As would I.

I have seen much worse reserve rules at previous carriers. I've been fortunate (compared to most) to not have to work under them long.

Our rules are pretty good for my situation. I live in domicile so the only difference between SC and LC for me is whether or not I can have a beer/glass of wine with dinner. I have very little to complain about, however I have heard many complaints about the 'bucket system', RAW scores and the 'RUO within the DOA bucket'.

I see how our current system benefits CS as it gives them a great deal of latitude when it comes to trip assignments.

I'm just saying that more and more pilots are going to be affected by the reserve rules and it may need to be looked at during contract negotiations if we're trying to improve our QOL.

Very wise post. Our reserve rules are pretty good - so good many senior pilots who have the option bid reserve by choice. Some go back and forth between reserve and a line on a month by month basis. This kind of flexibility is awesome.

On the other hand just because our reserve rules are good does not mean we shouldn't try to improve them. I can think of a few potential improvements but we have already come a long way considering that we used to stand two SC windows every day, once in the morning and again night. Every single day you had reserve you would have two SC windows.:eek: Additionally it was almost 100% seniority based. Junior guys would fly until they maxed out before a senior guy might have flown 1 hour. Remember less credit as a reserve flying the exact same trip as a line-holder? That one lasted until fairly recently.

I have two issues with our current reserve but I don't think either is as bad as some guys make it out to be. Flying a guy to ALV+15 in a NB category seems a little excessive to me. How about if you fly over the ALV you are done that day? This way they can fly guys over ALV if needed, but not 3 days over.

SC assignments also could be tweaked. I Personally think 7 is too much and they are way too random in how they are assigned and how many guys the company puts on SC. I have seen them consistently put everyone on SC early in the month to the point where later in the month they don't have enough SC guys left. I personally think this is related to the Pilots who were not in position for SC for years, but what do I know?

I have recently gone from routinely the most senior pilot on reserve as an FO to close to the plug on reserve as a Captain and I think the bucket system is very, very good.

Scoop

I know that Delta will let you off for jury duty, but I'm wondering what they do if you are subpoenaed.

If I get subpoenaed on a day that I've got a 4 day trip, would I get paid for the trip or would I have to drop it without pay?

Do you know if the trips dropped during my shadow period will be paid at my pre-conversion rate?

The way I read the contract reference it was the greater of tripped dropped during a pilot's shadow period where he/she is not yet qualified or the scheduled OE.



Thanks Sailing!

What is achieved by comparing current Reserve to past Reserve? If something needs to be improved, let's just improve it.

Lowering standards (intentionally or otherwise) by telling people all the ways reserve has been or could be worse does our negotiating effort a disservice. Anchoring phenomenon is very real, and the more we talk amongst ourselves about how great we have it, the smaller the improvement(s) that will satisfy the masses. That's a company win.

Since I have been here reserve is without question the most improved section of the contract by a big margin. Never have I noted so many senior pilots in categories bidding reserve intentionally.
In the end any reserve system the company is going to agree on has to give the company some reasonable ability to cover trips and generate a reasonable amount of flying relative to the reserve guarantee. We want a system that basically lets a reserve decide when he wants to work and the company wants a system that protects system integrity. The two are almost mutually exclusive. Finding a middle ground is not easy.

ALV +15 was also recent, and a bad give. That's guarantee +17 usually. It used to be just ALV.

I've got one quote for you..........."Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Knowing where you came from is not a bad thing.

How does one know an "improvement" is an improvement unless you compare it to what you used to have? It's all in perspective.

Denny

If your goal is to make sure people know the system has improved, I agree. And if someone proposes a change that would take us backwards, I fully support educating them on why it would be a step in the wrong direction.

My beef is with folks prefacing any improvements to reserve with "I know it used to be worse in ways X, Y and Z, so we really have it pretty good". We don't do that with pay, right? If we're worth something better, we need not undercut that argument with discussion about how our starting point could be much worse.

To answer your question "How does one know an "improvement" is an improvement unless you compare it to what you used to have?"... my whole point is that what we (you) USED to have is nearly irrelevant. What we have NOW is what we are trying to improve upon. We won't compare our next pay rates to C2012, we'll (hopefully) compare them to C2016... why do we consistently discuss reserve differently?

... to clarify, I'm happy to discuss ways previous contracts were BETTER than what we have now. It just doesn't help to detail all the ways they were worse.