With a class of 50 starting next month, you are probably not looking at a long stint on reserve but I'd be prepared for a few months on reserve just in case. You never know how the company will shift flying around. They can make pretty dramatic shifts in flying between seasons and bases.

For example, in DEN, summer and winter flying are very different. You might go from mostly day turns to mostly multi day trips because of the season and not your seniority

 

So with LAS, it’s hard to tell the actual time it takes to hold a line is because that one person skews the data. I know on the previous post, it looks like it was taking a year to hold a line in LAS. Is this true for the majority of people? How does savvy bidding help that pilot get a line earlier?

 

It can happen with any base. One person says they will do whatever it takes to get a line. A group above them says I want all weekends off, no redeyes, and/or isn’t flexible enough on their schedule and viola. I would say it’s closer to 9 months on average so far. But as I have mentioned before if and when Phoenix shows up, which we should know in about a week, everything will change again.

 

There are 4 main things you can do to help get a line…

1. Waive minimum days off to 1.
NavBlue won’t build a line with day off blocks being less than 3 unless the pilot waives that. The downside is that you can wind up with a line with a single day off in between trips. That’s no fun as a commuter.

2. Waive 1 calendar day off in 7.
NavBlue won’t build a line without giving at least 1 calendar day off (00:00-23:59) in a 7 day stretch unless it’s waived. The FARs require 30 hours off in 7 days, but not necessarily a calendar day. The downside is that you can wind up with a line where you don’t get a whole day off in a 14 day period.

3. Waive no same day pairings.
NavBlue won’t build you a line with 2 separate pairings touching the same day. For example, if you finish at 7am on a redeye into base, NavBlue will not give you a 9pm report for a different pairing that same day, unless you waive that provision. The downside is that the resulting schedule could be quite fatiguing.

4. Bidding for a Reduced Lower Limit (RLL) line.
An RLL is a “mixed” or “buildup” line. It’s comprised of both trips and reserve days. You won’t be awarded one unless you ask for it, and even then only if you don’t have the seniority to hold a regular line.

 

This and attend the MEC's monthly Navblue online meeting where they will also help you build your bids. A number of people are getting lines in MIA their first bid month the last 2 classes, as I did.

 

this is great advice and my experience. Won’t do a day of reserve (for now) April class.

 

This is really good advice. Thank you so much for taking the time to post this! Appreciate it.

 

Monthly NavBlue meeting!!?? Never heard of such a thing…where’s the info on this?

 

I believe ALPA offer this to new hires while in class.

 

They send an email out monthly.