ORF is a junior base with no signs of changing for FO's. Getting it won't be a problem.


Simple question: can reserves pick up extra flying - yes. You're still limited by FAR 117 (eg can't be on duty 7 days in a row) and in most cases you can't pick up stuff on your assigned reserve days even if you want to. ORF doesn't tend to have a lot of open time compared to other bases, especially CLT.

You're not likely to fly much on reserves - they use reserves to fill holes that nobody else wants. Like deadhead ORF-CLT to operate CLT-SDF and spend the night then double deadhead back SDF-DCA-ORF the next morning.


PSA has gone on a pilot hiring spree in 2017 and 2018. More than half of the 1800+ pilot group was hired in the past 24 months. There are signs that is slowing down significantly. IDK who else to say is definitively better, but I think you'll be hard pressed to fly more than a couple hundred hours in your first 12 months at PSA if you start mid 2019.