Originally Posted by
RV5M
Your reserve availability period is considered your FDP. People are confusing the little "FDP" they see in the Flica app as something it's not. If there's time left on your reserve availability period, even after a flight, they can call you. The 10 hours rest, etc. is for lineholders, which is defined in 117. Reserve pilots get their 10 hours after completing a reserve availability period which is, again, considered their FDP. Flica says FDP during and after a flight assigned to a reserve pilot because that's how the system works. It doesn't mean they're extending anything. Just something they have to put in there to make old technology work right.
This was also said in the ALPA call. They sounded a little surprised that anyone would even think they didn't have to answer their phone on reserve after completing a flight.
You are not on reserve after completing a flight. That is illegal.
There is nothing accurate about what you just wrote. FDP is not RAP. You're giving scheduling too much credit. This stuff happens at legacy carriers too. This isn't unique to regionals. In my opinion, we at the regional level are just populated with people who don't understand, and choose to not learn how this works. But frankly, you (the pilot) will be the one to get burned for doing something illegal. Not the scheduler.
Their sole job is to get flights covered. It makes zero difference to them if you do something illegal. The flight was covered, and there's a 99% chance the FAA will never know. Some of these schedulers are 19, 20, 21 years old. Not just at Mesa, but at majors too. They can be wrong. If you accept an illegal flight assignment, that's on you, not the scheduler. Frankly, they bank and RELY on people not understanding regs to get flights covered. Example; someone like you.
I just jumpseated into IAH today, sat up front, and talked with the UA pilots about this exact thing. This occurs there too, a lot. The difference is that they seem to understand their rights and call out scheduling when something isn't right.
It really irks me how you post your comments in such a matter of fact and certain way, and you're completely wrong. If you want to go work like that, go for it. But don't go and spew that crap around like its gospel. You're doing it wrong.
Considering how crappy this industry can be to us at times, this is something we can control, and should. I don't care who you are, this is your profession, and you should be smarter than the scheduler that's simply matching names with open flights on a computer. Give yourself some credit. Don't put your certs in the hands of some 21 year old scheduler that was hired 3 weeks ago.
*you are not on reserve just because you have FDP remaining. If that were the case, every pilot on their last day of a 4-day should sit on their ass at the airport waiting for their FDP to expire before commuting home. Regardless of being a line holder or a reserve pilot.
HOWEVER, if they call you and you answer the phone, and you have FDP remaining... Time to go back to work. So don't answer. You're not obligated to. Until you see a reserve shift on your schedule, you are off.