Schedules
 

Starting a new thread as wasn't sure which thread to put this in.

Whats a typical reserve schedule look like? How many on / how many off? Then once holding a line is it hard to bid/receive 4 days or more off in a row? Being a commuter just trying to figure out what reality is.

Reserve schedule is 11 or 12 days off depending on the month (30 or 31 day bid month). You probably will spend only a short time on reserve if you are SEA based, a bit longer in LAX and even longer in PHX although they don't have airport reserve so it's a little nicer. Unless you waive it you are guaranteed a block of 4 days off. When I did reserve days, I would try to bid for 6 day reserve blocks.
No ifs ands or buts about it, commuting to reserve sucks and that's true for pretty much all of the regionals.

Can’t help. I got hired shortly after hiring resumed after the hiring freeze. I was only on reserve for five days after IOE and then they cobbled together a schedule for me for the next month. The month after that I was a lineholder. If you bid long trips (4 days)you sort of get long breaks by default.

Dude nice timing!! But I gotcha beat! I did 1 day of reserve w/ early release

Samesies!

filler

Thank you this helps! My worry was 2 days off or something.

Yup but part of the deal - can't uproot my home situation to chase the dream. I am hoping for PHX but know I likely will get LAX or SEA first.

Good to know! Thank you.

Well, if you don't waive it, it's a min of 2 days off between reserve blocks, and one block of at least 4 days off. But you will get some blocks with only 2 days off more than likely...

Would you please explain 'waive it' -- last post you mentioned 4 days off in-between reserve if don't waive it .. thanks for helping out with the terminology of 121 bid world.

The contract has certain schedule protections (e.g. two days minimum between work blocks) that can be declined (read “waived”) at the bidder’s discretion in order to bid for a schedule more to his/her liking. For example, you might prefer to cram all of your flying into the beginning of the month, whereas a bunch of 2-day breaks spreads the trips out too much for that.

Gotcha. Thanks!

On reserve they give you blocks of 2 days off and one contractually required 4 day block off, typically . I’m a coast to coast commuter and the best I could get was 5on, 2off, 5on, 2 off, 5on, 4 off, 5on, etc. Expect 11 or 12 days off per month total depending on if it’s a 30 or 31 day month. So basically imagine you’re spending weekends at home and M-F in your domicile, with one 4 day weekend in there.

I’ve spent 16 months on reserve here,14 as an FO, looking like it’ll be 20 total. This was a typical schedule. You can sometimes get a little better, but not much. What you get in the bid packet is what you’re stuck with with little exception. For some absurd reason we aren’t allowed to bid “min days off between work blocks” on reserve

That seems like a long reserve compared to others for FO? So on your 2 days off are you making the coast to coast commute? How about taking an extended vacation unpaid ?

Bid packet, please explain?

Thank you for all the information. Just trying to figure it all out.

For that long of reserve, they were probably hired right before the hiring freeze that took place in early 2017 (I believe) and they were just stuck as bottom of the barrel. Your seniority only means so much if people continue to be added below you as well.

Yeah. If he were at the bottom when the hiring freeze hit he was sort of doubly screwed. First of all Compass was overmanned - which triggered the hiring freeze - which means that reserve troops are underutilized and there is no movement for them. So not only are you stuck on it a long time, you aren't getting many hours a month, which sets you up for an extended time to get 1000 qualifying 121 hours to upgrade.

Then when you eventually DO upgrade, there isn't anybody behind you who is upgrade eligible, so you STILL stay the bottom man on the next totem pole until there are substantial numbers of people behind you who can upgrade to a reserve spot.

What is worse is that a lot of people that were hired had:
1. Pretty minimal ME time
2. Pretty minimal TT (RATP)

So even once they did get their 1000 121 hours they STILL didn't have company minimums for upgrade meaning there was no one to move up behind him.

So yeah, the Fickle Finger of Fate sort of gave the shaft to Slowhawk.

Your mileage may (and hopefully will) vary. Those of us talking about a week on reserve before getting a line were mostly hired 7-10 months after Slowhawk and have benefitted greatly from his misery in terms of short reserve and upgrade times and have an avalanche of people behind us in seniority to push us along.

But it's a regional. It can change in a heartbeat.

For what it's worth... (and if you read my posts, you know that's not much) I think we're heading into another wave at compass and at the majors. With Delta picking back up later this year and early next year.. We should see a big spike in compass attrition. Same for United which has recently surfaced as a new attrition source. Plus, by then more FOs will be upgrading as well since the summer will be over. If you're willing to risk the issue with the contracts. I think Fall '19 compass hires will be in a really good spot.

Oh I have gathered there are great snack baskets :) Everything is pointing to Compass should I get an CJO - hence all my recent questions after reading everything possible.

Good on you for doing the research. If you end up here, update other folks who are in your current spot as to the wait times for a class, class size, reserve etc. You'll have the best info at that point. A lot of the 121 jargon you'll pick up along the way.

Don’t forget about moving reserve days around. I do the coast to coast commute and I’m about to get a few groups of 4-7 days off straight by moving days around.

I feel personally attacked haha:D let the record show I’m not complaining, just saying I know my way around a reserve schedule

VIRotate, you taught me how to commute now teach me this reserve magic you speak of:p

He taught me how to meme! VIROTATE is good peoples

Glad I'm appreciated around here!

Slowhawk, the key to moving days around when the grid is red is you have to make it seem like you are helping them out. You are in a way, but for example if both days are red and you are moving a day of reserve with more reserve pilots than the day you want to move to, generally they will approve it. Just email trades and tell them the net reserves of each day. I've been pretty dang successful doing this!

ie swapping your day of rsv with 7 net reserves to a day off with say 4 net reserves.