CAL Folks, a little Reserve advice, please
11-08-2011, 01:49 PM
#1
Line Holder
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Oct 2010
Posts: 25
CAL Folks, a little Reserve advice, please
I'll finish your new hire program mid December. I'm bidding PBS now, and don't have time to nail your Reserve system or PBS. I'll obviously be on reserve for some months, IAH 737. Commuting from the West Coast.
Will always plan to travel down here on the last day off. Would simply like to bunch my days off/on, to travel down here 3 times/month if possible, and to go home on the last day on when possible.
Don't care much about dates/holidays/weekends, etc.
I'll have a car and some type of lodging set up.
I know a little about your reserve system, but only a little.
Do I want A or B?
Any advice on how to PBS these preferences?
Thanks...
Will always plan to travel down here on the last day off. Would simply like to bunch my days off/on, to travel down here 3 times/month if possible, and to go home on the last day on when possible.
Don't care much about dates/holidays/weekends, etc.
I'll have a car and some type of lodging set up.
I know a little about your reserve system, but only a little.
Do I want A or B?
Any advice on how to PBS these preferences?
Thanks...
11-08-2011, 03:05 PM
#3
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Feb 2011
Posts: 3,866
"A" reserve 9-hour callout was meant to be for commuters, but since CAL did not have a long callout prior to the current contract, the folks who wrote this had no idea what traps to look for.
The biggest trap is you can be called out 9 hours prior (duh). So you're sitting at your home by the beach watching a wonderful 9pm sunset with a beer in hand and scheduling calls. First the bad news. You have to report for duty in IAH at 6am. No way to commute in. And....
An “A” Reserve may be converted to a “B” Reserve in order to serve a telephone availability period"
The duty you report for may, and often is, to go on B reserve. So at 9pm scheduling assigns you to IAH 6am short call.
Now the good news. You have one more hour with the beer.
The biggest trap is you can be called out 9 hours prior (duh). So you're sitting at your home by the beach watching a wonderful 9pm sunset with a beer in hand and scheduling calls. First the bad news. You have to report for duty in IAH at 6am. No way to commute in. And....
An “A” Reserve may be converted to a “B” Reserve in order to serve a telephone availability period"
The duty you report for may, and often is, to go on B reserve. So at 9pm scheduling assigns you to IAH 6am short call.
Now the good news. You have one more hour with the beer.
Last edited by APC225; 11-08-2011 at 06:38 PM.
11-08-2011, 03:14 PM
#4
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Feb 2011
Posts: 3,866
So, since a commuter can't really use long call, they have to commute in anyway and sit near the base, a lot of them just bid short call. Short pays 76, long 72.
An advantage to A reserve? "A" reserves can "aggressive pickup" a trip before the "B" reseve and then...
“A” Reserves that pickup in the aggressive window will be released to their Pairing nine (9) hours prior to report, except that “A” Reserves that pickup Trips that begin on the first day of their reserve block will have no phone availability obligation prior to Pairing origination.
But there are many caveats.....
Reserve aggressive pickup window, an “A” Reserve may pick-up Trips within his Base, Equipment and Status that:
i. originate on the following day
ii. exactly match his Calendar Days of availability, except that a Reserve available for five (5) or more days is allowed to pick up Trips with four (4)
iii. do not cause his pay value to equal or exceed a value more than four hours and thirty minutes (4:30) less than his MPG....
An advantage to A reserve? "A" reserves can "aggressive pickup" a trip before the "B" reseve and then...
“A” Reserves that pickup in the aggressive window will be released to their Pairing nine (9) hours prior to report, except that “A” Reserves that pickup Trips that begin on the first day of their reserve block will have no phone availability obligation prior to Pairing origination.
But there are many caveats.....
Reserve aggressive pickup window, an “A” Reserve may pick-up Trips within his Base, Equipment and Status that:
i. originate on the following day
ii. exactly match his Calendar Days of availability, except that a Reserve available for five (5) or more days is allowed to pick up Trips with four (4)
iii. do not cause his pay value to equal or exceed a value more than four hours and thirty minutes (4:30) less than his MPG....
Last edited by APC225; 11-08-2011 at 06:40 PM.
11-08-2011, 03:51 PM
#5
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Feb 2008
Position: 737 Captain
Posts: 872
Welcome brother,
G-line...A number if you are junior to you are not guaranteed to hold a line.
You will be below the G-line. PBS treats everyone below the G-line as if everyone has the same seniority...ie no rhyme or reason to awards in some cases. For December you may end up with a line due to down bidding for holidays. The next month someone junior to you will get a line while you are stuck on reserve even though your whole bid was for a line. That is just how it works.
Regarding your question:
-Bid for a mixed line...They do exist from time to time.
-Some folks have had luck getting a line by waiving min (2) days between work blocks.
-If you are going to be IAH based and want a line, ask for all the BOG, CCS, POS you can eat.
-If you end up on reserve..I would bid "B" reserve but thats just me. You get a higher guarantee 76 vs 72 for A. You should definitely use the aggressive pickup window (APW) and be aggressive. Its the only control you have over your helpless life.
---A word of caution--- Even if you pick up a late showing trip on the APW, scheduling will still put you on call as early as the law allows for you to still be legal for that trip. This means that they can expect you to be on call at 6am even if your trip shows at 1400 and flies until 2100. They have been known to take a pilot off of their trip and give them something else. They routinely use the "Maximum inconvenience clause" located throughout our lovely contract.
I probably don't need to tell you this but try to always have the scheduling section of our toilet paper err...I mean contract with you. When in doubt call the Union Duty Officer number is on the back of your alpa ID backer. They can access your schedule and provide contract disappointments err... I mean advice. Seriously though, They have helped me greatly.
Welcome back to the fray my friend.
I wish I could help more, but I'm still trying to figure out the best way to bid at this company and I have been working at it for a while now.
G-line...A number if you are junior to you are not guaranteed to hold a line.
You will be below the G-line. PBS treats everyone below the G-line as if everyone has the same seniority...ie no rhyme or reason to awards in some cases. For December you may end up with a line due to down bidding for holidays. The next month someone junior to you will get a line while you are stuck on reserve even though your whole bid was for a line. That is just how it works.
Regarding your question:
-Bid for a mixed line...They do exist from time to time.
-Some folks have had luck getting a line by waiving min (2) days between work blocks.
-If you are going to be IAH based and want a line, ask for all the BOG, CCS, POS you can eat.
-If you end up on reserve..I would bid "B" reserve but thats just me. You get a higher guarantee 76 vs 72 for A. You should definitely use the aggressive pickup window (APW) and be aggressive. Its the only control you have over your helpless life.
---A word of caution--- Even if you pick up a late showing trip on the APW, scheduling will still put you on call as early as the law allows for you to still be legal for that trip. This means that they can expect you to be on call at 6am even if your trip shows at 1400 and flies until 2100. They have been known to take a pilot off of their trip and give them something else. They routinely use the "Maximum inconvenience clause" located throughout our lovely contract.
I probably don't need to tell you this but try to always have the scheduling section of our toilet paper err...I mean contract with you. When in doubt call the Union Duty Officer number is on the back of your alpa ID backer. They can access your schedule and provide contract disappointments err... I mean advice. Seriously though, They have helped me greatly.
Welcome back to the fray my friend.
I wish I could help more, but I'm still trying to figure out the best way to bid at this company and I have been working at it for a while now.
11-08-2011, 06:01 PM
#6
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Feb 2011
Posts: 3,866
To add cal73's excellent post, I would also scour the other forum and talk to fellow reserve pilots about the "shadow contract" which consists of many policies that scheduling has created out of whole cloth over time that, due to the union not grieving these policies, have now become contractually binding according to the workings of the RLA.
For example, contract says you can trade a day trip for another day trip if the DAY is positive for reserves. Scheduling says they won't do it because the trip you've got starts at 7am and the trip you're trading it for starts at 10am, and that even though they are in the positive for reserves that day (which is all the contract requires), they aren't positive for reserves at 7am TIME SLOT. No trade. Totally made up policy, now contractually binding.
For example, contract says you can trade a day trip for another day trip if the DAY is positive for reserves. Scheduling says they won't do it because the trip you've got starts at 7am and the trip you're trading it for starts at 10am, and that even though they are in the positive for reserves that day (which is all the contract requires), they aren't positive for reserves at 7am TIME SLOT. No trade. Totally made up policy, now contractually binding.
11-08-2011, 06:04 PM
#7
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jul 2011
Posts: 206
For the new guys, the UDO's are NOT FODM's. They are line pilots who volunteer their time to answer questions when the Union office is closed. I am not a fan of the FODM concept as it appears as though they're management wannnabee's. If they are being paid by the company to sit in the NOC to solve problems where does their allegiance lie? Continental has spent many years destroying the trust of the pilots. Be cautious.
liquid
11-08-2011, 06:10 PM
#8
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Feb 2011
Posts: 3,866
just a minor correction, the udo's cannot access your schedule directly. They only have ccs access, there are however a few individuals who do have access... The udo's have access to those individuals.
For the new guys, the udo's are not fodm's. They are line pilots who volunteer their time to answer questions when the union office is closed. I am not a fan of the fodm concept as it appears as though they're management wannnabee's. If they are being paid by the company to sit in the noc to solve problems where does their allegiance lie? Continental has spent many years destroying the trust of the pilots. Be cautious.
Liquid
For the new guys, the udo's are not fodm's. They are line pilots who volunteer their time to answer questions when the union office is closed. I am not a fan of the fodm concept as it appears as though they're management wannnabee's. If they are being paid by the company to sit in the noc to solve problems where does their allegiance lie? Continental has spent many years destroying the trust of the pilots. Be cautious.
Liquid
.................
11-08-2011, 09:31 PM
#9
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2007
Position: Fero's
Posts: 472
Just a minor correction, the UDO's cannot access your schedule directly. They only have CCS access, there are however a few individuals who do have access... the UDO's have access to those individuals.
For the new guys, the UDO's are NOT FODM's. They are line pilots who volunteer their time to answer questions when the Union office is closed. I am not a fan of the FODM concept as it appears as though they're management wannnabee's. If they are being paid by the company to sit in the NOC to solve problems where does their allegiance lie? Continental has spent many years destroying the trust of the pilots. Be cautious.
liquid
For the new guys, the UDO's are NOT FODM's. They are line pilots who volunteer their time to answer questions when the Union office is closed. I am not a fan of the FODM concept as it appears as though they're management wannnabee's. If they are being paid by the company to sit in the NOC to solve problems where does their allegiance lie? Continental has spent many years destroying the trust of the pilots. Be cautious.
liquid
Sorry for the thread drift, carry on...
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