Just do away with reserve lines....

For each BES, build 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 day reserve pairings. They are bid in PBS just like a regular flying assignment. Every one is a line holder. You can pick them up and trade them as a normal trip. The pay is 5 hours per day.

We already have the PBS computer programmed to do this with mixed lines. All they need to do is write a side letter and we could turn it on in July. You still have SRM to handle scheduling melt-downs. 15 reserve days at 5 hours per day pays 75 hours per month. You would find Senior pilots bidding and picking them up because they probably won't work on those days anyway. When scheduling get's nervous about reserve coverage they could throw in a reserve pairing worth 5 hours per day and someone would pick it up for the pay.

Unfortunately, our Union would never entertain the thought of this idea because it doesn't fit into there very small "inside the box" negotiating rules. There are a lot of good ideas that Pilot's have out there. The Volunteer SME's in this Union just can't listen.