If you are a line holder (ie not on reserve) you get paid for each flight you fly with, plus you may get extra pay for scheduling reserves if your regional has work rules which require this. At a better regional, you might fly 80 hours and get paid 100.

If you are on reserve, you get paid guarantee (75 hours is typical) regardless of if you get called to fly or not. If you get called for only a small amount of flying, say 25 hours, then you still only get paid 75 hours. If you get called a lot, and actually fly (or credit due to work rules) more than 75, then you get paid the value of what you worked.

Both reserves and line holders also get paid an hourly per diem (typically $1.60) for each hour that they are on duty away from home. A reserve who does not get called out does not get per diem.


What you REALLY want to know is:

Do new hires at your airline spend a lot of time on reserve? If not, then you'll probably get paid 85+ hours.

If they do spend a lot of time on reserve, then you want to know if the reserves get used a lot. If so, you could still make more than 75. If not, then it will be straight 75 hours, with a little per diem when you do fly.