Industry Insider misquotes me by saying:
“Ron Powell has no accurate information about flight completions because the "union member who was compiling that information went back to work"
The flight completion rate has nothing to do with the number of pilots I said were being counted by the union member who went back to work. I did not mix the two as you have done. Please re-read my post.
Wrench1 says:
“So when I see someone saying 85% business as usual, sure it’s possible…”
· This is an example of information I would like clarified. First you imply that company info on flight volumes could be biased, yet further down you agree the 85% is possible. Is this the game you mentioned???”
Sure 85% is possible. Is it measured against pre-strike levels? Is it measured from what the company “thinks” it can complete that day/week but only ends up with 85% of that amount with aircraft and pilots available? Industry Insider doesn’t qualify any of it and in his/her post on 10/08 admitted that the information provided to him could be wrong. That’s why I’m skeptical.
I’d also like some clarification as well as to who is in the cockpit? You know, like a B412 has two pilots. Does the company currently have 4 pilots assigned to that aircraft/job or is it the same two guys/gals flying it for the last 19 days?
Wrench1 said:
“As you had mentioned only 2 pilots were covering NM and maintaining 100% - to use this ops as an example of what is happening in the GOM – when a 3rd pilot returned the 100% remains but the number of hours flown by each pilot reduces – this is what is happening in the GOM.”
OK, I’ll take another shot at it. In NM we have 4 pilots assigned to one aircraft. Two are striking so the other two have shouldered almost the entire shift load- 2 x shift per 24 hour period. That’s why there’s four of us, so we get time off. These guys have almost no time off yet they’re always in service.
To use your 3rd pilot example, if a B412 or S76 has 4 pilots assigned, two go on strike, then one comes back, there’s still one pilot working the equivalent of full time, correct? Thirty days x 2 pilots = 60 pilot seats. Divided by 3 = 20 shifts per pilot. Five extra shifts per pilot per month = mandatory workover for someone - just one of the reasons the strike is on in the first place.
“Here is another example of the info I would like clarified. How can the union state accurate numbers on strike if there is no one to count them? Also, 2 X 180 = 360, based on the figures on local 108’s website (as shown by union members to myself and others) AND based on the figures posted by PHI there were never more than 332 members prior to the strike. ???”
As I said, the count data I had was about a week old. On 10/01, 353 pilots were counted as being on strike. Close enough? As far as these numbers being more than union membership combined, has it occurred to anyone there are non-union pilots honoring the strike? The union tallied the number of people working and subtracted that number from the total pilots on staff. This total has nothing to do with union membership. Latest data: 231 scabs observed or known to be working. I’ll also be generous and add 10% to that number, call it 254 scabs.
I’ll do the math for you: Approx. 550 – 254 scabs = 296 pilots striking.
Ron Powell