This is for new FOs on RSV.

I have an offer from Envoy. Before I decide I’d like to hear from the newly hired FOs out there that are on RSV.

1. What is RSV like? I’d like the good, bad, indifferent perspective.
2. I will have to commute. What is the experience like commuting to RSV?
3. How long have you been told you will be on RSV?
4. How many monthly flying hrs have you flown while on RSV?

Thanks!

 

Well hang on tight.

Commuting to reserve for this airline is just about as bad as it can get. How long depends on fleet and base.

 

Oh hi, I was in your shoes last year. Still on reserve now.

1 & 2. Reserve is miserable. You will need a very high tolerance for unpredictability, because depending on your commuting situation you might have 15 minutes to confirm your assignment and be on a plane to NY to fly all night to make your 4AM RAP, or you might be vying for spot on two 10+ seat oversold flights the following day, with capricious AA jumpseaters showing up last minute to forcibly deplane you. This will be made more difficult by the fact that you need to know what flight you want to take 24 hours prior to have a good shot of making it on board. If you can't make it to your reserve assignment on time, we have a commuter policy for that provided you got denied boarding twice; however, you're still expected to commute in on the third flight and sit and do nothing for a day to be ready for your next reserve day. CS will abuse you contrary to the CBA when needed, usually in subtle ways. Know the contract, you can leverage their violations on the front end without the union, as I learned recently. There is no "good" or "indifferent" for a commuter, but most of the problems with reserve here do stem from commuting. We bid for reserve assignments daily, which means you WILL whipsaw between early AM and late PM assignments frequently, leading to extreme chronic fatigue, and you will be punished if you decline flying for this reason. All that said, you move into base and just wanna kick your feet up and make 75 hours of FO pay your whole career once you are senior enough to not get called, that's viable here - we do not have an effective reserve time balancing system. You cannot do this as a captain for more dosh generally because captains get called a lot.

3. On the 145, I'm at 1 year and counting. This is going to depend on fleet and desired base, 175 ORD it might only be what's left of the month after you get off IOE. CRJ ORD, maybe until you get displaced. Be prepared to MAYBE be on reserve for years, and MAYBE get really lucky day one.

4. I've averaged about 12 hours a month flying discounting the balance of 100 hours needed w/in 3 mos of finishing training that the company appropriated for me. This is proffering for every trip that starts & ends w/in a block of rsv days, trying to nab open time, etc. Do not come here if your goal is to blast hours and get out. Depending on your age, your chances of being able to fly a lot in your first year and upgrade quickly might be very slim.

 

I spent 1 month in reserve when I got off IOE and since then I've had a line. 1 yr with the company. I flew about 40 hours in reserve and I was a commuter. This is on the 175 in ORD

 

The 175 fleet is a different animal altogether. It may as well be a different airline when it comes to reserve qol. Hence the “depends on fleet”.

 

Don’t come here.

The only thing this place has going for it is the 175. 3 months reserve on that if you’re lucky to get it.

145? At least a year.

The CRJ is indefinite reserve until they’re gone. The few that are upgrading is offset by lines being reduced monthly.