Originally Posted by
Vsop
Sorry to invade your forum just watching from the sidelines and wanted to correct some info in here. At DAL reserve pilots are limited to Average Line Value (ALV) +15 hours. ALV changes month to month but must fall between 72-84 hours for narrow body aircraft which for us includes the 767-300 and 71-85 hours for wide body aircraft. Most summer months see ALVs around 80 and winter months in the low-mid 70s.
This isn't exactly accurate. It is true that reserves are able to go to the ALV+15, but only if they grab you while you're below the reserve guarantee. The reserve guarantee is the ALV minus 2. Once you reach your reserve guarantee, you are "Full" have have no further obligation to the company. For example, if you have 65 hours for the month, and the reserve guarantee is 74 (76 ALV minus 2). You fly a 2 day trip worth 10:30, and that brings you to 75:30 for the month. You are now over your guarantee, so you are done for the month. OTOH, if you flew a one day trip for 5:15, you'd now be 70:15, you could still be assigned a trip all the way up to the ALV+15 depending on the days of availability you have left.
Many pilots attempt to fill up at the beginning of the month so they fill up before they run out of days of availability. This is something reserves can preference for trip coverage.