I don't think it would change much. The amout of reserves required for the month should stay the same. Ideally its better for commuters to only have to commute for three blocks of six days for the month. 6 days on with 4 or 5 off in between would be nice and only do the dreaded commute 3 times a month would be even better.

You get 4 one way passes each quarter, after the first full quarter of service.

Also you might get more LCR days with a 6 day RSV block

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Yep this is about all it does for reserves, but the big gain is what it does for the line holders. When reserves are allowed the flexibility of 6-1(or 5-1, 4-1, 3-1 for that matter) it allows for more combinations of reserve schedules around potential coverage award days.(highly requested days off, xmas, easter) It basically allows for more people to be awarded the requested days off in seniority order.

Since the restriction of max 6 on and min 2 off for reserves, we have seen the unstacking of trips raise to a much higher seniority level than before the restriction.

Would there be any way (and any good reason) to do 3 on and 2 off while on Airbus rsv? If it was possible to bid for an open red-eye going into the first rsv day, perhaps one could still be home a good portion of the first day on, sit out at a hotel on day two, and return day three just in time to go home instead of a crash pad. I don't mind the commute as much as being gone from my kid too many days in a row.

All true, except we can only go max of 5on with 2off currently. I was thinking the company will change it to 6on/2off soon, like they did with line holders. I'm not so sure we'll ever see 6on/1off again, but fingers crossed.

You could definitely manipulate your schedule to get 3on/2off, but you might not get a redeye on day 1, or an early finish on day 3. Imagine a 3day reserve block where you wind up with 0300 short call on Day 1, and on Day 3 you get a day trip turn where you arrive at 23:30. Your 3-day reserve block can easily turn into 5days away from home if you have to commute in the night before, and can't get home on the last day. That's why most commuters try to get long stretches of RSV blocks to minimize the commutes and increase the chance of Long Call (14hr call out time).

You make an excellent point. Perhaps after being gone at initial training my family will be more accustomed to my being gone for longer stretches. Would a 4 on 3 off be a possibility if the wife can't stand the 6?

Absolutely, 4on/3off is pretty typical for commuters.

Reserve schedules are 18 days/month, and 12 or 13 days off (depending if it is a 30 or 31 day bid period). You can arrange those 18 days on in any manner, but no greater than 5on in a row and a minimum of 2off (subject to change).

During slow months like fall and early spring the company will occasionally give every Reserve pilot in a base/seat an extra paid 1-2days off per month. These are called PRL days (Pre-Release Days). So during slow months you could have a reserve schedule working only 16-17 days/month instead of 18.

Short Call Reserve means you have to be at the airport within 2hrs of crew scheduling calling you. Long Call Reserve is 14hrs from call to showing at the airport. Generally, you have to have a 4-5 day block of reserve days to be eligible for LCR. In slow months you could have a 5-day block of reserve and the first 2-3 days might be LCR spent sitting at home 14hrs away from base. Pretty good deal for commuters.

Friendly question for all you BOS folks while the topic of reserve is getting kicked around--is it practical to live [free or die!] in NH and be on the reserve schedule (i.e. to intentionally bid reserve for more home-time)??

I would like 6/1 as a commuter. I like the flexibility it could/would give.
I could do 6 on, 1 off (just stay at pad), and then do 3 or 4 more days on....minimizing commutes