FNGFO

I have no doubt that more money can be made, but FO’s pulling down $600k almost assuredly exceptions to the rule, and I wouldn’t set career expectations or apply somewhere based on one unicorn.

Moonbeam

How long to hold WB at the legacies? How long until I can be off reserve and hold efficient trips. Already sold my house and moved to EWR in anticipation.

Halon1211

Vacancy bids at United went unfilled for some WB.

but anyways I didn’t say always I said usually. By the way sitting reserve at Spirit on a NB pays less than sitting reserve on a WB at United.

So yeah you’re gonna be more efficient.

ZooKeeper

Those poor souls that got WB as a new hire will be wanting to jump off a bridge. Especially if they have families.

united WB reserves only get 6 hard days off a month. Rest are all flexed

mavsfflife

As a 6 year guy with 30 years left living in a base also shared by a legacy, I think it’d be wise to at least explore the option. I’ve applied and will make the decision if the opportunity comes. It’s a tough decision, without a doubt.

onedolla

Kinda like some ulcc blowhards bragging about pulling 400k+ (Not directed at you btw). They’re certainly not the norm, although it would be fascinating to see how much our money hungry hard chargers could make at the higher paying outfits by working themselves to the bone.

GoCats67

Those "poor souls" are going to be making $174/hr on second year pay.

I am at UA and between the 777 and 747 I did 3 years on reserve and I had my day off moved a total of 2 times. Not exactly the boogeyman it is made out to be. You get 6 days off in a row that can't be moved by the company, so you always get at least one weekend day off and usually one full weekend off. The other 6 or 7 days can be moved, but only for an intl trip and only if they have no other reserves available. Those days are a bit of a pain as you can't "count" on them, but you can also be proactive and pick up trips that make it impossible for the company to move them. ie, if I have days off Th-Sat I can pick up a trip that gets back on Wed and then the company cant move my days. So, I would definitely rather not have any of those days movable, but it really was not that common for them to be a problem in my time on the fleets. For my time on those fleets as a local guy I always have said--- It is crack cocaine, you know it is bad for you but you keep doing it anyway!! That is because the rest of you life becomes so nice. I will caveat that with the fact that I have no issue with sleeping on my rest break, so I come back from an Asia trip without any difficulty.

The biggest issue with reserve at UA (and prob every other airline) is answering the question of are you a commuter??? If the answer to that question is "yes," then reserve is a complete pain in the @#$%. If the answer to that question is "no," then there are many ways within our system to improve your QOL on reserve. If you are unwilling/unable to move to within 2.5 hours of the base then your "jumping off a bridge assessment may be correct." I don't take the idea of moving lightly as I know that it is a huge deal for most of us, but living in/near your domicile is always a good idea as a new hire and it is an extremely good idea as a WB new hire.

In my 3 years on reserve I would sometimes be aggressive and try to "pick up" trips and sometimes try to sit back and just collect gaurantee pay. As a local both of those options were available and being on reserve and getting a short call assignment (2.5 hours to report) was not a big deal. In those months that I sat back and took shortcalls and didn't pick up trips, I worked way less days than even the most senior lineholder. Now if I was a commtuer getting a bunch of short call assignments in a month would suck as you would have to commute in to sit around and likely not get called. Frequently the next day or day after you would get another shortcall, so those assignments and get you in a cycle of repeating and with commuting that is horible.

So regardles of airline, I will always recommend that a pilot live in or near one of your airline bases. Given the craziness of hiring right now, you can probably actual choose which airline to go to based on having a base available where you want to live. If you want to live in the NE or on the West coast, UA has some unbelievable opportunities right now. New hires getting 777/787 as an initial assignment, and upgrades to Captain being available as soon as you complete probation and have 500 hours at UA. Not recommending an immediate bid to Captain mind you, but we will have pilots on 2nd year pay as Captains very soon---just crazy!!!

NKSpilot

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Anyone has got to realize that there is a really good reason why those vacancies are available or going junior unless the current 13,000 pilots are all stupid which I find hard to believe.

CincoDeMayo

I remember not too long ago DAL had quick upgrades in LGA. Then I spoke to a friend who took one of those upgrades and explained to me its really a NYC base, responsible for the area. He was complaining about the reserve hell he would be in when every bypassing FO senior to him takes their upgrade as a lineholder, keeping him essentially as a street CA type. But hey, you got that 4th bar.

biigD

But he's also not clogging up the FO side. The nice thing about guys being able to chase WB or a stripe is that it allows pilots that don't chase the carrot to get senior faster. Dunno how it is for Delta or United, but three years on property at AA gets you in the top 25% of a junior base - and that includes the 18 months of stagnation through the pandemic. The massive movement is a win/win for everyone, not just those willing to blow up their QOL.

Not saying it's a reason to jump ship, but someone mentioned 15 years to hold holidays off at a legacy, and that's simply not true. NB FO can be a sweet gig in a short amount of time.