CAL 737 reserve
 

Some questions about CAL reserve:
- What pay rate do you get while on 737 reserve? Is it the SN or LN pay?
- What determines whether or not you get A reserve (long call) or B reserve (short call)?
- What determines whether or not you get called to fly? Is it senority based, flying hour, or something else?
- Can you volunteer to fly an open trip?
- What is the max # of days on reserve?
- How often do you get called to fly (specifically 737 EWR)?
- About how many new FOs are on reserve? Most guys say that they're on reserve for about a month or so, but that was when they were hiring 60+ per week. So I'm guessing that the bottom 50-100 FOs can't hold a line.

Thanks,
Riddler

If you go to EWR, you probably won't sit reserve, at least not more than a month or so. Sept hires will hold a line in Jan.

First year pay is $30.57/hour. It doesn't matter what aircraft you fly.

A or B reserve is determine by seniority. You probably won't hold A reserve for the first couple of months in IAH, or longer in Guam and CLE. Again, in EWR you probably won't sit reserve after IOE for any length of time.

Combination of a lot of things. Generally by seniority, most junior gets assigned first, but availability, hours flown, etc all plays into it. You can aggressively pick up trips the day before your reserve duty in your pick-up window. A's get first choice, followed by B's. So you can control your trips to a certain extent, up to maximum number of credit hours per month of 72 for A and 76 for B reserve. You won't be allowed to fly more than that each month, unless the company is very short. I had only two months on reserve with more than 76 hours of pay.

12 days off a month. So depending on the month 18 - 19 days a month of reserve (16 in Feb). Minimum of 2 days off in a row. 8 hard days off a month that can't be moved by Crew Scheduling and 4 soft days off a month that can be moved by Crew Scheduling (called "rolling your day-off" - happened to me twice). I never flew all reserve days of the month. I always had at least one or two days on reserve but not used.

Depends. In July and August you will fly - A LOT. Now, not so much. In IAH there are about 40 pilots on reserve. In EWR, there are about 31 pilots on reserve. 90% or lower on the seniority list holds a line.

We've never hired 60 per week. The number is 16 per week. It's been reported that the hiring is dropping to 8 per week, but there is confusion on that. Pilot recruiting is saying 12 with back to 16 by the end of February.

Thanks for the info. Sorry, I mistyped and really meant 60 per month, not per week.

It looks like I'll start training sometime in March, and I'm trying to figure out how long I'll be on reserve. It seems that hiring is drying up, I've heard 8 people per week until about April. So I guess I'll be seeing a lot of time on reserve.

Riddler

I was on reserve in EWR this month and only flew 40 hours. Expect to fly a little more if you go to training in March because you will come on line in the summer. You still won't be on reserve very long, maybe two months max. My month and a half of reserve wasn't bad unless you really want to fly a lot. I'm sure I could have flown more if I would have called and bothered scheduling.

Hey Riddler,
Welcome aboard. I'm afraid too that this age 65 increase has put quite a damper on things for many aspiring airline pilots and pretty much slammed the doors shut for lots of newhires. Sad in my book. It'll be interesting to see if all those "age 60" pilots who stayed on or pulled their papers will now be calling in sick to burn all their banked sick time. If so, this is going to cost the airlines a ton of money, not to mention require them to start hiring again. I hope that's the case. If you need anything, drop me a line.

Congrats! No, not in EWR. I really don't think so. Maybe two months after IOE max. Remember, EWR on the 737 only has 30 FO's on reserve. Even at 8 a week that's just two months of training with some going to the 756. And almost everyone is going to EWR initially and then transferring later to other bases. If you start in March and finish IOE in June, you could hold a line in August, might be back on reserve in September, and will hold a line permanently in October.

CAL EWR 75/76 lines/reserve
 

Can anyone shed some light on EWR 75/76 QOL?? I start training Jan 22 ... was told to expect athe usual 737 & 75/76 split ... I live with-in 2 hrs of EWR, so EWR will work just fine.

Thanks, and Happy New Year to all!

Hey, congratulations on your new career at CAL! It's hard to say what your QOL will be like, but I'm betting that if you're on reserve, you'll get quite a few days off in addition to the normal 12, at least if the WX is nice. Reserves tend to get abused when the commuters get stuck trying to get to work or ATC delays get out of hand and start timing pilots out. At any rate, the age 65 law sure didn't help anyone as far as moving up and getting lines, but it's something we all have to deal with now. We were scheduled to have approximately 300 pilots retire this year and now we'll probably be lucky to see 5-10% of that number (my guess which may be high). We do have expansion plans, however the price of oil has certainly helped curtail that too. Hopefully you'll hold a line within a few months, but overall, I think you'll enjoy it and have a good time. Welcome aboard and Happy New Year!!

The 756 flying is like a whole different airline. Only 5% of the flying is domestic. Most flights are to Europe and leave at night and you land in the morning (middle of the night Eastern time). You spend 24 hours at your destination and return (getting up as early as 1am Eastern time) and arriving around 11am to 5pm in EWR. The domestic flying to to LAX and LAS, with many "day" trips to Florida and back. The 756 flying is more commutable, while the 737 flying is less commutable.

The 737 does North America and some Central America and Carribean. There is a lot more to choose from, destinations, trips lengths, etc. The 737-800/900 pay is the same as 757 pay. Your first year pay is the same no matter what you fly. If you go to the 757, you have to wait 2 years until you bid the 737. If you get the 737, you can bid the 757 anytime. You can always "bid up", but are frozen to bid down for 2 years. What I did and recommend: go to the 737. Get the "free" type rating (it could come in handy someday). Get CAL experience, then bid the 756 or even the 777. I flew the 737 for a year, then went to the 756. I got the 737, 757, & 767 type ratings in one year. I got a lot of varied experience in many aircraft (737-300/500/700/800/900, 757-200/300, & 767-200/400) plus flying in North America, Central America, South America, Carribean, Europe, Pacific Ocean flying, & Atlantic Ocean flying. Some people like less training and less varied flying so they can do something they are comfortable with. I personally like to do a little of everything, so I don't get bored and learn everything that CAL does. I didn't do the 777, but that's another story.

Pay question for the line holders
 

Thanks for the info about reserves. How about flying the line? Is there a minimum hour guarantee?