Cxorcist,
The point is that its an individual choice and no one should be castigated for signing. Most people are giving away something for nothing, but not everyone. What am I giving away? My right to a Y class seat for up to eight hours with no food instead of a freighter bunk? The right to end up 2,000 miles from home in my base instead of my preferred port because PT tickets to there are cheaper? My right to sit in a terminal for up to six hours while waiting for that Y class seat? My right to a longer duty day by PTing in North America?
I am part of a very small minority and I know it. I think there is a complete lack of understanding about some of the issues in North America. I also think there is a complete disregard for those issues, because it is only the 747 fleet, and only in North America. I've seen massive abuses of PXing on Captain rosters, a lot of it as a result of the YVR "megabase." I've also seen a lot of F/O's routinely go home by the fastest possible means on the freighter.
Crews in HKG have recourse to the Cathay passenger network and J class seats for PX. I don't know how it is in Europe with PXing, but if the sectors are long you will probably have recourse to Cathay or another airline with J class. In North America the carriers choose to designate the front cabin as "first." The seats are in most cases of a lower standard than a freighter J class seat. But the reservations system says "F" so the company says "Oh, no, that's a first class seat, no J, you're stuck in Y for as long as we like." BUT, sometimes when that exact same aircraft goes between the US and Canada that cabin becomes "business class." Same airplane, same seats, and now we can sit there. OR, I love this one. Sometimes a US carrier uses a transatlantic airplane to go cross country. These have a J class akin to ours. Nicer than their normal first class, recline almost fully, etc. Its a nicer seat and we are entitled to those because its coded "J", but not the inferior domestic "F". I can't make this stuff up, but its what we deal with. Its the definition of stupid. A couple of photographs and we should be able to straighten this right out. But nobody wants to because it only happens to a small minority on one fleet, in one base area. Is the AOA negotiating that? How about when the company redefined the six hours wait time on the ground to not include post flight, preflight, and transport? So that its almost eight hours now? Does that happen a lot in HKG? AOA working on that?
I'm venting here Cxorcist, because this is a very bad deal for me. Last full year of commuting to LA was 8,000 USD. Pass riding no longer reliable with US domestic loads. Miami is a great deal but we just can't seem to open it as a base.
So if you were faced with well over three hours of PT in a Y class seat, and finishing in your base rather than your preferred port, and a duty day being extended by a terminal wait, what would you do? Think about it. Operate to ANC, six hours in a terminal, and Y class for 4,000 miles. Really?
I've just been trying to show that it isn't the same for everyone. And when when was the last time the company responded the way the AOA expected and conceded something?