Originally Posted by
Razorback flyer
When I got hired, I asked an ATL chief pilot type if it was ok to commute from long call. His answer was "of course, that's what its there for." I then asked about that uncomfortable period in the later afternoon/early evening, where pretty much no commuter could make a 12 hour call out. His answer was that "scheduling knows about it, just explain that you've missed the last flight out, and if they give you any grief let us know."
The CVG cheif pilot office gave a different view in one of their "Pireps" articles recently about "reserve roullette."
Seems most commuters sit long call from home, and take their chances. After all, sitting long call from a hotel or crash pad kinda defeats the purpose of long call. (Although, if you live in base, particulary CVG, long call is like a day off...) Seems like its an issue that could use some clarification.
While it may have applied to long call, I got the feeling they were talking about guys sitting short call at home knowing they couldn't make it. I think guys were doing this just betting they wouldn't get called. My experience thus far has been the schedulers are good at providing closer to 16 yours of notice. I recommend sitting long call at home. If you get in a tight situation be honest with the schedulers, they will work with you. I couldn't make a short call one day and the scheduler gave me two options...a later short call or a personal drop(cost about 4 hours of pay & coverage must be above min required). I thought it was very nice of them. The key if you get in a pickle is to BE HONEST! Lying will get you in bigger trouble then not being able to make it to work.