I found an interesting article on some problems with the seniority system used by most work groups at most US airlines, with special focus on the pilots at Delta and Northwest. Those airlines’ potential merger is on hold and potentially dead because their pilots can’t figure out how to play nicely together.

Seniority plays a role at my job, but it’s not quite as important. We bid for our work schedules and vacations by seniority once a year (don’t ask). Many of my colleagues look forward to the year they become senior enough to work the day shift or get Christmas off. The bottom 20 percent of the seniority list (I’m scheduled to rise above that threshold in May) are designated as “reserves” and aren’t guaranteed a consistent start time or the standard 6 on-3 off-6 on-3 off-6 on-6 off rotation that everyone else has. In addition, our pay is completely based on our job title and length of service, which is related to seniority. In other words, whether I’m a fantastic dispatcher or an average one, I get paid the same. Finally, when you’re in training, seniority within your class helps determine when you get to upgrade from Assistant Dispatcher to Dispatcher and work your own flights. It’s not a terrible system, and it seems to work fairly well for us, but I definitely see more value in rewarding merit rather than seniority.

I think part of the problem for seniority-based positions is that it’s difficult to fairly measure merit. Pilots spend most of their time flying throughout the system without a supervisor watching them. It’s just not practical to have that much oversight, which makes it difficult to evaluate which pilots are great and which are just OK. Similarly, I work with very little supervision. In fact, since I work overnight, the managers generally are not there when I’m there. They trust us and empower us to do the right thing, relying heavily on our good judgment. A chief sits with us once a year to review some of the policies and make sure we still know what we’re doing, but it’s certainly not a true performance evaluation like most employees at Headquarters receive. Right or wrong, basing pay on seniority keeps things simpler and keeps the unions happier.

We have digital cable from Time Warner, which includes over 40 channels of digital music. One station is all 80s music. We had some friends from church over for dinner and played 80s music. It was great! They just played Terrance Trent D’arby’s “Wishing Well”, which I hadn’t heard in a LONG time. I vary the station by my mood. When I’m reading my Bible during breakfast, I like the soothing piano/new age station. In the evening if I’m hanging out alone, I often jam with the smooth jazz station. During the day I might switch to one of the rock, gospel, or bluegrass stations. It’s great!

You might have heard that the FAA has proposed a $10 million fine for Southwest for missing some maintenance inspections on dozens of aircraft and then continuing to fly them for a few days afterward. Yes, we screwed up by missing those inspections, and last March we voluntarily admitted it to the FAA. After realizing this, we worked out a plan with the FAA and Boeing to inspect those aircraft over a 10-day period. For both proactive inspections like these and minor aircraft repairs, it is common to have a short grace period to complete the work, such as a certain number of days or flights. Boeing and our FAA inspectors approved our plan, we inspected the aircraft, and the FAA considered the case closed in April. Apparently a couple of other FAA employees disagreed and took their “story” to an influential Minnesota congressman who is making a huge deal about it. I am very confident in the safety of our aircraft and maintenance program. I’ve dispatched tens of thousands of flights carrying hundreds of thousands of people; sent my wife, family, and friends on our flights; and personally flown Southwest many, many times with full confidence that each aircraft was safe. I hope and expect that the FAA will at least reduce this ridiculous fine if not cancel it once they hear the full story. You can read some of Southwest’s official response on southwest.com.

I had recurrent training this week, which meant 3 days of going in at 7:00am to hear about various topics. Jenny and I carpooled all three days, just like in the old days when I worked in Technology. I enjoy recurrent training because it’s a chance to be with coworkers in a different setting, get refreshed on some things I’ve forgotten, and learn about what’s ahead. Dispatch has a new weather and flight plotting system scheduled for this summer, better access to a high-tech radar system at several airports, and a new type of navigational capability called RNP that should save us time and fuel plus improve safety and reliability. There’s always something brewing, it seems, and I like that.