Originally Posted by
Gunfighter
No, they would have held a line instead of reserve IF we still had SILs.
We pulled them down (for good reason), so I will be flying a line in September. Someone junior to me could have had a line instead of reserve if I was at home on a SIL instead of flying 75 hours in Sept. The point is that SILs aren't automatically bad for pilots on reserve. Some of them would be lineholders instead of reserve, because pilots senior to them are out on a SIL.
Something you are neglecting is when there is higher reserve staffing there are many pilots who can hold a line who bid reserve with the idea of getting full pay for not working. Since there were SILs in your category there are likely pilots like that in your category who wouldn't do it if SILs were awarded since reserves would fly more. In fact, lines may very well go more junior without SILs present. The numbers point to SILs being bad for reserves overall, especially since they reduce the number of days off for all the reserves (eliminating the extra X day).