Originally Posted by
c402fr8er
Most of what you've asked has been answered already.
We use PBS. When on reserve, you bid for days off, and that's it. You get 11 off a month. How long before you can actually hold the days off you want is anyone's guess if you upgrade off the street. That will depend on how long it takes for people junior to you to hit the line, and what days off you want, relative to everyone else in your base, and how well staffed we are.
Its a small airline, its entirely possible that your seniority could be enough to be junior line holder at one base and junior reserve at another.
There was a time that upgrades off the street had lines almost immediately. And the last group of captains that upgraded out of indoc have been on reserve since they hit the line in summer of 2017. I know at least one individual who will be going to United in the next few months who will have been on reserve their entire time here.
Best anyone can say is, your experience will be somewhere in-between those extremes. If you've been in this business long enough to have the experience to upgrade, you've been around long enough to know asking for predictions about future movement is a guessing game at best.
Yes, I hear you on all you said hear. Never have used PBS but many pilots talk about it. Pretty much works well when you start to get some seniority is what it sounds like.
Those that have been pretty much DECs have you had any discussion with any of them about how their reserve schedules actually unfold from what they requested?
How easy is it to get to airport from crashpad w/o car? What about hotels that offer crew discounted rates? I've had a car in a base before but found it to be more of a hassle but then again it was an older car.