Sorry... after all that I almost forgot to answer the real question at hand.


You can not be used in the first hour. That is you can not be on a flight where the posted departure time is before an hour after your report time. So, if your RR shift starts at 5AM and they're having you deadhead the flight departure time can't be until 6AM if they're having you fly, you have the right not to close the door until 6AM. After that its fair game for be at the gate ASAP. It has been my experience that they will still give you an hour to hour and a half notice. They will usually give you the flights that are just under the time required to call a regular reserve in. For example for a home reserve there is a 1.5 hour call out plus 30 minutes for charts/crew room plus 30 minutes to preflight/shut the door(2.5h total.) So if someone calls in sick and is already on a trip for example, and his next turn departs in an hour and a half, they'll have a RR fly the next turn and by the time that trip returns to base they'll have a home reserve there to pick up the rest of the trip.