Ready reserve, as airport standby was called at my commuter, tended to actually go senior.

It was a bid line just like our R and S blocks are. There were days/times assigned just like short call here. Example 4am-12pm, 8 hour shifts with 4 hours min pay for the day (really it was a 2:1 duty rig that paid). Any time you were assigned a trip that ended past 12 pm you were essentially going over guarantee because you were paid on duty per day.

I bid it as a commuter because the first line would start at 12pm-8am then an 8 hour rest period then 4am-12pm ending at 12 pm on your last day. It was completely commutable on both sides, and you never once had to talk to scheduling. I also flew very little.

It was also popular with guys who lived close to base because you could sit at home. It was a 10 min call-back period so you just had to be ready to jump when they called. Instead of sitting at the airport, most of the time I slept at my pad.

It felt like a real job, because you only had to "work" 8 hours a day. We had our own ready reserve room sectioned off from the main crew room, with recliners and a TV/video gaming system (it was after all, the commuters) and most guys brought their laptops. Generally you'd sleep till about 10:30-11:00am then wander around an hour then go home if you stayed at the airport.

Really a super cush gig, especially for those who lived nearby. If I lived near the airport, I wouldn't have bid anything else. That being said, our S reserves hardly work here so there isn't much incentive at this point to bid a hot reserve block if it even existed.

Now, converting an R or S reserve to hot deserve would be BS. The only way it should exist in the company's bag of tricks is dedicated lines of it.