Full reserve question
 

Was assigned a rotation that takes me up to 78:50 credit by the 20th of the month. Reserve gauruntee is 80 and ALV is 84. If I land the 20th with 1:10 left on my reserve guarantee and have reserve the 21st and then 28th of June to July 1st, they can use me up to ALV +15 on any of the remaining reserve days, So in this case, 99 hours, is that correct? However, if I land on the 20th with 80 hours credit or drop the 21st (last reserve day of the string) then I will be "full" and unable to be used the 28-1st, is that a correct statement?

Another option would be to yellow slip for a 1 day flight the 21st (assuming its legal) and take my credit above 80 hours, get short call and not get used (I think that gets you another hour?) which would leave me trying to find another 10 minutes of credit OR green slip on my days off from 22-27. Is this also a correct statement?

Finally, if I am at 80 hours by the 21st and am full for the month and green slip I am only paid 100% since I am a reserve holder. So if I find a 2 day trip I get 10:30 credit and payback days which would then have to be used on the 28-1st. OR I can take my 80 hours of credit and be off from the 22nd-1st. If this is correct then there is no advantage to green slipping those days off.

Basically, I need to fill up my reserve, as of now at 78:50, I'm at risk of being pushed all the way up to 99 hours. I find I don't typically overblock so I won't count on that. Thoughts?

Lot of stuff going on there! Thanks, as always!

Lots of question but basically you seem to have the gist of it. The one thing you did not mention was that if you could score a GS 28-01 you would get payback days which are far more valuable then getting your days off back.

Scoop

The 28-1 are RES days (although unusable if I fill up by the 20th), I get PB days for those if I fly on those days or did I miss something/the dates get messed up? Or is it just that a GS on my X days (22-27) would go into the PB day bank? Is there a difference?

If you are full and fly on reserve days you do not get PB days for them. There is very little incentive to fly on reserve days once you are full.

Seems like very little incentive to fly on X days as well, once you're full?

How did RES holders not get double pay for flying on X days once they hit the RES guarantee? I can see the reason for not getting double pay BELOW RES guarantee, but not sure I understand the logic behind once you meet the guarantee, but I'm sure there is some sort of logic.

If you're full then fly, you will get paid for it. Whether that is sufficient incentive for you to fly on off day is up to you, but you do make more money.

As for gs on full res days you are not supposed to get pb days, but it sometimes happens anyway. That stuff is all done manually.

They do NOT get double pay. A reserve line holder gets single pay above guarantee and PB days for any day of the GS that touches an X day. The logic is.......you are not on a regular line...:eek:

Denny

I'm new on reserve and trying to learn the contract. That was a nice summary and helped clear up some things in my head so thanks for the breakdown OP :)

Some will tell you all kinds of secrets and tricks to sitting reserve, but i find myself at the mercy at CS when all said and done. You are sitting rsv, unless you are senior 5% sitting rsv, you will be abused at times, it is plain and simple. Whenever i try to "game" the rsv rules, i almost always got the short sticks, so just bid for days off you need, and good luck. Some months you will get called alot, others not as much (unless you are the plug, then sorry)

Reserve GS is the only way to go. You essentially get paid above guarantee to move your day off.

Do this several times in a row and now you are rolling thunder. Rolling your days off to a later date or into the PB bank at the end of the month can be very useful. PB days are a great tool if used properly.

Go on...
Would love to hear thoughts on optimizing the use of PB days.

IMO, the best way to optimize PB days is to bid a regular line and then drop the trips with PB days (if able). Then you can either try and green slip or take the time off and enjoy. The Scheduling Reference Handbook put out by the union explains the different ways PB days can be used.

Denny

Thanks Denny - my plan right now is to hold on to them until year 2 pay then do exactly what you said. Hoping the rest of the summer provides opportunity to save a few more.

Keep in mind, end of calender year they turn into vacation days. You can still use them as pb till march.

Big picture, they dont stay in bank forever.

When do you start year two? If it's after the March 2018 bid period, use them this year. As Sputnik said, PB days from this year will be added to your vacation days for next year. They are called supplemental days and will be bid with vacation for 2018. You can still use them as PB days until the start of the April bid period. To use them in the Jan-Mar time frame, you will have to call crew scheduling and they do it manually.

Denny

Good info - I'll change over in October.

Also, you can use PBs to get paid for your APD, but you have to call the CPSC or get a really good scheduler to do it. You can't do it automatically on icrew like you can with normal PDs.

And use them on the last day of the trip to preserve credit pay.

I believe the only time you can use PB days to cover an APD is the Jan-Mar time frame. I tried to do this a couple years ago and initially the scheduler did it then I got a call back saying "oops" that's not contractually legal.......except for the time frame I listed.

Denny

I did it in may, but it took a rather experienced southern gentleman in the CPSC to get it done.

That's one option, but IMO its way better to bid 3 days on at a time and use a single PB day to drop the middle day. An alternative strategy is bid 5 on and drop the middle day. Not quite as good but still severely limits what they can give you. With that strategy you can often get almost a month off (with the occasional 1 day trip or SC unused) with the PB days earned from a single reserve GS. Now that's some serious ROI.

Another strategy I've heard is to sit Short Call 1,500 miles away...or more.

ROI data is still being calculated.

:D yeah and I heard they totally don't mind that either.

With the aforementioned strategy though, you'd hardly ever get a SC anyway with only one day of availability the whole month. If you did, obviously you'd have to be there, so slightly less sweet for commuters than locals, but still an epic QOL for the month considering a single 5 day (for extra pay) made it possible.

Then either the contract has changed or you got a one time good deal. When I tried to do it in 2014, it was reversed. Here is a quote from the current SRH:

Q: What happens to my payback days if they are not used in the current year?
A: If the days have not been used prior to January 1, they will automatically be converted to supplemental (SUPP) vacation days to be used in the subsequent vacation year.If you wish to use the days in January, February, or March, you may enter a request for a personal drop (PD), or APD and when awarded via PCS, contact a Crew Scheduling supervisor to have the days of the personal drop converted to payback days, if desired . This will be shown on your Schedule as TOFF .

Denny

Yes that's a viable option. It just depends on what you are trying to accomplish with the PB days.........more money or more time off. Seems how it always comes down to that...:)

Denny

That's if they have not been used in the current year. You can use them in the current year for an APD or PD, or until march of next year.

You are going to have to provide a reference for me. I've emailed the Union and will get back to you with their response.

Denny

I'm sorry if I missed it earlier, but, I thought PB Days are only useable from the bank if they have reserve coverage? Also if you GS and have remaining RES days aren't you forced to use them in your next set of RES days (assuming they're in the bid period from which you earned the PB days)? So for instance, I'm on an X day on the 22nd, I GS and then I'm on RES again the 28th-1st, won't I be forced to use the PB day in that RES period?

Yes. To use PB days to either drop a trip or reserve days, there must be adequate reserve coverage.

If you are on reserve and get a GS on your off days you get PB days that start (basically) on your next scheduled on call day. You bank PB days when the end of the month rolls around and you haven't been able to use all the PB days you are due. In your example of 28th-1st, it depends on what bid month the 1st is in. But yes, your off days roll over to be used on on call days in the same bid month. This is what allows one to "Roll Thunder."

Denny

If you get a PB day in April, you can use it on your APD/PD/reserve day in may of the same year. Your above reference is just in the transition/liquidation of last year's PB days. No reference, just my experience.

1. Live in base
2. Be 50% or higher
3. Bid Weekends off/ fly a GS
4. Get days off at the end of the month/ PB days in your bank
Great QOL for me/pay. I'm around top 40% in category. Its hard for me to bid a line.

Not to be argumentative..........but (:)) my experience is just the opposite so I figured I'd ask the union. It may have changed with the last contract. Also CP's and the PSC have some latitude and can do stuff we cannot. Will let you know what they say.

Denny

Denny

You got lucky. Good for you. Here is the response I got:

There have been no contractual changes that would allow the use of pay back days to recover time lost from the use of an APD.

Denny

Once you are full on reserve, can you pick up trips on the pilot to pilot swap board? Have some unexpected expenses an extra trip would cover nicely.

The Swapboard is for line-holders only. Sorry.

GS/YS is your only option.

PB days converted to VA days are paid out March 31, if not used. Also vacation time can be used to cover PD and APD time dropped. I call it the QOL cycle of life. PD or APD time - covered by VA time - covered by bank time - covered by paid out or converted PB time - covered by res GS PB days.

At the end of the year, PB days earned become Supplemental Days and you bid them in conjunction with the following years vacation. These supp days can be used to cover an APD, PD etc into the Jan-Mar time frame. As far as pay, they are not paid out on March 31 of the subsequent year. They have the value of a vacation day added to the vacation bank. If you only use your vacation bank when you take vacation, you will be paid for the supp day along with the vacation you connected it to.....

If some one can get CS or the PSC to use PB days to cover an APD outside of the parameters I've listed, more power to you. They do not have too.

Denny

Unused VA time due to training are paid at the end of the year. Using PB days instead of rebidding the vacation for time off allows the payment.