Another question on sitting reserve:

I will be in the 7 Jan class and since my background is all military, am trying to get smarter on the Delta system. My reserve unit is about a 4.5 hour drive from ATL. Am I correct in thinking that if my domicile was ATL, I would be able to sit long reserve at home (co-located with my reserve unit)?

Thanks for the help.

 

You could easily sit long call from your home.....short call, on the other hand, wouldn't be possible. You would have to get a crashpad or hotel for up to 8 days a month. Trust me, this would suck.

If I were you, I would move to ATL, and commute to your military reserve unit, instead of the other way around. I mean, which job is going to be your bread and butter for the next 25 years? Your QOL would be 100 times better than the way you are set up now. Trust me, in the long run it will be well worth the move, and you will thank me.

Sitting long and short call from your living room, in your underwear, and watching the NFL on your big screen TV is so much more satisfying than the Super 8 motel on the south side of Hartsfield, or a nasty crashpad in College Park or East Point with 10 of your best pilot friends. You'd be getting paid to hang around your house with your family. Even if you end up being a line holder in a short period of time, the task of simply driving to the airport in a reasonable amount of time (less than an hour) is made easy by living in the ATL area, instead of 4.5 hours away.

Good luck to you.

 

Otto, Just to confuse you even more, I will respectfully disagree with Archie. In my reserve unit, only 2 of the 12 airline guys moved to their airline domicile...the rest stayed local. The 2 who moved only did so to work in the training dept or become an ACP. They are only able to drill for one week each month (and have to take MIL leave at the airline to do it = less pay) and are constantly going out of currency with the unit. Guys who live local can can come in with just 24 hours notice to pick up a quick 200+ bucks when it suits them. My point is archie's blanket statement that it is better to move away from your reserve gig to live in domicile does not apply to all...in fact, what I have seen is overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

 

Otto,

I guess you're going to have to decide which gig is more important to you....reserve military, or Delta Air Lines. Are you really going to be consistently drilling more than a week out of a month? This will probably get the attention of your Chief Pilot. While the ability to pick up an extra $200 on short notice sounds great now, I believe that it is incredibly short sighted thinking. Soon enough, you'll be making enough at Delta so that you'll be losing money by dropping trips, to fly with the reserves.

Go ahead and take this guy's advise, and commute to reserve....see how you and your family like it. My guess is that you won't.

 

It's not that easy with some of the fighter units. I need 6 sorties a month plus a sim plus ground training...that generally works out to 8 days (sometimes you can do multiple events per day, not always). I'm attached to a normal active duty unit that doesn't do drill weekends, so my reserve time is mostly Mon-Fri.

Yes, I know I'll be crushed for a while so I don't need any lectures on that, but at least I know I'll go home a minimum 8 nights a month...at the end of each AF Reserve day. If I live in domicile, I would be gone a good chunk of the time I pull Delta reserve, then be definitely gone the entire time I'm at my AF Reserve job...that could leave a lot less than 8 nights at home every month.

No perfect choices here. I made the call to commute to Delta.

 

Spot on.... Remember, at Delta you may be on reserve for a year, maybe more, maybe less. On reserve it is great to live in domicile. Once you are a line holder you will go and fly your 3 or 4 or 5 day trip and be away from home. Flying those trips, you will be gone from home for 13 to 15 days, maybe more. You will THEN commute to your reserve job a minimum of 6 days a month and be gone from home. You will be home in your bed 6 to 9 nights a month if you commute to your reserve job. Sure, you can mil leave out of some of your Delta trips but you still aren't home much. Most airline guys I know live at their mil reserve location and then commute to FedEx, Delta, SWA, etc.

 

Also--at LFI you can do some contracting or work in job # 3 (yeah--I know--NOT NOW!) but down the road. Your wife likes it there. You like it there. Another point--important to some--is the built in social network at your military town. Bottom line--ask the wife--if she's happy then you'll be happy. If she's not--well--you know how that goes...

 

Thanks for the information and viewpoints. My reserve unit also requires at least 6 days per month, and doesn't drill many weekends. I am trying to think longer-term, including which situation will be best once I can hold a line. I think in the beginning I'll try the commute to Delta and see how it works out. The wife's happy with that arrangement, so we'll see...

 

Otto/Tbone - something else to think about. WHERE do you live. IE where is your res unit and your home? Take a look at the DAL service out of that city. If it is all RJs..might be difficult to commute. If its mainline..might be easier. See where I am going? I live on the FL Gulf Coast and it wasn't too hard in 01 to commute as I lived where my res unit was/is. Now...it's going to be more difficult..so I am considering a move to be near my reserve unit...4-5 hours from ATL but with an easier commute as there is more mainline service.

As far as reserve commitment - it's getting tough everywhere...I was in the res in AFSOC. Our requirements were unbelievable due to our many diverse missions. I moved to slicks and it's not MUCH better. Still have to fly a few days a month to knock out everything..then there is the UTA...and target UTAs 2-3 times a year.

 

From a previous post:

obviously the 88JFK reserve lifespan is short.

Also, it's been said that with 600+ newhires expected in 08, most 07 newhires won't have to worry about reserve that much. fact or crap?[/quote]


It’s pretty much up to you - if your goal is not to sit reserve you could easily minimize reserve by bidding and staying on the M88 NYC. If on the other hand you bid 767ER NYC plan on reserve for years to come.

Back to T-bones original question. Reserve on the 88 vs. the ER. The differences are huge: For starters on the ER, like I said plan on being on reserve for years - remember a lot of guys will be bidding in above you when they hit their desired seniority keeping you on reserve. Also, if the music stops and you are on reserve with no hiring or worse, furloughs good luck - best case you stay on reserve, next would be a displacement, lastly ,you would be furloughed which would happen at a seniority number not a seat position so this is not a factor. Next think about reserve on Christmas, news year’s day, 4th of July, your family reunion etc. On the ER you will have little or no control over your schedule even on reserve - during certain months (December) senior guys bid reserve to ensure getting certain days off. On the 88 meanwhile - guys will be coming in behind you in almost every new hire class - and guys generally will not bid in above you. With luck after a few months you can get your requested days off and with some more luck you can hold a line within a year. Not to mention vacation bidding - if you want a summer vacation or a holiday vacation, you might luck out on the 88. On the ER plan on getting what ever is left over. Also PCS runs - enabling you to switch your reserve days off, are run three times a day and are seniority based. Also if you actually want to fly and land a plane the 88 would be better - as an IRO on the ER you might land 1 or 2 times a month - not an easy way to adjust to a new aircraft. On the other hand the ER flying is much more low stress - flying the tracks for hours vice doing LGA - DCA etc. I am out of time but this is only the tip of the iceberg. Lastly remember - movement is pretty good right now - that can change overnight.

Good Luck - Scoop