Originally Posted by iaflyer

Just throwing my 2 cents in here - I've been on reserve for the last two years (but not this month, training pushed me to a line holder) but I found reserve to be well, palatable. It's that or downgrade to a different airplane. I'm happy with what I'm flying. When I was NYC based, I could make it on LC, so there were times I sat reserve at home. SC obviously meant a commute to the base, but hey, it was better than those AA guys who sat for DAYS in the crashpad, not getting a trip and not going home.

Now I'm live where I'm base, and in base reserve is pretty sweeet. LC without a trip is basically a day off, and SC means no beer and have to stay around town. I can still go work out, take kid to the park, go the mall, etc.

In the end, someone has to sit reserve, as a junior guy that falls to me. Fine - it's the airline business. In my experience, a lot of the complaints about reserve come from those who commute a long way. The closer you are to the base, the easier it is.

About the separate lineholder/reserve system - no way, hate the idea. It's nice having the option to bid down to reserve when you really need something off, or for a senior reserve guy to get a line once in while.