Reserve for Dummies
01-18-2025 | 02:38 PM
#2991
Moderator
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 8,352
Likes: 1,374
I will add to the general discussion that in my experience, if you need rest coming out of CQ, they have yet to realize it before I enter non-contactable status.
01-18-2025 | 04:11 PM
#2992
Respek
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 2,938
Likes: 76
The thought process is you'll be more senior on the 717A. For example:
90% 320A ATL is ~112xx
95% 320A ATL is ~127xx
Which equals as 717A in ATL:
~72%
~86%
In addition, presumably being a junior fleet you'll accrue seniority faster (I know, that is an assumption that may not happen).
90% 320A ATL is ~112xx
95% 320A ATL is ~127xx
Which equals as 717A in ATL:
~72%
~86%
In addition, presumably being a junior fleet you'll accrue seniority faster (I know, that is an assumption that may not happen).
01-18-2025 | 05:01 PM
#2993
Line Holder
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 1,411
Likes: 502
How much are you guys flying on reserve now?
I just did a 6-month look back and I am flying nearly 9 days out of 10 of my available reserve days on average (ATL 320A) and almost all SC days turn in to flying. With the stagnation I am looking at being on reserve for a while and it is becoming unmanageable. There are almost no blue days, either, so I can't even move X days anymore. Does anyone have some insight on ways to mitigate the reserve abuse? I am getting pretty worn down.
I just did a 6-month look back and I am flying nearly 9 days out of 10 of my available reserve days on average (ATL 320A) and almost all SC days turn in to flying. With the stagnation I am looking at being on reserve for a while and it is becoming unmanageable. There are almost no blue days, either, so I can't even move X days anymore. Does anyone have some insight on ways to mitigate the reserve abuse? I am getting pretty worn down.
01-18-2025 | 07:10 PM
#2994
Line Holder
Joined: Jan 2020
Posts: 295
Likes: 13
What’s the best strategy for bidding RSV days around CQ? I was thinking of doing 2/2/3 and hoping to be as useless as possible.
01-19-2025 | 03:18 AM
#2995
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 4,026
Likes: 217
From: Looking left
I normally put at least one day immediately prior to the travel day, then put a few immediately after the CQ to force a 30/168 issue on the back end.
Also highly recommend taking a look at the SRH section on RES obligations when coming off of training....lots of good info there about your contact obligations, when you go back on LC, etc.
01-19-2025 | 03:22 AM
#2996
Line Holder
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 925
Likes: 82
From: B737 FO
That is exactly how I approach it, too. I fully understood that I was bidding in to reserve for a while, so I will stop short of simply *****ing about it. LIke you said, I did this to me. I don't mind going to work. It just stings when I come off a redeye at the end of a 5-day trip and they assign me SC at 0100 that night for my last day and then an out/back that shows at 0600.
In that same 6 month look-back I was talking about before I have had only 1 (one) LC day that I wasn't used on because I was either full or it was assigned rest. There is just no respite from it. And not enough coverage to use PDs or move XX days. To this point I just haven't had a frame of reference for what the "new" reserve life here is like for anyone else, so I'm trying to see if it is everyone in my cateogry or what. This ain't my first rodeo, but I have not seen reserve utilzation like this even 20 years ago at the regionals in the truly bad-old-days. So, with that in mind I wanted to expand the old team and see what the scoop was. All I can tell so far is that they're not moving anyone in to the 320 in ATL at all for the foreseeable future so I guess the beatings will continue all summer.
In that same 6 month look-back I was talking about before I have had only 1 (one) LC day that I wasn't used on because I was either full or it was assigned rest. There is just no respite from it. And not enough coverage to use PDs or move XX days. To this point I just haven't had a frame of reference for what the "new" reserve life here is like for anyone else, so I'm trying to see if it is everyone in my cateogry or what. This ain't my first rodeo, but I have not seen reserve utilzation like this even 20 years ago at the regionals in the truly bad-old-days. So, with that in mind I wanted to expand the old team and see what the scoop was. All I can tell so far is that they're not moving anyone in to the 320 in ATL at all for the foreseeable future so I guess the beatings will continue all summer.
Here's hoping the staffing on your fleet improves in the near future (they always eventually undershoot/overshoot).
01-19-2025 | 03:57 AM
#2997
Roll’n Thunder
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 5,174
Likes: 584
From: Pilot
01-19-2025 | 04:37 AM
#2998
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 4,026
Likes: 217
From: Looking left
That strategy hopefully burns the most LC days because it forces an 30/168 issue. Everyone should do 1/2/1 at a minimum. You are a little more exposed the more days you put in front but generally 1 or 2 is pretty safe. WB categories could do 2 easily. If you’re going to place 2 days afterwards you might as well place 3 to force them to give you rest at some point.
Added bonus is scheduling normally tries to tag a 21 hour block of rest immediately after the 9 hours free of duty and will argue that you do have 30 hrs of rest....only problem (for them) is you don't have any obligation to check your schedule on that last CQ day (or answer any phone call or acknowledge any CNO) so if pilots actually stopped acknowledging stuff they don't have too, there would be a 100% rate of pilots not having legal rest forcing the compnay to give them another 30 hours of rest in the middle of the LC days after CQ.
01-19-2025 | 05:43 AM
#2999
Line Holder
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 801
Likes: 26
From: Drivin’ the bus
How much are you guys flying on reserve now?
I just did a 6-month look back and I am flying nearly 9 days out of 10 of my available reserve days on average (ATL 320A) and almost all SC days turn in to flying. With the stagnation I am looking at being on reserve for a while and it is becoming unmanageable. There are almost no blue days, either, so I can't even move X days anymore. Does anyone have some insight on ways to mitigate the reserve abuse? I am getting pretty worn down.
I just did a 6-month look back and I am flying nearly 9 days out of 10 of my available reserve days on average (ATL 320A) and almost all SC days turn in to flying. With the stagnation I am looking at being on reserve for a while and it is becoming unmanageable. There are almost no blue days, either, so I can't even move X days anymore. Does anyone have some insight on ways to mitigate the reserve abuse? I am getting pretty worn down.
01-19-2025 | 06:23 AM
#3000
.
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 3,529
Likes: 696
This was NYC320A for the last two years or so. I was a perennial RSV bidder by choice, and it got bad enough I changed strategies to bidding a line. For some reason starting around the NOV-DEC timeframe it has changed and RSV utilization seems to have gone down. JAN-MAR has had more blue days than I've ever seen since the summer of COVID. It has coincided with the lack of backfills in the category. Not sure what changed leaving it so overstaffed.
Went back to the ER. Have flown two trips since October.
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