Originally Posted by
rickair7777
LC is going to either a) suck, or b) go very senior.
Typically it sucks. They will use LC first for anything which is known in advance (saving SC for last-minute sick calls which LC can't cover). They also can typically convert you to short call X number of days per month, and they will.
So you're either flying or sitting SC. LC might be useful if SC is under-utilized and you don't want to travel to base and spend every weeks sitting in a pad.
I almost didn’t want to respond, because I think you and F15andMD11 make good points a lot and I agree with almost everything ya’ll post.
But, I think LC varies by airline to airline. My experience exactly mimics PRS’s. I’ve sat LC living in base for almost 4 years now. It took me about 6 months to get it, and I’ve never done anything else since. This year, I was able to complete all my Reserve stuff on my OFF days without ever dropping even a day of Mil Leave. I looked just to present facts. Last year, I worked 110 days with 72 overnights. I was converted to SC only 3 times.
Just so guys get a fair look...This month, the last line of LC went 3 from the bottom in CLT. Just looking at the bottom 10% in this Base (#550-611 on Airbus), 22 were awarded LC, 20 were awarded lines, and the other 39 got SC.
What you say may be true where you work, but I feel you guys are making blanket statements. Every airline and every base will vary, but at least at AA, a newhire can expect to sit LC very quickly and also expect to be awarded a line relatively quickly if they do choose. Of course, things can and will always change, but for now, this is true here