Fedex Commuter Pilots, a few questions.
 

How easy is it to take a horrible line and via trip trading make it commutable?

I'm guessing 24 call out reserve is very senior on the A300. Is there even such a thing.

If you have a 48 + hour layover how is it looked upon for you to leave to commute home. Is it not allowed in case your are reassigned while you are on your layover?

You must stay at the hotel in order to be reassigned if needed during a long layover.

Open time for trip trades varies every month...feast or famine, it seems...but if you're patient and persevering, you can usually trade into a decent line.

Yes, 24-hour reserve call out (R24) is senior in every seat. The "R" reserve lines in the bidbacks I sent you are the R24 lines.

As far as layovers go, well, if the company can't reach you...

Many people try not to answer their hotel phones if they don't know who's calling (especially during a nice layover :) ). Right or wrong, is debateable, but they can't reassign you if they can't reach you, right? That being said, you can pretty much do whatever you want...BUT...you have to MAKE SURE you're back in time to fly your next leg LEGALLY...and that's all on you...which is a reason why many people don't commute home on layovers. Well, at least they don't rely on a jumpseat or something like that (unless you live in your layover city, of course).

Are you required to be reachable by the Co. on long layovers at UPS??

Md11

Reference the bid packs,

I see many lines below the 74hr guarantee, does this still mean you will get the 74 if you bid a line with a 70 hr credit.

It looks as if almost every line is paid out of trip rigs, 4 to 1 is this a true statement? For the most part you will never make more than the credit on your line value, correct? I'm guessing there is no extra pay when you go over block since the pairing still will pay out via the trip rig. It looks to my understanding you just divide your TAFB every month by 4 and thats your pay, it doesn't really matter how much you have flown.

What is the guarantee for reserves?

thanks again for everything!

74 hour guarantee????????? Not sure where you got that idea............
Min guarantee for line holders is 68Hrs in a 4 week bid month and 85 hrs in a 5 week bid month. That is based on an AVG line paying 72 hours in a 4 week and 88 hours in a 5 week month...........

You get paid face value of the line you are awarded...........Alos the max difference in pay between the low regular line and high cannot be more than 8:30 credit.............in other words if the Lowest paying published line is 70 hours.........the highest paying line cannot be more than 78:30 70+ 8:30=78:30. The reserve guarantee is a formula that takes into account the average pay for all the regular lines and the number of R days for that month and a "R" day valure is calculated.............R days stood in a 4 week month is 15 (plus any carrier over) 18 in a 5 week month..........

It sounds a little funny but averages and R day credit are different every month. The recent trend is mgt keeps creeping up the avg BLG..........it should be 72 for a 4 week month (90 for a 5 week) and they make it 74 (and 92)_........doesn't sound like much but that 2 hours is enough to make everyone work an extra day............instead of a week on/off schedule it is now a week on/off plus a 1 or 2 day trip in the middle of what use to be a nice week off.

I don't know how it is at other carriers, but we have so many different types of "rigs". For longer trips, yes, the 4-1 duty rig usually takes precedence. However, we have a "domestic duty" rig, an "international duty" rig, a "domestic day duty" rig, a "domestic night duty" rig, a "domestic critical duty" rig, a "trip" rig, four different MPDPs (Minimum Pay per Duty Period), a "block hour" rig...

Some "super" (or "stupor"?) computer takes all these into account for each trip, calculates the highest of all of these, and assigns hours to the trip based on that.

As RedeyeAV8r said, the "average" bid line guarantee (BLG) published in the bidpack is simply just an average. It ties into how reserve line guarantee (RLG) is calculated--it takes the average BLG for that month, multiplies it by 96%, and that is your RLG for that month. If you end up flying more credit hours than that (during your actual reserve days), then it sucks to be you, because you still only get paid your RLG (with a few exceptions).

On a REGULAR line (not reserve line), if you get extended or revised, then you get paid extra (150-200%, depending on how much over you go). For most situations, the stupor computer will add extra pay hours to your trip.

Hope this helps!