Originally Posted by
JaxUAviator
So I'm curious...how's the schedule at Silver for someone who lives in base? What is the length of most trips (how many days)? Are there a lot of days where you start and end in base? How much flexibility do you have in your scheduling (i.e. how hard is it to drop trips on days you don't want to fly and pick up trips on your days off)? How long does one generally stay on reserve? How is the schedule for a typical reserve guy (again how easy or hard is it to drop/pick up reserve days)?
I know these are a lot of questions, but I'm trying to get a good feel for what the QOL is like in regards to the typical pilot's schedule.
Thanks!
Flying lines vary from 1 to 4 day trips, start and end in base, at least here in FLL, believe the ATL and IAD systems are all day trips. About reserve, since I've been sitting reserve for a while now and I can speak for FLL. Reserve lines here have been only with 11 days off per month, can't pick up or drop reserve days, as per my experience in trying to do so. You can trade with others, but that's about it. I'm in the 120s on seniority and I'm still getting reserve lines, because of too many pilots and not enough lines for us. You'll go to either the ATL or IAD system and I believe you will not be on reserve for more than a few months. ATL and IAD are reserve bases, some guys are based there because they either live there, or for commuting reasons.