Originally Posted by
FangsF15
Of course it depends on the airline. At Delta, you would be too junior to get one day trips on the initial bid. On reserve, you can "Personal Drop" (P/D) reserve days IF they exceed their required manning for that day (You can start dropping days on the 20th of the month prior). You can also drop days via Mil Leave either before or after the 20th, but it will affect your days/pay a little if you wait. Mil Leave gives you almost unlimited flexibility, but they will watch for folks abusing it - so don't stein the bros...
Depending on how you dropped the days, you could end up with a single day of reserve, during which they could give you a singe day's trip (probably broken up from an existing trip). More likely, you would be put on Short Call. If you live in base, you stay home and get paid. If not, you will have to commute in for the day.
In the long term, once you hold a line, you can bid for min credit, which would probably give you about three four day trips, or four three day trips. If they have reserve coverage on all those days, you can just P/D the trip, and you are free. If there is not reserve coverage, they may let you drop it if someone else is willing to pick it up from you.
Hope that helps. It's very confusing at first.
A response from Albie in another thread about the airlines wanting a code of contact.
"The airlines can go suck it.
When I was a Guardsman, the nation got a full up combat qualified F-15C instructor pilot, who was governed by the same UCMJ that covered active duty officers. I was available to be activated, deployed, placed in combat, or in some cases civil defense roles (F-15 pilots in New Orleans manning checkpoints, etc after Katrina) at a moments notice. I maintained the same currencies required by an F-15 pilot on active duty. Cost to the country? About $35-$50k a year or less on average. Medical benefits? None. Retirement? Not until age 60, and then at a discount to the active duty guys. The nation got (and gets from the rest of you still serving) an experienced, capable, ready to go to war group of pilots for pennies on the dollar compared to active duty pilots. Post 9/11 GI Bill? Not for me. Tricare? Nope... But just as much chance to get activated and go get killed in War or Peacetime as anyone else serving....
Airlines get a lot from government, including airfares for GS and military folks, military charter business, CRAF payments, as well as the government paying for the infrastructure of the industry with ATC, the FAA, NTSB, and safety programs in a host of agencies.
What does the government ask in exchange? "Let my servicemen serve unmolested, and protect their jobs..."
To me, its a bargain for the taxpayers. The total force provides great backup and insurance to the active duty, at a cost that saves our nation a tremendous amount of money.
So a few airline CEOs and others don't like the fact a few pilots out there who are serving their country get a break? I don't care. I don't care about their bonus, the shareholder concerns, or their scheduler's complaints. If we are going to defend this country, and deal with threats from Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, ISIS, and whoever else wants to challenge us, its going to be expensive. We are broke as a nation, and we need to find a way to do what we do with the resources we have. The ANG and Reserves offer us a way to do more with less expense. Make it too hard to do both jobs, and the pilots will make the choice many have already made--to give up on the military side of things. The government knows that if they bend to the airline CEOs, in a few years they won't have a reserve force to manage. The airlines need to adapt. I think the costs could easily be absorbed with a reduction in management's compensation or stock buyback plans."
I think this pretty much sums it up.......