Thanks for this. Can you be more specific about your reserve rules? Can you self-assign, bid commutable blocks, fly on days off above guarantee, trade days, etc?

As a point of data, the bottom 14ish pilots in each seat at FDX LAX cannot hold reserve.

Half the guys here at Alaska don't pay any attention to the outside world and it doesn't help that the Contract Comparison that Alaska ALPA put out was short on details and incorrect on some important points. Most of the people here look at Comparison and think that Alaska isn't that far off.

Fingers crossed that the negotiation committee knows more than they are letting on

There is no limit to days off in a row awarded via PBS, so you can work all of your days in a single block. They can also connect with a previous month. In these cases the company seems to award a 30 hour rest period every 3-4 days to reset you to being legal for a 4 day trip, giving extra days off. They get the advantage of choosing where your maximum availability is while you get the benefit of extra time off. Since you go back to long call after the 30 hour rest period you end up with a minimum of well more than 30 hours before your next assignment or short call.

All reserve pilots are long call. You can be escalated to short call up to 6 times per month. If you sit short call without an assignment you are given an hour credit towards guarantee. Short call callout is "promptly available" which is generally understood to mean something along the lines of " approximately two hours in normal traffic" for most bases. It's intentionally not a hard limit so that you don't have to stress about traffic changing throughout the day or if it's worse than you thought it would be. Some pilots report a lot of short call escalations relative to the maximum, but it really depends on how your day off blocks fall.

You can "yellow slip" to preference flying on your reserve days although there's no guarantee you'll get them. A big money maker for reserve pilots is if they can setup to "green slip" (which is premium flying) on their days off. If you green slip on your days off as a reserve the trip is paid on top of reserve guarantee AND you are given back those days off on your next scheduled reserve on call days that month (if none are left they go into a payback day bank for use later in the year, it rolls into extra vacation days if you do not use them in that case). You can also preference to fly on days off, which has a position in the coverage ladder, but those slips are more tactical in use.

On certain fleets reserve pilots can do what they call "rolling thunder" in which they bid to be off the beginning of the month and repeatedly green slip as the month goes on removing all of their reserve days and putting all of those trips on top of their original reserve guarantee, resulting in incredibly high monthly credits. This tactic seems to work best on junior fleets and bases, but even in more senior bases and positions it can happen at least partially.

You can trade days based off of reserve availability and some other rules. Basically, if you aren't making the staffing worse you can move your days on your own.

Reserve availability is posted and you have a visible position on the assignment list based on how much you've flown and the number of days you have available. You can also see what reserves have been given what assignment. Reserve assignments are structured and you have a good idea of what your chances of getting used are on a given day by your position on the list.

If you reach the reserve guarantee in a given month you are labeled "full" and free of obligation for the remainder of the month. You have to meet or exceed the guarantee for this to happen. So if the guarantee is 75 hours, and you credit 75:00 you are off the rest of the month. If you are at 74:59 they can assign you another trip but you will be off if there are any days remaining after you complete it as you will then be full. Green slips do not count towards being full.

Great information. Thanks for posting.

“Wow.... that’s almost identical to reserve at AS.”
Said no AS reserve pilot.... ever.

I said commuting to reserve sucks. As in, commuting to then sit around xx amout of days away from your family hoping for a phone call and maybe flying. Maybe some people like it, I absolutely hated spending 5 days in a crashpad without flying. Although if you are constant LCR who can only be converted a couple times per month, then maybe more of reserve can be spent at home. To each their own.

AS reserve sucks. It's barely tolerable living 30 minutes from the airport. I can't imagine how guys do it commuting to reserve here. The AS contract was clearly constructed for a pilot group that predominantly lives in base. Anyone coming in should do their due diligence/homework. What you wrote sounds like a really awesome reserve style/setup. But if anything thinks we at AS are gonna go from AS reserve rules to all of that stuff you just wrote for our contract 2020, they're in for a sore disappointment.

Ahhhh yes.... the timeless “They’ll never give us that!”... defeatist argument. And.... I get it!!! Kasher evisceration in 08.... management infiltration of the Union in subsequent years... and a whole boat load VSP’rs. Hoping that between the VXrs (a lot of whom this ain’t their first rodeo), commuters, and new hires (within the last 4 years) we can set a new course. If you can’t negotiate a great contract in this environment.... then you won’t ever.

You just listed a whole lotta things that stood in the way of getting/having better contracts. All of those road blocks are/were very real obstacles to our CBA. Why do you glaze over them as if it couldn’t happen again? Why do you scoff at anyone who admits those things happened before?

Had a DAL 330 CA in the jump the other day. He said their no vote 4 years ago was Delta’s first time EVER voting no on a contract. How many years did it take them to vote no on something? 70-80 years? Had we gotten our vote on the ‘17 CBA or for our original ‘18 section 6, maybe we too would have voted no for the first time, maybe not but don’t brush off the past as if we haven’t been severely impacted by it. Use it as a tool to learn from and become a more informed voter.

And again you'd be wrong. United has such a transparent reserve system, that pilots can be "strategic" when they commute in for their reserves.

Delta has so much flexibility that you can drop the days you need and pick up premium later in the month.

Educate yourself on what's available out there before you spout off blanket statements. And if you're one of those who are willingly unable to fight for positive changes at this company, then quit.

I’m NOT brushing them off.... that’s why I said.... “I get it...” and then listed them..... there were three separate statements. A. Statement of a common cynical and defeatist attitude at AS. B. An acknowledgement of some of the possible reasons why that attitude is prevalent. C. A statement implying that cultural shifts that have occurred both within the pilot ranks at AS as well as exterior market forces in the industry have produced about as good an opportunity for success as one could want.

But..... “they’ll never give us THAT....” or “.... THAT’ll never happen...”.... THAT, if it’s prevalent enough, (and you can bet your sweet a$$, the company wants you to believe that), will absolutely ensure failure.

Well then my apologies. I read it as sarcasm.

Why is it the angry crowd telling others to go quit?

Delta hasn't been in ALPA that long.

So how many unionized years did it take them to vote no on a contract? How long did it take them to unionize in the first place? There’s a contingency here that places other pilot groups on pedestals and lives under the illusion that AS pilots are the only group to have accepted status quo in the past. We’ve not gotten the chance since ‘13 to vote on anything, unable to participate in the latest round of contract negotiations. I think that just like other pilot groups have recently seen the gains to be made by not accepting the first mediocre offer, we here at AS will follow suit and fall back within the margins of the industry.

That’s also understandable... especially on an APC board. 👍🏼👍🏼

No kidding, right?!

I looked at his post history, and this person literally has not ONE friendly or even polite post going back at least two years. Each one is anger filled. Each one.

I’ve never understood the perpetually angry types. Too exhausting to be angry for long.

United also can assign you airport standby a few times a month right?

I get it for VX commuters who got bought and yanked out of their happy place. But they should have moved on by now rather than wallowing in it. Of course if they're over age 55, they're probably stuck wallowing.

I sold a home and moved because of AS. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. I was lucky I was single and didn’t have kids in school etc... That would be brutal.


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I didn’t sell my house, got a property manager and rented it out. I left with the NY base closure and moved to LA county with the wife and young kids. It’s not worth commuting to reserve at this place. Everyone knows the contract sucks but at this point both here and Alyeska, it seems quite a few VX guys are complaining just for the sake of complaining. The hatred of the 737 and the “proudly all Boeing” sticker is a prime example.

Seriously. I wonder if SW pilots complain about the 737 as much as some here? Some folks have their priorities all mixed up. Who cares which narrow body A/C we fly? We’re not cutting the checks for the planes and we have no say in the matter so why the bi+chin n moanin? Last I checked they pay the same.

Yes, they do.

Talk to anybody who's been around the legacies for a while, they'll give you an earful about the 73 because they have plenty of things to compare it to.

Does the bus do many redeyes out of LAX or SFO?

Not a more true statement on a message board, just ask a grievance committee member. Anyone on here complaining about being violated should be talking to their reps. We’re the union, committee and committee members should be replaced if they are not doing what’s best for the pilots.

The union, in general, has a bunch of hard working, great people. However, many of the important committees have people who have either been immersed in the Alaska "culture" for too long or they forget why they volunteered in the first place.

Contract compliance does a great job but they spend too much time talking to management and sometimes forget how bad some of the CBA language is. From my experience, they definitely have the pilots' backs but their perspective can be skewed which can be infuriating. Anyone who is not happy with Compliance's answer can always grieve it and they will often win.

you can point fingers...union...management...logo...737...thruth is... IT ALL SUCKS!

just put this on the plane: "Proudly Blowing Boeing" and be done with it.

for the young pilots looking to come here...if you already live in the god forsaken and beloved PNW...and love the smell of fish on your hands...then by golly come on! because we need you... pilots are bailing from this place like rats out of downtown Baltimore...