Real FO flying hours
 

Is there someone with REAL data about how many hours is a FO flying on reserve and holding a line?

has someone been giving you fake hours?

i have Around 2 years on property. i came here with 1500 hrs all piston part 91.

FO line holder in LGA. i'm one of the top 30% of FOs
flew just under 700 hrs last year
qualified for captain upgrade in under 2 years.

I usually bid for lines based on days i want off (weekends and most days off typically), rather than by pay or hours. My lines end up being worth anywhere from 72 to 88 hours. my line last month was worth 77 hours and i got some weekends off, worked some weekends. i think 14 day off.
i only pick up OT if its juicy these days. I commute so no chance im wasting a day off for 3 hrs pay. The flying varies monthly so schedules will never stay the same.

back when i was a senior fo on reserve i flew from 35-50 hours a month. i liked to fly as much as possible then so i'd profer for most of the good trips. i got most of what i proffered for in the last months before holding a line. if there were inconvenient trips only, (like 4 day trips that overnight in lame cities with very little hours, id just bid RAP2 and usually get to sit at home all day.

when i was brand new NY was alot different and we had a lot of flying and few pilots. i flew a fair amount then too. probably 40 hours or more a month on average but didn't always get what i proffered for. that includes some OT though. rsv pilots fly considerably more when the weather is bad, so summer and winter make fore more flying than spring and fall.
staffing, and base size/flying have changed alot in 2 years and lga is smaller than it was, and less staffed. So your mileage will vary.

Thanks for the info. Actually yes, I heard people have spend weeks without flying, others going to other regionals because they don’t fly. I guess it depends on where are you based. All I’m interested is in flying as much as possible. Just wanna make the best decision.

This is so true. The REAL data is so significantly different based on base and equipment and WHEN you are/were hired. One month difference in hire date even to the same base and equipment can have a huge difference in experience.

yep, mileage has changed. In LGA as a junior reserve guy October/November I flew quite a bit (30-40 hours each month). Since I’ve moved toward the top of the list it’s dropped drastically. I bet I end up around 10 hours in February. There is nothing in open time to proffer for bc that end up giving almost all the 3 and 4 day trips to new FOs trying to consolidate.

thanks for sharing...I guess the company has to give priority to new FOs. Do you think is going to continue like that until you get a line ? Also if you not mind sharing, what are the expected reserve times ? They are saying between 3 to 9 in DFW or 6 to 12 months in LGA.

145 DFW FO - 9/2018 hire. Took 14 months on property to hold a hard line in DFW. Reserve monthly flight time varied from a low of 16 hours to a high of 63 hours. It’s extremely unpredictable and it just comes down to luck of the draw and where you are on the reserve list that month.

If you gave more info on how old you are, cadet/non-cadet, and where you want to be based we could probably be more specific.

DFW is def not 3 months on the 175. I think in Feb composite lines went to spring 2019 hires.

To be fair, anyone in DFW not holding a line is doing it by choice to live in base being the senior base (outside of Miami 145). Pretty much anyone in DFW could commute to a line elsewhere.

Yeah that’s what I thought. 27 non-cadet, 1500 hours part 135. I live in south FL so I’m thinking DFW or LGA since I heard MIA is almost impossible to get since new hire. Eventually in the future I would try to get MIA. I’m just concerned about the flying. Also what base do you guys recommend if I want to fly more and not just sitting on reserve. Thanks