117 forbids and mandatory duty during rest (including days off.)

 

Distance learning?

 

Lol. Sounds like you are ready to fight for your contractual rights. Good luck. ALPA already said they would back you up via grievance. I would do it too if I was on reserve.

 

According to the PWA, a schedule check must be accomplished NLT 0200 so you could report or begin a short call within 3 hours... or 0500 for you military types.

The company would have some real difficulty if reserves waited until 0159 before acknowledging a schedule, effectively making them only able to accept a noon start on the first day. The unpredictability would be a lot to manage.

 

From "ALPA's Guide to FAR 117":

Q-74. Can the certificate holder require a flightcrew member to check a computer, email calendar, text or other conversation media to determine assignment, changes, etc. during a rest period?
A-74. No. During a rest period, regardless of length, a flightcrew
member must be free from all restraint. If a flightcrew
member is required to do something by the certificate
holder, he/she is not free from all restraint.

Q-75. Could a flightcrew member on his/her own volition do the tasks in
Question 74 above?
A-75. Yes, but the flightcrew member’s decision to perform any
task for the certificate holder during a rest period must
be entirely voluntary. This could also include voluntarily
performing computer based training, monthly schedule
bidding, required safety reports, etc.

 

I'm thinking that by virtue of following the PWA and the new Reserve rest rules I will be able to take the entire month off. This is my theory, please correct me if I'm wrong... If I wait to acknowledge a trip until 3 hours prior to the report time therefore remaining within the rules of the PWA, I will never be able to legally report for a trip until 7 hours after the report time by virtue of needing my 10 hours of FAR required rest. I assume by that time the company will have no choice but to move on to a short call or short notice white/green slip. This appears to be a huge hole between the PWA obligations and the new rest rule requirements. What am I missing?

 

No. There is some conflicting language, but the 3 hours prior to report is derived from the ability to turn your phone off for 9 hours during long call. That is the major point of contention. Currently you do not have to be contactable for 9 hours and it is assumed you were resting during that time, therefore you can report for SC or a trip 3 hours from then. 117 says that is not rest and you need 10 hours prior. So, best case (following my interpretation) you turn your phone off for 9 hours and find a message from scheduling and the earliest you could report would be 10 hours from then. (which may or may not be prior to report)

The company on the other hand, expects you now to be on a 2 hour short call for notification during long call. Not a bid deal for some, but for other it is a drastic shift in their "long call" life, whether it be turning off the phone, participating in activities that have you away from the cell etc.

 

I didn't either. bummer. I was really looking forward to parking that CL215 at PDK and talking trash.

 

So just don't assign anything earlier than noon on day one, problem solved. 5am shows on day one with pilots starting lunchtime commutes on a golden day to get in position are ridiculous anyway. Hiding behind saying "commuting is a choice" ignores the bedrock reality of the industry in general and company in particular; most pilots at most airlines are commuters. Not only that, pilots commuting save the company tons of money by not forcing their hand paying for moves everytime some antsy marketing middle manager pushes things around the chessboard in search of that YoY RASM bump by any means necessary causing periods of massive self induced churn.

This is no crisis for the company that a slight staffing increase and a little foresight can't fix. That we may get some much needed reserve QOL improvements out of it is just icing on the cake.

 

What's up with 12 jan. they unstacked the #1 reserve guy into it in my cat.