Airline Pilot Central Forums - (Why) does Delta reserve suck?

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Quote:

Originally Posted by TBoneF15 (Post 288184)

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.

Flip the coin though, if sitting RSV at DAL is a good deal, i.e. not getting called more than 50% of the time, then you will be home ALL day and ALL night for at least 7-8 days each month. Then on days off, you buster to the squadron. I flew 11 years in a regular active squadron M-F like you are saying. I agree with Archie, I evaluated the possibilities and spent much more time at home bidding reserve and commuting 600 miles to the reserve unit. Either way, you will justify what works for you and the sig other. Have buds that live in Squadron hometown and folks like me. For me, in the end, after 11 years at the squadron (to senior to stay) am now drilling elsewhere. If you can stay till retirement at your current town, then that works well for staying, for me, no billets forced a change in reserve sites. I knew that and was another valid reason to move to airline domicile.

Either way, you'll enjoy the ability to leave one and flip to the other! Read USERRA (google it)

I spent my first 2 years at FDX sitting reserve in MEM while living on the east coast. It sucked. It made the military gig easy (local), but sitting in a crash pad on call away from the family is a bad deal...period. Since then, moved to Memphis and sitting reserve is the best deal around. Commuting vs. living at your base...different thread, but being at home with the family and making the move to MEM has been a great deal.

Just out of curiosity what equipment is available to new-hires in SLC?

Quote:

Originally Posted by BYUFlyr (Post 291234)

Just out of curiosity what equipment is available to new-hires in SLC?

You would have to be lucky to get SLC right now and bid it at the right time. Most of the openings on the west coast are in LAX and the SLC pilots seem to be staying put more than most. There were very few openings at SLC in the last AE but a few new guys snuck in at the bottom in the MD-88 from my class (Sep 07) due to upward movement.