Originally Posted by
tahoejace
I think a good point to stress is, you don't get a guaranteed number of days off, rather you have a guaranteed minimum number of days you owe the company each month. The rest are your days off. Living within driving distance of a base helps, but if not, then you're likely traveling to/from your base on a day off, i.e. NOT one of the 17 days you owe the company.
I live on the west coast and currently have ANC as my base. So, I usually travel to ANC on my last day off, operate for 17 days, then go home. Lately, I've been lucky and have had my last operating flight land early in the morning on day 17, which has allowed me to travel and get home by dinner on my last work day. Doesn't always happen that way, so I don't plan on it, but I've been lucky the last few months.
This is not correct. We don't "owe" the company 17 days per month. The CBA specifically says that the maximum number of days we can be scheduled in a month is 17. Maximum... not minimum. But this "owe 17 days" thing has made its way into the company lore.
Now... many lines are built to 17 days. Because the company is lame like that. No reward for seniority. However, there are plenty of lines built to 15, 16, and even 14 days in a month.