Dear Delta Pilots,

Would you mind explaining to me how you are paid? (i.e. Min day credit, Duty rigs, Trip rigs, etc.) I've tried the search function on APF, and cannot find the information that I am seeking. I appreciate the help!

Laxrox43

 

We get paid the highest of the the below:

Reserve Guarantee: 70
Lineholder Guarantee: 65

Straight Block

Min Day (Suit Up Pay): 2:00

Duty Period Average(DPA): 5:15, only counts for "qualifying" duty periods. DH only duty periods don't count. We have plenty of 2 leg, 3 day trips that are worth 10:30. Doesn't apply for reserves (this needs to be fixed) except as a lookback, which is rarely triggered. This is frequently the max credit on a trip

Duty Rig: 1 for 2

Trip Rig: 1 for 3.5, this is usually the highest rig for low block or long international trips.

It gets a little more complicated than that, and I can give you more specifics if you want. We do have a few ways to earn "double time" by flying on days off. It is awarded in seniority order and is hard to come by when we're staffed properly (or fat depending on who you ask) like we are now.

 

What does a typical reserve schedule look like? Is there potential for a new FO on reserve to go over guarantee? Can you explain to me how "rigs" work? (At Colgan, we have 4 hour min day pay, and we are block or better by the leg)

 

Reserves are available 18 days every month. So some months you get 12 days off and others 13 days off (in a 31 day month.)

Reserves are automatically on Long Call (must be able to report 12 hours from a call). They can put you on short call up to 6 days a month, which is "reasonably available". Most cities it is generally understood to mean 2 hours from report. NYC and LA are a little longer and the schedulers are pretty good as long as you are up front with them about how long it will take you to get into position. I haven't had more than 4 short calls in a month since we switched to the DAL work rules. At NWA we could be on short call almost every day (if you were junior) which really sucked as a commuter.

It is rare (in my experience) for a reserve to go over guarantee. Typically I will in the summer months, and occasionally I'll have another month or two where I go over, but I typically only make guarantee about 8 months out of the year.

Rigs:

2:1 Duty Rig
If you duty on at 8am and are on until 8pm (12 hours), you will be paid at least 6 hours that days (12/2) regardless of how much block you fly. It's rare to see much duty credit in a day, unless there's a long sit somewhere.

The trip rig works the same way except it's based on time away from base at 1 hour of pay for every 3.5 hours away from base.

 

As far as breaking reserve guarantee, that really just depends on how short or how fat they are in that category (Aircraft/seat/Base.)

Example - I've been on the same aircraft (M88) since I was hired. When I was first hired I would break guarantee every month without ever trying because we were so short. Then they staffed up the airplane a little better. I could break guarantee, but had to work to do so (you can manipulate a score so you are more likely to fly.) Then they overstaffed the airplanes because of some delayed deliveries of "new" aircraft, and I only flew once or twice a month. Now we're getting short again (in my category,) and I worked pretty hard last summer.

As far as a typicall reserve schedule - It kinda depends on what you want. They use PBS for reserve bidding here, which means you basically try to tell the machine what days you want off. You can do the traditional 3-6 on and 2-4 off, or you can go as many as 10(?) in a row on (They'll get you 24 hours of rest in there somewhere - could be on a layover,) if you want to try to get a larger block of days off.

We are block or better by the leg, but there is no minimum credit per day. Instead there is a minimum credit per *Qaulifying* duty period - but it is a look back at the end of the month and compare to the total credit for your trips vs. the getting paid a minimum for every duty period you worked. Kinda confusing, and honestly not usually a factor in helping to break guarantee.

 

We are fat now, but for this year, as a reserve FO, who has not hit top pay,I will top 135KK on the 7ER for the year. If you add in my deductions for medical, per diem, life ins, day care DC, 401K etc, I am well above 150K. It was an odd year in that I was able to fly to ALV+15 every month up to Sept. Had a line one month this fall and was paid 90 hrs. Three months will be reserve guarantee.

Now that we are fat, I am looking at 15 hrs of flight time a month on average, and 70 hrs of pay. There are virtually no green slips and even the bad trips are being picked up by line holders to fill up (Hit ALV; which is 72 hrs this month, +15 hrs)

When we start hiring we will be short in a few areas as they start to staff the WB seats. Then is a good time to do very well.

 

So a pilot could potentially sit at home on Long Call, and then sit at the crash pad in-base on a Short Call day? That's nice to know! How long does it take to get off of reserve typically? What equipment are guys/gals starting out in? If I were to be lucky enough to get hired down the road, it wouldn't matter to me, but I am still curious.

 

sucks!! There, I finished the sentence for you.

 

135KK? So $135,000,000?

 

thanks for your input.


Also on reserve, if you reach the "alv" which is a calculation of the average line value for your airplane/seat, then scheds cannot fly you without your permission.

say the M88 FO "ALV" is 72:00 for December... If you accumulate 66:46 (i.e. within 5:15 of 72 hours) of credit, there is nothing the company can assign you unless you volunteer, so you could be off for the rest of the month, no matter how many days you have left on call. Even if you volunteer, they cannot assign you anything that would put you over ALV+15. It prevents abuse of reserves (sort of, I'm sure folks will chime in on how they get hosed by reserve, but overall it could be a LOT worse).

We have some things going into effect early next year that will help assure that trips go out in more of a seniority system, right now assignments are based on a leveling system that doesn't address seniority.