Originally Posted by
iLikeMoose
I searched this question because I am sure it has been answered before, but the search function wasn't very helpful.
Newbie question: I would really prefer to minimize the amount of flying I get while on reserve if I can help it. Doing short call doesn't bother me (I live very close to the airport) but more than anything I would just like to avoid getting assigned the early AM short call. Is it a good strategy to YS short call starting at a better hour, just to avoid getting the less desirable short call slots? I am very junior so I figure I will be getting lots of short call anyways?
You can always put in preferences "if needed for short call". Scheduling can be a little hit or miss actually following that though. Plus there are a lot of other factors if you are trying to avoid early AM short call. Say you are on the 4 day list Monday and 3 day list Tuesday. If everyone else on the 3 day list is starting that day as their first day of LC they cannot be given SC before 1000, so even if you are the most senior pilot no matter what you request you will get the 0600 SC if that's what they need. Keep in mind also that if you YS to be first for SC you can reduce the time between short calls to less than 18 hours (all the way down to 10 hours if you want).