But for some who live in base, reserve can give a better QOL than a lineholder. Also, many of us will spend time on reserve as a Captain too. If I spend the same amount of time on reserve as a CA as I will probably spend as an FO, that would be 1/3 of my career at DL on reserve.

Reserve, while an option like anything else here (commuting, type of trips, etc) doesn't need to be a crappy option that keeps funding the rest of the contract.

Never mind

There is one on 141 just before you get to 285 as well!

Bill, that is a terrible line of thinking. The fundamental reason our PWA exists because hope and promises of the past weren't kept and we needed it in writing.

Telling pilots “you’ll be line-holders someday” is a diversion and not a proper response to concerns about a negative impact of reserves’ quality of life. Reserve isn’t a “junior” issue as there are pilots across the majority of the seniority list on reserve. the issue becomes even more pressing when considering the impact lower manning will have on retarding a reserve pilots ability to advance to line-holder. Parts of the proposal will effect line holders as well in having reduced ability to green slip and a higher ALV...

My own personal experience isn't all that great. As a five year Delta pilot I am still on reserve -- certainly not what I would have expected -- and as of the first of the month I am not even in base but commute to reserve.

My own experience pales however when I hear the stories from the captains I fly with many with 20+ years at Delta barely hanging on to the Left seat. Quite a few moved back to FO positions, perhaps that can be seen as a career advancement because now they are "senior line holders" with a 25-40% pay cut...

Shouldn't our motto be:
"When one Delta pilot has a problem we all have a problem?" oh, wait...

Cheers
George

George,

Always enjoy your posts, because they're informative and well considered.

I've been struggling trying to see how the Reserve language would work. If I understand correctly, you're still full at Guarantee, which I guess could be as high as 82 hours in the summer (based on a rumor elsewhere that Reserve guarantee = ALV - 2). Scheduling would be able to take you to ALV + 15, or 99 hours, but they have to do this in one trip, right?

IOW, if they send you on a two day, 10:30 trip when you're at 72 hours for the month, you're at 82:30, and you're done. Of course, there can be a guy at 81:30 that gets sent out for a 17:00 3-day, and will hit 98:30. But how likely is that? If he has that much time under his belt, it's likely he's going into X-days, or he probably just flew.

If you think about practical applications, and think in terms of days off, and FAR's, I can't really think of a way you'd run every Reserve anywhere near 98:30 in the summer. Is it worse than now in terms of summer utilization? I'm pretty sure you're right, and I have a problem with this. So you're right about it being "up to" 23 hours extra, I think, but when calculating how many Reserves you'd lose, you can't assume they can get 23:00 out of every Reserve. It's not even going to be remotely close.

Of course, I don't know how to calculate the actual impact on staffing, but I agree there will likely be an impact.

Another observation: this would also make Reserve go silly junior in the summer, silly senior in the winter.

I didn't read the rest of the discussion, but this is a post I can only agree with. Doesn't sound as cool as using "Not one more seat" slogans, but sure sounds smarter than saying how you will vote before you have all the facts.

No kidding. I suspect most read Section 3, then vote.

Day one of living under the new contract becomes the onset of buyer's remorse.

Which mostly incureable, under the RLA.

Bill, I understand where you are coming from, but I disagree. The way these rules are presented in the NN are a huge loss for nearly everyone on the list (Even the uber-senior). First the alv/tlv change decreases the overall need for pilots systemwide. Someone said about 100-150 positions--I agree with that number. That is somewhere around 50-75 less Captain slots In addition it will cause the number of lineholers to decrease each category--some junior lineholders will be forced to reserve and some reserves will be displaced. Second, allowing reserves to fly to ALV+15 decreases staffing in every category. This will especially hurt the long haul widebody fleets. A 777 or 747 reserve that flys a 50 hour trip under the current rules is pretty much done. Under the new rules they could fly another 40 or so hours. A senior pilot that could have gotten a sweet GS now sits at home because the reserve is still fresh. On top of all that (depending on what they do to the formulas) the decrease in manning could cause a lineholder to lose the ability to drop/swap.

Of course the final language will determine everything, but as presented these rules are a loss that everyone should be concerned with.

George,

I'm not trying to divide the group or anything. I am pointing out the large demographic of this board. A lot of people on here are reserves at Delta. Some by choice, some just too junior. Unless you are very junior, reserve is a choice. Johnson29 was a 320FO, and probably could be a lineholder maybe in DTW, yet he put himself on 2 years of reserve in NYC on the ER. His choice. Not everyone wants that lifestyle, and one way you can change it is bidding within your means. I could fly larger, but I like not being on reserve. My choice. I don't want the reserves to be paid less or have to work a lot more, but sometimes that comes with being a reserve. During slow times, don't expect to fly a lot and make over guarantee. Over busy times, you may fly a lot. That's how it goes. What I am saying is people currently on reseve may not be in a year if we hire a bunch, and it's good to think about other things also, not just about things that surround you now. I want the whole contract to be better, believe me, but guys screaming about reserve changes is just one part of the whole group, but a large part on this board. No, I don't want manning changes, or furloughs, etc. It is good to tell ALPA what you don't like. I am just pointing out this demographic.

You are right, it is unlikely that every reserve will be subjected to the max or that scheduling will have the "perfect" trip to max out a reserve.

But the whole raison d'être for the PWA is to protect pilots when pushed to the limit...
The reason we have a union is because they have our back...

In the end I did temper my analysis with the closing statement:
Cheers
George