robthree

Looking at the snapshot on this vacancy bid, it seems like I have a choice to make. I'm Newark based, and now close enough to sit short call from home. I never had to sit reserve on the 737, and I know its a different beast from Global reserve as well, but I have no idea what it would be like if I moved up. I just joined the 756 fleet this summer, holding LHR and domestic 4 days - and probably won't have much choice of flying when the summer winds down, but also probably won't be forced into a reserve line I don't want. On the 777 I'll be in the bottom 5-10 pilots in the fleet. The pay differential means I'd have to fly about 90 hours on the 756 to match 777 reserve, since I never see the 764. Easy to do in summer. Not so much the rest of the year I guess. And I'll probably get a line as a NB Captain before I hold a 777 line. For every point there seems a counterpoint.

So what does the crowd say: Sit tight or move along?

VnavPath

If you can sit SC at home, 777 is a no brainer in my opinion.

cal73

My buddy just switched from 756 lineholder to 777 reserve. They convert him to short call a lot. He was gung-ho 777 before the switch. He seems somewhat regretful at times but he’s still extremely happy to be on the plane.
He commutes by car ~6 hours.
If you’re close enough to Newark to sit short call at home, I’d say give it a try. 2 years will go by fast and you can always come back.

Btw, a joke I recently heard that you should consider...

What’s the difference between a crack addict and a 777 first officer?

...You can get the crack addict off the crack but you’ll never get a 777 first officer off the 777.

APC225

Opinions vary widely but IMO 737 SC reserve from home is very doable. It's somewhat a matter of personality as to whether you can deal with an unpredictable schedule but generally have much more time at home, or a predictable schedule with the usual time away from home (if you’re junior anyway). The SSC has an attachment to their monthly report that breaks down reserve usage in several ways for all positions. Unfortunately, it doesn’t break out by base but it may provide some insight. See attachment 6.

https://www.alpa.org/ual/-/media/UAL...rt-2019-07.pdf

Pro2nd

Made the switch this spring from ewr 756 at 75% to ewr 777 at 95%. I typically bid reserve on the 756 as I live about 1:15 away from the airport and didn’t work much. It was nice to be able to bid a line when I got sick of reserve. The money is a little better mainly because I didn’t care to work 90 hour lines. It comes to about 1600 a month after taxes. A couple things I am experiencing that I didn’t expect. I am on short call almost every day I am not flying. It’s ridiculous actually. Looking at my schedules I’ve had 5 days on long call in 4 months. I’ve always done short calls and got used to them, or so I thought, but this is next level. Another thing they are doing is building the sc and fsb assignments late. So late that they are just releasing us off our current sc around midnight to one the next day. Makes planning your days impossible. You are just a pawn and kept in the dark. Hopefully it gets better when summer winds down, but as of now I regret coming over to the 777.

APC225

Pro2nd, I had to go to a practice of having a standing bid for SC every day to avoid the occasional and unpredictable FSB. Still ok for me, but that is definitely something to consider. If they’re going to assign all SCs all the time may as well try to get in front of it.

Pro2nd

Unfortunately with the sc and fsb being built so late there is nothing to bid for. It’s well past the 10:55 seniority trip trade. Makes seniority meaningless on reserve.

82spukram

Pro

If you put the Info into crew companion and let it carry into the real time window as long as you have 10 hours from your short call ending until the next short call beginning it should pick it up automatically (at least it use to up until 2 years ago). The downside is that you will not get paid extra after the 5th pick up.

Pro2nd

I was not aware I could do that. I will take a look, as it could come in handy. Although typically my goal is to do less sc and fsb.

Thanks for the info

Ni hao

They do this on every fleet. It's a big big loophole IMO! I play the game and when they wake me up to roll me into another SC fine. If I can't go back to sleep oh well. You know what's next.