Originally Posted by
pinseeker
You only get offered RAT if they change your original trip in such a way that you are put into sub, but the new modification still satisfies a legal sub trip. They will offer your trip back to you as a RAT trip first, then if you turn it down, they will offer it to you again as a sub trip.
The other way this could happen is if your trip was modified such that it took you past contract scheduled limits but still within FAR limits. Then they could offer it to you as a RAT trip, but you could turn it down and they couldn't offer it to you as a sub since it is beyond contract limits.
If the trip they offer you was never your original trip, it will be SUB.
This statement is not true. A substitution trip is a trip that meets your substitution assignment parameters. A RAT trip doesn't fit in the parameters, i.e. a trip that's scheduled termination is not in your substitution window. There are times when your trip gets revised (25.H.2) when the company is required to offer you the changed trip(RAT) prior to putting you into substitution but that is not the only time they will offer you RAT. ANYTIME you are assigned a trip on substitution, one's first words should be, is this a legal substitution trip or a RAT trip. I used to fly a line where I would get sub'd multiple times a month. A few tricks are, Capt X, you are on substitution and we have a trip for you, or "If you turn this down, you are denying sub", and last but not least your trip has been cancelled and you are assigned trip xxx, the showtime was 10 minutes ago so do the best you can.
Realize, you can turn down a RAT trip and still maintain the substitution pay protection. Also, an airport hold is not an airport standby. Totally different. AND availability period and substitution window are two different things.
Just a recommendation but the first time you look at this you don't want it to be 2 am and on the phone with the scheduler.