Realistic monthly credit
 

What's a realistic monthly credit for line holder who lives in base with a little extra thrown in, such as a day turn or two, or RSA/VDA?

85hrs seems reasonable. I wouldn’t count on any RSA/VDA in a general monthly calculation because it is sporadic and not something you can really control.

Thanks. Just trying to decide where I could afford to live.

I think that’s a reasonable estimate as well, especially if you have a family or other commitments. Also remember that 1000 hours in a year averages out to 83 per month. So you’re going to need soft time to go above that obviously. It’s available but you have to play the game. In 5 years of trying to balance wanting to credit more, kids, wife’s job, and commuting, I’ve been at an 82-85 average consistently. Usually I’ll have a few good months and others at minimum to focus on family. Plenty of people do more here but it just depends on your situation. I know many who have a more free schedule than I who routinely push 100.

Lots of soft time on the 190 due to the nature of the flying and the fact that the contract was built more for the Airbus in mind. I live in base and can hit 110+ hours of credit with relative ease while cutting my block time in half. Takes some time though to figure out how the system works.

Great. Might play the game a little but that sometimes requires thinking about work more than I'd like.

So how about a 320 JFK commuter? Any reserve guys here care to share what they are crediting?

70 every month because I always UTO a day. Sometimes take home pay is a little higher when you get holiday, hours, etc., but I’ve only ever broken guarantee once. If I lived in base might be more due to the occasional VDA/RSA or straight pickup.

Are you saying you are planning to base your budget on anything other than guarantee? Not a great strategy in this career field.

Pickup/RSA/VDA is all well and good, but next time we are in a labor dispute you don't want to be the guy screwing us all because you can't afford to live without the extra credit. There is a reason it took us so many years to get a crappy contract.

Plan on this, 83 hours, maybe 90 if you’re very aggressive. Some months you will credit 110, but that’s things falling into your lap with an irop, and only a few times a year (2-3.) Other months there will be no opportunity. Keep in mind VDA is a great deal, but it’s by seniority and popular. As a first year person, even with VDA, it isn’t that likely they’ll call you unless you’re the last or only option. Unless you have goals, being a flica WH+%E is not a life you want. Honestly, the true flica masters are just strange. You’ll need alerts and you’ll need to take action in under 3 seconds, and even that’s late. You will see folks eating at the airport with a laptop open to flica with auto refresh on just staring at it. Unless it’s a true garbage trip, you need to obsess over it and make it a lifestyle to have a shot at routinely using flica to break 100+. Keep in mind, the folks I’m talking about credit likely 110+ every single month and have for years. Long story short, factor in a basic line. From there you may swap a 20 hour 4 day for a really bad 23 hour 4 day. You may get 1 RSA and then get lucky and snag a day trip here or there. On the 320 ALL (95%) open time are 4/5 day trips so not much you can do there. Almost forgot, because of reserve grid rules, unless you have day trips or two days it’ll be difficult to move around or swap 4 day trips.

Ugh, I hate watching Flica. At my regional you could get crazy credit. Not the same here. Understood.

Watching would be an understatement. Obsessing to make any meaningful difference is more like it.

Its funny. You have those who could careless less about Flica and then there are those who credit 115-120hrs on a month when they are "slacking."

I’m usually in that 115-120 hours/month club and I find that schedule to be a lot less demanding than the guy who just flies his schedule and goes home. I bet most Flica wh*res finish the year with less block then they guy who’s never goes on Flica. It’s not all about making more money, but working more efficiently.

Mind elaborating a little about the reserve grid rules and difficulty of swapping? You mean just because of the amount of red days, swapping a 4 day that doesn’t exactly overlap something you already have is difficult?

+1. Depending on seniority or lack thereof it is commensurate with some luck & timing.

Maths. Quite simply if you have a four day it is more likely to touch a weekend which is usually red (min coverage) after the first swap window. So if you want to swap a weekend 4 day for a weekday one flica won’t let you because the company doesn’t have coverage for your trip. Shorter trips are easier to swap because they touch less days. That being said, when I was junior I would get a line of all weekend trips but through working flica I would only work 1-2 of them. Ymmv

“Red for redder” is a powerful tool to get weekends off...but like you said, much easier with shorter trips.

Shhhh! You’re letting all the secrets out ;)

It’s also hard to get a VDA when the day before an upcoming snowstorm, you have pilots picking up broken pairings at straight pay. I guess some people are just impatient or think Jetblue won’t need the help during the recovery process like they always do. That 5 hour credit turn pays the same tomorrow as on a beautiful October day ya know...rant over.

Or you know, just swapping away their crappy trips later in the month. Would much rather fly a broken pairing than a regularly scheduled trip most of the time.

Yep....not talking about that, that’s different yes.

You might consider that vda is most available to those who live in base, and that commuters view a broken trip with a deadhead as equal to or better than vda. A ten hour two day with one as a dh only to or from my blue city is pure gold.