Originally Posted by
Davedave
Anyone that suggests reserve is a choice hasn't been around very long or has but is a petulant self-serving jack wagon.
Been at UAL 13 years and am a 737FO, by choice, and love it!
Every holiday off, every weekend off, first choice of vacation, premium pay every month, and trip drops anytime =
100% control over quality of life.
Everytime I fly with a junior Captain who complains non-stop, I ask: “Can you hold narrowbody FO in base?
Answer: “um, oh, ahh”... reserve sucks”. Commuting sucks, etc, etc, etc.
I also hear wide-body FO’s in my base complaining about being on reserve and working every holiday...
I just shake my head, smile and keep my big secret that happiness in this business is seniority in BES, not upgrading or flying wide-bodies.
To answer your question:
reserve is a choice unless you’ve been hired in the past 2-years. You knew the seniority game before hired, knew the bases at United before you applied and yet you have “decided” to upgrade from the 737/320 BY CHOICE, unless of course you’ve been here less then 24-months, at which point you can bid from the new-hire assigned 756 fleet to a 737/320 FO position.
Long-story short: anyone here more than 24/ months and not in the 737/320 fleet is on reserve by choice.
(And yes, I would still be a senior line holder, but bid an SRL Line for April to avoid crap flying and re-assignments...again, by CHOICE!)