Discussion: ALPA has recently published, with the active support of the company, the Rotation Construction Survey. It is a noble and commendable effort. However, there is insufficient participation in the survey and the data derived from it is not going to be "statistically meaningful" according MEC Alert 14-07 published July 15, 2014.

One of the main problems of the existing survey is that it fails to investigate how pilots feel about their desire for longer trips. It asks questions related to managing 1-4 day trips and is completely silent regarding trips longer than 4 days.

Los Angeles is a small base and our LEC representatives have very little say at the MEC level because of our size. Even if we presume our reps carry our desires to the MEC, they have to culturally compete against a much larger group such as those from ATL, DTW, MSP, and NYC.

As a result, we in LAX end up bidding and flying trip mixes designed by the company and supported by pilots who do not have to live under the conditions they decide.

LAX is unique in that our local pilots who live within 150 mi have anywhere from a 1-4 hr drive to work under often stressful traffic conditions. Furthermore, many of us regardless of seniority have to make that drive up to 6-7 times per month. We have commuters as any other base who have difficulties building commutable schedules. Having a choice of longer trips can reduce the frequency of commutes whether one drives or fly to LAX. This has the effect of creating less stressful, less fatiguing, less frequency, and more manageable schedules for everyone.

Proportionality: This is a term used to address the fact that some pilots like 1 day turns, and 2-3 day trips as it guarantees weekends off and so forth.

This petition is not designed to eliminate these trips as they too are desirable. However, there can be a win-win solution if there is good data. If it can be determined for example, the percent of LAX pilots desire short trips (< 3 day) vs longer trips (4-5 days) then the company can create a trip mix that reflects our desires subject to variations and limitations jointly determined by ALPA and the company.

If you would like to see high value 4 and 5 day trips added to the bid packages, then sign this petition.