Originally Posted by tomgoodman

Old-timers used to describe the reserve system of 50 years ago: When a trip came up, it was offered to the senior reserve pilot, and he could turn it down! It was then offered to the next-most-senior reserve pilot, and so on until somebody took it or the bottom guy was stuck with it. Some very senior pilots bid reserve and only flew when they felt like it or were about to go non-current. Such a deal!