new opt-in and notification features so you can get the latest and greatest from the SWAPA departments you are most interested in. Still in the design phase, we will eventually get a beta version fielded and evaluated by line pilots, with the goal of the new app hitting the streets later this year.
That wraps up the headlines and Q&A this week. We will continue to pull common questions we see across the channels to identify trends we see out on the line.
Thank you for joining this week’s ride report. If you missed anything, this transcript will be on the Podcast Page under the Communications tab on SWAPA.org. Fly safe, fly informed.
