Here's how I explained NC to a fellow reserve guy who lives in base.....

- It's Sunday, my last off day. 11am rolls around, oh, they gave me 10am SC tomorrow, Monday. Cool.

- I immediately put myself on NC for tomorrow's SC.

- Now, I just let that NC status ride. The rest of Sunday my last off day, into Monday morning, after breakfast, etc. I'm still NC leading up to my 10am SC. In theory, all during that last half of Sunday and into Monday leading up to 10am, they technically can't put any trip on you that
reports from 10am-1159am.

- 10am SC on Monday is now starting. I immediately go on ICrew to officially check my sked, now putting myself back on promptly-available undefined timeline status.

- I don't want to be NC'able at all once my SC starts. The longer you stay NC after the SC starts, the more dangerous it gets (assuming your staying at home). If they now slap a trip with a 12:05pm show on you, and it's 11:40am and you're still at home, you probably ain't gonna make it for that trip that since your on NC, you're kinda responsible to basically be physically present for. (A commuter would be getting off his commute in and walking right over to the gate).

 

Solid strategy.

Naysayers would say "but that's not how it was intended to be used!" But when local Senior (who didn't invoke NC) gets a trip that a commuting Junior (who did invoke NC) would have otherwise received, that argument breaks down pretty fast. NC is available to all RSV pilots, not just commuters.

 

This. Pro tip: set your alarm for SC start time, when it goes off check your schedule in icrew. You will know if you have a trip reporting 2 hours later and you have given yourself the full "promptly available" time for the remainder of your SC.

 

That's kinda my point. The post I quoted said that it's not being used for it's intended purpose, which was sold to allow commuters to get into position. Some people think it's meant just for commuters, but it's available to everyone. Since commuters are likely going to use it, you might as well too, that way you don't get assigned something that otherwise would go them.

 

Since when did the company use the contract for it's intended purpose anyway?

 

Honest question from a local NYC guy:

Has anyone done 2 hour NC, say for a 0600-1159 SC, checked their schedule at 0601, seen a 0800 report for the furthest of the 3 airports, and how have they dealt with that? I've considered doing NC and setting an alarm, but if I check at 0600, I'm not making a 0800 JFK, LGA would be sketchy and EWR is no problem.

When I was commuting, whenever I invoked NC, they wanted to know what airport/flight I was coming in on. I'd usually give them my backup flight (would pick a backup flight based on 2 hour NC, but would likely be in earlier often at another airport)

I've had them freak out over my 3-4 hour to gate estimate for JFK when they call during rush hour to report ASAP to JFK (furthest airport from me). I'm legit under 2 hours call to gate for EWR, even if it's rush hour but JFK can be 2-2.5 hours from my house to the employee lot then another 15-30 minutes to TSA (bus wait and bus drive)

For those of you not familiar with NYC, it can be all of 2 hours just airport to airport, sometimes more if it's the wrong weather/time of day.

I've had my house in Boonton, NJ to JFK take anywhere from 55 minutes to 3 hours. Normally, I leave the house 2 hours before report and I have a 30 minute buffer, but if it's rush hour (0600-0900 and 1500-1800) I usually leave 2+30 to 3+00 before report.

 

Lol, valid for validity.

 

Is there a way to check I acknowledged short call? I got a trip put on my SC block for today. But I have no record of a short call notification for today. When they called to assign the trip to me (within my SC window) I told them I was not notified of SC yesterday (for today). They first said I got a call. A quick check of the phone showed I hadn't. They then said I might acknowledged it in MiCrew, which I don't remember doing, but I may have. But then they went on to say they don't know how I acknowledged it, but that I did.

So is there a way I can check if I did?

 

Was yesterday a non-fly day?

 

"Would you care to go on record on this recorded phone line that Crew Scheduling now consider MiCrew official?"