Reserve/Guard Question
 

Wondering how Reserve or Guard flying duty works with your schedule, time & pay while flying full time for an airline? Does it come down to scheduling your military commitment on days off or can you complete duty time during a scheduled trip with the airlines and the trip is "dropped"? Does each airline have different rules (per contract) or is it pretty much standard across the board?

Federal law requires that they release you in time to travel to your duty location and then get adequate rest before reporting. You are also get the same on the back end of your duty.

How various airlines implement this varies. They CANNOT require you to do your reserve time on your scheduled days off, although a few rogue chief pilots have tried this in the past.

My company prefers that I notify them prior to the bid, in which case the mil leave is pre-assigned and my schedule is built around it. I block off the time I need including travel days. They actually give me "virtual credit" for reserve days in PBS so the system does not build me a full line during the rest of the month, which might otherwise take my days off way down.

Also, you can drop short-notice mil leave which just overwrites your existing schedule. Airlines don't have to like this, they just have to do it. Worst case they complain to your CO who will probably just blow them off. Your CO has no incentive to bust your balls to make an airline happy.

After ten years of war, the feds have pretty much sorted out any large company which tries to play games with their reservists. You won't have any issues.

Military flight and duty time do NOT count against FAR limits in any way. You just want to be adequately rested before returning to 121 flying.

Rickair - thanks for the info... I've also wondered about this as I try to decide what to do when I grown up. I notice you used the word 'require'.... do the airlnes expect you to schedule some of your reserve time during time off? In other words, would it be poo-pooed to schedule, say 6 days of reserve duty after a 4-day break (or something to that effect). I just wonder if flying for airlines and the guard is more like having two part-time jobs or two full-time jobs.

More like two part time jobs. In the current climate (ie war) large companies are very reluctant to give reservists a hard time...it's not worth the bad press.

If they really though you were gaming the system (and your CP cared, which he might not) all they can do is complain to your CO. But there is no recourse beyond that, and your CO probably prefers to keep you happy...

But don't go over-the-top, like super-junior pilots scheduling mil leave over every major holiday (unless are deployed of course). Everybody knows you'll probably be on stand-down or half days.

Can anyone please help me understand virtual credit? Also, I'm aware of the requirements to get drill off but how would it work doing my flying during the week on AFTPs? Essentially we have the flexibility to build our own Guard schedule using AFTPs but they are not considered orders. Generally at minimum, flying helos at the unit on AFTPs will require me to fly 4 days a month + drill. Any tips?

I would not assume this (no issues). After ten years of war, these scumbag operators feel that they are the ones sacrificing by letting you go to drill. I would love to hear from anyone who is having difficulties with their employer getting time off for drill, AFTPs, ADSW, AD, AT, etc. Orders are orders, and they are obligated to roll over. You'd be surprised to learn about the lobbying effort that airlines are launching to get relief from complying with USERRA.

AFTPs are scheduled at your convenience (coordinating with the rest of the crew and support personnel). I advise you to have your commander prepare a boiler plate letter to "request" your employer allow you the time off. You won't be paid for the time off, so maximize your pay or quality of life with this feature.

As the "Pilot Shortage" develops, you can expect that discrimination against drilling Guard and Reserve members will increase. Too bad. The answer is: Hire enough to staff your airline and pay them what they're worth! No apologies for serving your county.

My comments from four years ago are a bit dated. I have also heard some recent rumblings that airlines are trying to explore ways to "crack down" on reserves. But there's probably not much they can really do with the law being changed, which is highly unlikely in the mid-term IMO.

But generally airlines are way better than a white collar job where you WILL be doing civilian work and skyping at 0200 local while on mil duty.

Virtual credit days block off your airline schedule so nothing gets assigned there, and they also count towards your total required monthly credit value. You don't get paid for the virtual credit but it prevents your scheduling system from cramming 80+ hours of flying into that part of the month where you're not on mil leave. My company uses 2.5 hours/day so if I do 4 days mil my target line value gets reduced by 10 hours. So instead of getting an 84 hour line (if that were the target value), I'd get a 74 hour line.

I know of one airline where I work that will no longer accept the letter from the commander as proof of duty for an AFTP or IDT period even though it is spelled out in userra and backed up by an ESGR lawyer interpretation. There is eventually going to be a fight coming due to issues like this.

What do they want? Your LES? I'd be inclined to give them any reasonable documentation they wanted as long as it didn't start to become onerous. Easier for me to email my LES than arrange a letter from the unit anyway. That's just throwing them a bone, maybe some manager didn't read all the rules...but if they keep pushing then it's just harassment, I'd dig in my heels and fall back on the letter of the law: Less than 30 days? Call my CO, hope he calls you back. I'm going on mil leave. Don't like it? Fire me. I'll enjoy a few months off until ESGR gets me re-instated with back pay.

I'm with Rickair. He is credible USERRA IMHO.
All military service members must read USERRA.
You should not provide documentation outside USERRA. DOL VETS will simply say you should understand that an employer can ask for whatever they want. You only must follow USERRA. In this case, under 30 days Don't provide the non USERRA required documentation. Employers will ask, but cannot demand. They will demand often to see what one will provide.
Also, documentation does not have to be orders. Employers may not like the USERRA acceptable documentation, but if you follow USERRA, they have no recourse. Read the following gouge

Home Page
Read the Law Review Index (Left top of page)
Also:
Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve > USERRA > USERRA for Service Members

Thumbnail sketch.
ESGR is liaison, no enforcement, good objective source of info for employers, hopefully helpful. Many employers know they do not have enforcement capability and not likely to get an employer to move their position. Good first move, but a DOL VETS complaint is the start of "real" enforcement.
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Airlines and other employers do have USERRA revisions in their sights in DC.
They also lobby DOD for more restrictive than USERRA guidance. It has happened in the USAFR and USNR in the past. (Provide documentation for less than 30 days etc)

This is good stuff. I am relatively new to my airline, and have been on a lot of mil leave since I started. (2 deployments within the first year of employment) They always ask for orders or a letter from the CO or DO for any mil leave that I request. After reading your link, I'm glad to learn that I am not required to provide documentation for every training period that I need to perform for the USAFR. This section in particular was the most helpful. Law Review 14010

Thanks Saltydog!

They are no longer accepting letters from the unit commander.

What documents satisfy the requirement that the employee establish eligibility for reemployment after a period of service of more than thirty days?

(a) Documents that satisfy the requirements of USERRA include the following:

(1) DD (Department of Defense) 214 Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty;

(2) Copy of duty orders prepared by the facility where the orders were fulfilled carrying an endorsement indicating completion of the described service;

(3) Letter from the commanding officer of a Personnel Support Activity or someone of comparable authority;

(4) Certificate of completion from military training school;

(5) Discharge certificate showing character of service;

What is a PSA commander?

As a part time helo guy with the Guard that may be a challenge. We are not on orders, when flying during the week. We fill out an AFTP sheet for each flight and it is eventually processed on an LES. I will ask my airline if the AFTP sheet will count to excuse me for my absence. Thanks for the help everyone...

USERRA does not require any documentation for less than 30 days. If you're comfortable with throwing them a bone I would offer to give them one or the other. If that's not good enough, then dig in and tell them to contact your CO.

If one piece of official paper is not enough for a few days of drill, then they're just harassing you, no need to play that game.

There's a difference between cooperation in the spirit of good relations and putting up with BS. Figure out which of those you're dealing with.

All it takes is one person with a wild hair..
 

I work for the Dept of Veterans Affairs currently, and of all the gov't depts (other than DoD) that you'd think would be supportive, I ran into a middle-manager who suddenly decided that she alone would be deciding when I would be 'released' to perform IDT, deciding how often/how much Reserve work I would do each year, and what constituted 'proof'. As a recruiter, my duty involves quite a bit of alone time- driving, phone work, email, etc., and she tried to tell my commander that he needed to be with me in order to sign off on my duty.

One issue was that we started off by trying to play 'nice', not fully realizing how malicious she was going to get. Every piece of information we provided was twisted around and used against me (though ineffective).

USERRA was pretty useless. Their quote, "Does she listen to you? 'Cause she's not listening to me."

Though I couldn't get her to put the guidance in an email (believe me, I asked repeatedly), she did repeat it in front of our Union rep and to others in the section. Grievance was settled by mortified higher-ups with an apology.

The law is like a car's drivetrain- it matters most when the rubber meets the road.

DP/FSS/MPF/Personnel whatever the hell they call themselves on that day of the week

Closed for training is usually what they call themselves.

I had a similar occurrence during the early stages on my NG career.

A crew scheduler called my supervisor stating "orders" were required for me to get removed from any trips conflicting with drill weekends. I was a flight attendant at the time in the mid 1980s.

I was called in to discuss how I would comply with the scheduler's request. It went something like this...

Sup(-ervisor): Crew scheduling sent me a message saying you will be removed from your trip this time but must provide orders for upcoming drill weekends.

ME: Drill weekends are inactive duty for training. Orders are not cut for IDT periods. I can't give you something which doesn't exist.

Sup: Well, they need something from your unit.

ME: Our contract doesn't require such notification (I quoted section and paragraph). Company regulations don't require such notification (quoted administrative section and payroll section). Federal law doesn't require such notification.

Sup: Can your commander write a note for you?

ME: My commander is responsible for 1,000 soldiers in his brigade...no, he cannot write me a note and I won't ask him.

Sup: The next time scheduling requests orders, you will comply.

ME: Once again...I can't give them something which doesn't exist. They have a copy of my yearly training schedule which shows scheduled drill weekends.

That was the end of the conversation. I didn't have problems with her again or the company until I left several years later.