Reserves are on duty 18 days a month. When I was on red eye reserve it went JR. I think it started at 5:30pm so a two hour call meant you could be on at the gate by 7:30.

Covid changed a lot of things. So this might not be accurate now.

We don’t sit ready at the airport but other than that SkyWest was much better rules wise for reserve than AS.

Also when I was hired management was pretty rah rah about hiring 800 pilots and I think they hired 450. I seriously doubt we will see 250 in 21-22 but who knows. With those numbers you may be able to hold open flying by the end of the hiring cycle, if hired at the beginning of the wave of 250. Depending on the base.

That would be best case. If you didn’t get bear case then yes it could mean years on reserve if we didn’t hire again. Lately we have been shrinking to profitability and giving the little new flying almost entirely to Horizon and SkyWest. If this trend continues which seems 100% the case presently:

I’d plan on worst case being hired and spending years on reserve in SEA or LAX on the 737.

For once in my aviation career I got pretty lucky and I can barely hold a line with over 400 pilots hired below me. Step trades do not work out generally. I usually get SE Alaska winter ops and east coast summer ops. I bid avoid red eyes.

I’d be top 10 in the open flying lines but there are only 30 lines or so of open flying. 3 of those lines worked out for the days off I wanted. So open flying is a risk but it beats reserve. At the current hiring trend you’d need two hiring cycles to get into my level of seniority. That would be 2-4 years.

Hope this helps.


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