crewdawg

I hear this a lot and it's a horrible comparison. You were junior and probably new to the company, of course it sucked.



With coverage being 2 days out now and 18 hr callout, I can't imagine anyone missing an assignment. Not knowning what kind of flying you'll do is for sure a downside. On the upside, you often fly broken up trips that are way better than anything in the bid packet.



Valid complaint and a downside. Moving X-days can be a royal pain esepecially with crappy coverage. You also need to know the rules, which aren't that hard to learn. On the upside, just last week, I had a buddy in a severely understaffed category, successfully move a reserve coverage day over Thanksgiving to somehwere else in the month. Winning!



I've never understood this one but I hear it a lot. You do know what days you're "working," they're your reserve days. Just plan around that schedule and plan on being gone. If you happen to get to stay home, then great, a bonus day to help out.



As somone else said, it varies wildly based on BES. For me, there really isn't a whole lot of ninja stuff to do on reserve. Move reserve reserve days (if able) to put yourself in a more adventagous spot on the list. I pretty much use up all my IVD instances to break up 5 day reserve blocks so that it's 2 x 2-day blocks. I'll occasionally PD or an APD a day if I'm able. When able, I'll also use my PB days to drop middle days of reserve block so I only have 1 or 2 days on call. Our staffing was ok this year but is going downhill so we'll see how well this continues. I can usually get 1-3 GS/month, but they're usually 1 or 2 day trips. Block and days worked are all over the place and will vary with some many factors. I do know that I can't remember a time that I've worked more than a most line holders work in a month. Most months it's in the single digits, but obviously this isn't the case for everyone.

Best I can say is to peak at the schedules of those around your seniority that bid reserve in your seat. I'd go back as far as you can and you'll get a good feel of how it's working. You'll probably learn a few things as well. I freely admit that it will take some flexibility here and there, but the benefits are usually being home more than a line holder. On the flip side, it's completely understandable that some people need to have a set schedule, even if it means being gone more.

crewdawg

Can't argue with that. As a NB A, my next move will likely be to a 320A when I can hold turns or WB B if I can be one of the the top reserve bidders.

BlueSkies

First off, thanks for the detailed reply, very helpful.

I don't think I'd ever actually miss an assignment...it's just one of my reasons for not liking RES, even if it's a dumb reason. Probably a hold-over from my years of RES at previous airlines back when cell coverage wasn't always great.

I definitely like the idea of broken trips. They seem to mostly go to RES now.

Days off- I wish it worked like that (and that is how I view it), the problem is others don't always see it that way. And also your planned off days on RES are usually less than a line-holder even if you end up with more on look back. Again, for the family it's just a lot easier to understand you will be gone these days (line-holder) vs. you might be gone (RES). The uncertainty can be tough for the rest of the family. But point taken.

IVDs- this is interesting and I will have to try this out. I did drop my APD in the middle of a 3 day block once (I know I could have dropped more than one on-call day but I thought I was being clever) and instead of not working got two 1-day trips on either side of the APD.

I will have a look at some other pilot schedules. Hopefully I will learn something. Thanks again.

crewdawg

Ya that is a downside to the 2 day call out now. When I do bid a line, I try to dump my schedule or swap trips with broken up stuff. It's certainly not as easy to swap under the new contract. I guess that's the tradeoff of a more stable schedule for the group.



Ya unfortunely you're guaranteed days off are less, another downside. As someone who wishes to spend as much time at home as possible, who has a significant other that wants the same, I'll never understand the "might be gone/home," but I can respect your families viewpoint.



IVDs are one of the best additions to the contract since I've been here. I only wish they had added instances and not days on the last contract. Days don't really do anything for me, but instances would have been a huge win.



Sure thing. Watching others schedules is probably the best way to learn, just like I learned PBS from looking at the reasons report and comparing them to the wides. Some may wonder why you're looking at their schedule, but it's not a bid deal. If you're worried about that, just look at previous months schedules.

Best of luck!

Gunfighter

Every month I'll spend some time with my wife categorizing days as must be home, might be home, probably gone. It's taken a little adaptation, but now the "might be home" days offer a pleasant surprise to catch up on unscheduled projects or impromptu dates. Comparing the lookback to a regular line helps quantity the success. Finally, the unproductive feeling of an unused short call is outweighed by sleeping on schedule.

BlueSkies

I'm definitely glad RES is better and more stable now. RES can be really rough, but our rules make it much better thankfully.

I need to start looking at those reasons reports more but it is sooo tedious.

hockeypilot44

Little bonus info. We all know you can look at other pilot schedules, but did you know you can look at other pilot’s white slips and green slips requests?

Gunfighter

how?
YS too?

hockeypilot44

I’ve never tried YS, but I assume you can. Same way you put in YS. Just change the employee number in top left from yours to the employee number whom’s slips you want to see. Pretty straight forward.

FangsF15

Humph! Learn something new every day…. Good stuff.