Originally Posted by
hockeypilot44
This is a great post. I can't even remember last time a pilot bragged about how many days off he had. Everyone brags about how much credit they can get. I fly with pilots who will say, "I have the next 8 days off, but I'm going to try for a greenslip next couple days. If that fails, I'll just white slip or pick something off swap board. I only have 80 hours this month." The days of everyone making the same amount of money, 70 hours per month, sure would be nice.
Ok, I will bite. I am in a category (ATL 717A) where the company refuses to build a reasonable trip mix. Many months 90+% of the trips are 4-5 day trips--this for a domestic category.
So this month (July) is the third straight that I will be on reserve by choice. Due to vacation I was able to create a reserve line where I am never on call more than three days at a time. The same was the case in June.
My philosophy? If the company insists on only building 4-5 day trips--in a domestic category no less--then I will use the contractual rules available to me (min on call day rule of 3 for reserve line construction in domestic categories...if you don't understand that sentence read the PBS Gouge) to never be on call more than three days at a time!
In June, between that, being appropriately staffed, and nine days of vacation, I flew seven total days. Some of that flying was easy stuff too. I got the reserve guarantee plus vacation for a monthly value of around 85 hours or so.