I believe you correctly answered your own question. Also, you really don't want to be the guy that causes a charter to cancel. JM .02

Well I've been in this situation where I can choose a non-stop deadhead on an RJ vs using my mainline dh flight. I've never had an issue booking the PS on the RJ.
If it's only a few hours different though, do realize that you will be giving up all per diem until your sign in for operation of the charter flight, although you can still have the hotel room. Granted it's not a consideration for me when I get a whole extra day and night at home, but if your just changing non-stop flights by a few hours, may be a consideration, i.e. go as sked and enjoy a dinner on per diem or go later and right to bed.
If you do deviate, be a gent and let the captain know so he's not trying to track you down before he takes the van to the layover, unless of course he's deviating as well.
You are supposed to call skeds and get permission to deviate on frontside so they know what's going on.

Makes sense to me. One last question. If I deviate on the backside and get back at the end of the second day (instead of spending the night for the single DH on the morning of the 3rd day), I lose the per diem but still make the daily minimum rate for that day even though I deviated to come back early...correct?

You still get trip guarantee, you lose the per diem at block in of the last leg worked as scheduled

Just to clarify, if you are a line holder you do not need permission to deviate front end, you only need to inform within 24 hours. A reserve pilot must get permission.

edit: btw, check out the top of page 16 of the scheduling reference handbook in regard to taking a different flight. I'm pretty sure you're legal and covered if you comply with sections 8.E.8 8.E.5 of the contract. The contract is the contract, it doesn't matter how important the flight is. If you comply with the contract then you should be covered if the unexpected occurs.

Wondering what the collective brain trust might think about the relative merits of NYC 717 vs 88 for a noob.

I live in MSP, so I want to get there ASAP; but it seems to me that the current trend is leaning towards taking a year plus to get awarded MSP.

Would I get senior quicker in NYC on the 88 or the 717? Or is it a wash? I'm thinking the seat that leads to the fastest route to holding a line will make my life as a commuter more bearable for that year plus. I was perusing the Apr bid package and the 717 has more MSP overnights which, with seniority, would be nice trips to have as a commuter.

Obviously no 717 in MSP, so maybe that trumps everything. Anything besides the 717 or 88 is out of the picture for me, as my ranking in my newhire class will have me in the solid bottom few choosers, so it's probably a moot point anyway.

If you are going to have to commute anyway, I'd say the bad dog. It builds character (at least that's what they say and chicks will dig you) and you stand the best chance of getting to MSP sooner, plus you are already trained.

Thanks guys,

Yeah I actually held a nice Asia trip as a shadow bid when there were extra trips above the usual suspects who bid them. So, I've got my fingers crossed for April.

As the old heads around here will remember, Saipan was my usual hangout before I became a Busboy and am looking forward to getting back. I did see all the typhoon damage from news footage after it hit and Beach Road looked like it got hit hard, so I'm sure Garapan and it's hotels took a nasty hit.

While Saipan is much more 3rd world than Guam I preferred it, Guam is too commercial and probably why the Saipan tourist are drying up. As a point of comparison, at one time there was evening service from NRT, NGO and KIX.....PLUS a beach whale (all coach seating main deck) that did a turn out of NRT during the daytime hours.

Ferd

You can move it to any flight that complies with our contract which basically says that for a domestic flight you have to arrive at least 1 hour prior to your first non-DH leg, or 1+30 prior for your first non-DH leg if it is an Ocean crossing.

Note: You are required to pro-actively notify scheduling within 24 hours of your original report.

No back-up required, however you may want to give yourself a back-up for your own piece of mind. Here is the contractual wording from our contract, section 8 Dead-head:



E. Off-Rotation Deadheads
16
17 1. A regular pilot may utilize an off-rotation deadhead at the beginning or end of a rotation.
18 2. A regular pilot is required to notify Crew Scheduling of an off-rotation deadhead at the
19 beginning of a rotation within the 24 hours preceding the report of the scheduled
20 deadhead segment.
21 3. A reserve pilot may utilize an off-rotation deadhead at the end of a rotation. He may
22 utilize an off-rotation deadhead at the beginning of a rotation only with permission from
23 Crew Scheduling.
24 4. A pilot who utilizes an off-rotation deadhead at the end of a rotation is required to give
25 prior notification to Crew Scheduling. Such notice must be given as soon as possible
26 after the arrival of the pilot’s last flying segment prior to his scheduled deadhead. Such
27 notice will be given via a voice response unit (VRU) or, at pilot option, via a call to Crew
28 Scheduling.
29 5. A pilot who utilizes an off-rotation deadhead at the beginning of a rotation is required to
30 report for duty at the departure airport of the first non-deadhead segment as follows:
31 a. one hour before the scheduled departure time of the first non-deadhead segment, or
32 b. one hour and 30 minutes before the scheduled departure time of the first non33
deadhead segment if that segment includes an ocean crossing.
34 6. The maximum on-duty time of a pilot who utilizes an off-rotation deadhead at the
35 beginning of his rotation will be determined using the report in Section 8 E. 5., or, if the
36 pilot is given prior notice, the adjusted time.
37 7. The in-base break-in-duty under Section 12 G. for a pilot who utilizes an off-rotation
38 deadhead at the end of a rotation will be determined using the scheduled release of such
39 rotation.
40 8. A pilot who utilizes an off-rotation deadhead to travel from his base, or from a domestic
41 airport or an airport in the Hawaiian Islands (other than his base), in the vicinity of his
42 permanent residence at the beginning of a rotation will be provided positive space on-line
43 transportation if:
44 a. Company Business travel can be booked in TravelNet without overbooking,
45 b. the routing does not pass through the pilot’s base,
46 c. the routing does not exceed the number of deadhead segments originally scheduled


Additionally If I was on probation I would have a back-up because you want to keep as low a profile as possible. In my opinion I would not want to highlight myself in any way, even If I was in compliance with the contract.

Scoop

I don't believe this is true. You do not lose any credit or time whenever you take your dh home.
Also I believe you keep your Perdiem as well on backend deviations.

If you do the back in deviation on Icrew it cancels your hotel and let's you pick a different flight. My rotations only show a difference in front end deviations not back end.