Reserve Flexibility
 

Hey guys I currently have a CJO and was told to expect a class date in late summer. My question is when I'm on reserve how easy is it to drop or trade a reserve day once I'm awarded the days and call window? Both for short call and long call. I know reserve gets you 17days awarded and the call out times vary but that's about it. I have 2 kids so flexibility of my schedule is a big consideration when bidding. Thank you.

Welcome to AA we are happy to have you. The answer is “it’s a b*tch”. Not only do you have to manually find a trade partner but then you have to manually call scheduling to make the swap. Can’t drop days unless it comes out of next years vacation. We have some of the worst IT I’ve ever seen. Incredible that SkyWest has a better system. end rant. Having said all that the reserve system is great if you’re senior. Unfortunately you’ll be worked quite a bit until you breach that 80% in base number. The good news is our worthless association was able to keep 85 hours max so you’ll never be worked more than that.

Anyway, welcome aboard.

-vv

Not much flexibility. Plan on working up to the 85 hour limit every month until you get some seniority.

It is 18 days on call not 17

along those lines, is there a bunch of WhatsApp groups for manual trading and if so how do I find them? Long time lineholder back to reserve

You are potentially able to move duty free periods (Days Off). You can do it two ways. 1. Trade with another pilot, 2. Call Crew Scheduling a few days prior to that reserve block and ask to move one or more of your days off to another day. I have asked CS to move a day off 5 times in the past year. Each time they have moved it to the day I wanted, except for one (It would have made me 117 illegal). The key is to move it within a few days so they see they have coverage. I usually do it to extend a larger block of days off. CS can say no.

but you will Vmax in 16 days- if you work all of them.

Reserve rules got a lot worse for those junior last contract cycle. Prepare for the worst

I'm sure someone will give you a hard time for this statement but it's 100% true. The answer to the OP's question is prepare for 3 years of reserve on the Bus in senior bases and close to that on the 73.

Hopefully he or she lives in a junior base or can move to one. Otherwise flexibility is not in the cards for several years. The pay and benefits are probably worth it but don't come here without a very good child care plan. You will not be home when you need to be quite often for the first 2-3 years at best.

And yet I see 155XX SC bubbas who have worked 7 days or less for May...

Welcome to the OP. You're at a legacy and life will be good even when you're on reserve. The new system favors being senior, but, uh, so does everything in this industry so; anyway LC junior gets their 85 more than not, but I still see SC guys consistently in single digit days worked.

Have an open mind, learn the ins and outs of the contract and use your sponsor/buds to learn the tweaks to help your QoL. Welcome to the fAAmily!