Originally Posted by BrownDoubles

I'll take a swing; the answer to most of your questions as always is, "it depends." IF we continue hiring 250-300 a year then mobility will continue and schedule QOL will continue to improve rapidly. In 3 years you should be around 60ish% on the FO lists on the domestic side. That will get you a pretty good night sort schedule, choppy day flying, morning turns, an occasional afternoon turn schedule or pretty much what you want for reserve.

Reserve actually isn't typically the thing that goes most junior; it's base trip lines -- choppy schedules 2 on, 1 off, 3 on, 2 off... so it is possible that you wouldn't sit reserve long or at all if you don't want to. Many guys (almost exclusively non-commuters) enjoy bidding reserve and the lifestyle so it goes more senior than much of the bid pack. We are able to see a RADAR list to have a general idea of if you are going to be called on a typical night (there's no way I would gamble on that and chance being out of position) and you are able to preference trips for your on call period which are awarded in seniority order. The combination of those two things definitely increases reserve QOL.

Long call is part of the VTO package so you could avoid it if you wanted. Short call is 1.5 hrs notification so yes, a crashpad would be necessary for a commuter.

I'll leave the ATL commute to the experts but it can't be that bad between UPS, SWA, and DAL.