Nantonaku

Scheduling is just shooting themselves in the foot when they don’t release people. They need people bad right now on some fleets. Tying up a pilot just makes the problem worse. The constant inverse assignments should be evidence enough that they should release people as soon as they can. I know they have cancelled flights on my fleet lately for lack of a pilot. Why would they make someone useless by making them report for duty?

TNDeltaFlyboy

recently I had one put on my trip just under 48 hours prior.

ALPA’s guidance is if a sim event is less than 10 days past, they may proffer a trip no less than 30 hours out. If more than 10 days, 48 hours is required. See Training Update 21-02 for more.

crewdawg

I've found it was LCA dependent as well. I had a LCA try to tell me that I had to report because "that's the way we do it now." Never mind that I had been released the night prior for all my LCA trips the month prior. Ended up calling scheduling the morning of, and explaining that both the LCA and student were in place, they had a crap ton of open time and zero reserves. Either than can make me report or they can release me and I'd be able to pick up one of those open time trips for them as a GS. The scheduled talked to a manager and released me.


In the end, I found the juice just wasn't worth the squeeze anymore. Many months the LCA would simply drop/swap out of the trips, I wouldn't get released or they wanted to make me report. I'd have a streak where I won a lot, then I'd have streak I lost a lot. For me, it was worth it to upgrade and have a more stable schedule for the same, or more often than not, more pay. It doesn't work for everyone, but I grew tired of the hustle, especially when they started making us report more a lot more than they had in the past.

GogglesPisano

LCA's are not supposed to be involved at all unless they specifically request the FO to accompany an SAQ.

In my experience when CS fails to release the FO it's due to a potential IROP the next day. Or, "No paperwork."

For TOE's all pilots are required to sign-in.

Xray678

I’m going to add do not involve the LCP. I have people who start texting or calling a week out asking to be released. A guy called one night while I was headed out to meet friends for dinner. I told him I would look at it later…and he actually said it won’t take long can you do it now?! Ever since then I do not respond to calls or texts asking about being released. If someone is pestering me about getting released, I will not get involved unless they show up for the trip and I don’t need them.