True but that isn't what he was asking. He was asking if you could do it while on LC. If you are coming off of X days then you can accept any report time you want before you start LC because you are rested and no need to self certify.

 

There are a handful of good reasons to take a GS on LC days, but it is normally a bad idea. Day one (block and DH only) is the only part paid above guarantee and you don’t get PB days.

I’ve done it (for a specific reason), but just don’t shoot yourself in the foot.

 

Ok, got it...thanks everyone

 

Recently I got a 1 hour call out as soon as my SC started. Of course it was unrealistic and the flight left an hour late because they didn't want to change the departure time. SC used to be the easy button. Now it's the panic button. Either way, I don't change my callout response. "As soon as I can... No, I can't give you a time but historically it's been about 2 hours with normal traffic." It takes me at least an hour to put the boat or airplane away.

 

No problem Captain, Scheduling has approved you expensing the landing and tie down fees at KATL.

 

When ATL gets a canal system let me know. In the mean time, the grin conjuror is VFR only.

 

I've gotten a 45 minute callout! Of course I told them "I hope you are okay with me getting there when I get there."

This is actually a negative consequence (in my opinion) of DALPAs insistence on not having a hard short call response time. We've been very adamant about that over the years. That's mostly a good thing, but the company's attitude is "two can play that game."

If for example we had a hard two hour callout, that would be compulsory on BOTH parties. Yes the pilot would have to show as soon as two hours from trip assignment but the company would also be compelled to have a scheduled departure time NET two hours from trip assignment.

As it is DALPA has long insisted "you can't have a hard SC window, too many variables." So the company says, "ok, the opposite applies for us as well. We'll call SC pilots, if we need to, with ONE hour from a scheduled departure, and then just not hold the pilot's actual report time against him." That's sort of BS to me, but that's the side effects of our SC language. (I still prefer it to a hard callout time but nothing exists in a vacuum.)

 

There is literally no downside to the company saying be there in 45 mins. "I'll be there when I can get there." They can ask me to do whatever they want but you are taught from the age of a new hire that you get there when you can get there. If they delay the flight, that's their problem, not yours.

And there are only downsides to defining SC report times.

 

Sure there's a downside. If we had a hard 2 hour requirement (that BOTH sides would have to adhere to) the 45 minute callout would be a thing of the past and the SC pilot in question...or any other SC pilot...wouldn't even be called to begin with...OR the company would be compelled to post a departure time at least two hours later in order to legally assign the trip to this pilot. As it is, as far as I'm concerned every time they call a SC pilot for a trip reporting less than two hours out, they're getting a SC pilot for "free". That's not necessarily good either.

That said, I am NOT advocating for a hard two hour SC response time, or any other specific time, for all the reasons we know. Any slight benefit would be greatly overshadowed by the drawbacks.

 

In the -88 days it was common to get less than an hour callout on SC. Why freak out? You get there when you get there. What has changed? Don’t speed…. Be safe. Half the time the plane has Mx when you arrive and their time is wrong anyway.