Originally Posted by
afterburn81
That's the thing. It's no doubt that reserve sucks but we put up with it because it seems as if there is an end in sight. But what happens when you have another hiccup in the economy and no attrition combined with a HUGE pilot group, guys are stuck on reserve for 3-4 years. Yes that's just about the case now. Guys that have been at ASA for 3+ years are still on reserve with no choice other than to quit.
Reserve rules are definitely a major concern. Our MEC has no desire to improve the reserve rules. Guess what? None of them are on reserve and most probably spent very little time on reserve as new-hires or upgrades. They don't understand that reserve life can be long and hard at regionals now, and reserve rules need mega-enhancements. We line holders have it great for the most part, now its time for the reserves to get some cake, too..."Pay it forward," as you say. This old mentality of "reserve is such a small part of your career that we don't want to focus on reserve rules because it detracts from the line holder benefits" doesn't fly anymore.
However, seniority is seniority. Reserve rules need changing, but forcing a line holding pilot to fly a reserve schedule is unacceptable. I hope that the entire pilot group answers that question with a resounding "NO." We need to FIX THE PROBLEM (reserve rules) rather than placing a band-aid (line holders forced to fly reserve) on the wound.