Originally Posted by
SVCTA
They're treating reserves like line pilots with no line. I posted a last month that on average I am flying 8.5 days out of every 10 available days, and that average has increased since then. I fly every single day I am on reserve with very rare exception; Last month I flew every day. And with the lack of reserve availability it is impossible to swap X-days or manipulate my schedule at all. That is most definitely not the intended function of reserve pilots, at least not historically speaking.
To be fair, reserve for me was a choice I made to be a junior guy in a senior seat. I get that and that is fine. But this is my 4th airline and I am 2nd generation airline pilot so I know what reserve life should look like and this ain't that. Fortunately, the guard rails we do have up are nice (18-hour LC, report times, etc), but the company is getting a little far afield with how low the reserve levels are, at least for my NB A seat in ATL, which is all I pay attention to. The short call abuse doesn't affect me because I never sit SC. In the last year I have actually had unused SC 3 times. If I get assigned SC I usually get a trip assigned to me a few hours later.
I credited 105 hours last month on reserve (with one RRPY credit). I average about 80 and my RAW scores are routinely in the 150 range before I fill up or the month ends. I don't mind breaking RLV in credit every month, but I work 17-18 days a month to do it with no ability to manipulate my schedule.
This sounds like an Atlanta problem...