massgflight

When this vacancy closes it looks highly likely that the guppy and bus will have captains well under 3 years on property. Maybe even under 2 years. Comments?

I’d also like to broach the utilization rates of all you bubbas on NB reserve as Capt. Specifically living in base. I know most folks would not bid it out of base but regardless. Are you flying more than 50/month? How rough is it? TIA.

Great dude I flew with on 73 as reserve Capt was loving life out of SFO. Interested to hear folks comments. Fly United!

iwannafly

No it will be 3.5-4 years on property.

cadetdrivr

Just remember that narrowbody RSV CA is so awesome that there’s 11000 pilots not bidding it and you’ll be fine.

Itsajob

Lots of people are bidding to upgrade based on projected percentages in a base caused by fleet growth of a plane that is still grounded. I hope that people planning on being a line holder don’t find themselves on reserve if the max isn’t flying by the time that they hit the line.

Deafguppy

I’m a 737 CA EWR and towards the senior end of reserves. I flew around 40 hours in November. I didn’t try hard to fly or get SC/FSB just rolled the dice all month. I think I picked up a 3-day when it was obvious I was going to fly to avoid the worse trip I could have been assigned.

O2pilot

I’m 50% in my category and there are a few people ahead of me that bid reserve, just because they know they won’t be used. Last month one of them had 45 hours, but got paid the guarantee. They live in base. A better deal than flying 72 hours for 72 hours pay. But some pilots view uncertainty as a bad thing, so reserve is uncertainty, and they hate it. They don’t care if they get crappy trips, because they would rather do a known bad thing than an unknown thing.

The last time I was on reserve I ended up with better trips that the bottom line holders, flew far less hours, and had more time off. Living in base. To each his own!

pilotgolfer

It’s a better deal to fly 45 hours and get paid 98 hours...the power of the VDO!

massgflight

Good comments. If things move again like they just did in the last bid the 737
And bus numbers are going to hit 12000 seniority pretty quick.

iahflyr

It’s the best kept secret in the airline industry. Live in base in a more desirable base, hence more expensive, hence typically a junior base. Fly one extra day per month and it more than makes up for the extra cost of living in a more desirable base. In the end, you’ll actually spend less time away from home because you don’t have to put up with commuting every week. Or fly on a more senior airplane making more money because it’s more junior in a more desirable base. I take home more money than equivalent seniority pilots who are based in DEN/ORD/IAH because I’m on a more senior airplane flying better trips.

When you make what we make, a few thousand a year in extra cost of living doesn’t even register on my quality of life. Commuting, being away from home, flying less senior airplanes and trips, working weekends and holidays, etc... does. You only live once. Live where you want to live.

Grumble

This. Driving to work vs commuting really makes this job completely different. Just make sure you’ll be happy where you live.