Remember when you used to fly airliners?
 

I have been on reserve since late November. I flew a lot in December, but since then I have flown a 3 leg 2 day, an ORD turn, and a local with a deadhead back (captain took the leg). Thats 2 flying legs in 52 days. I'm not trying to complain but every time I jump in the cockpit I try to move the seat over on the j-track, hit the ptt on the instrument panel, or try to say "Waterski" on the radio (a habit that was beat out of me in sim... literally).

How many other pilots out there are sitting around and not flying? The thing is there is not a lot of flying to go around right now and with the talks of the Delta merger I wonder if I will ever get off reserve. Any thoughts? Am I just being paranoid? Will everything come to a frenzy in the summer like last year and suck up all of the reserves? How does this year's pre-summer staffing compare to last year?

Also... Whats with the ETOPS stuff in the latest qtb?

Well the staffing right now is alright, and I think that is due to the projected increases in the UX flying. They say we have added 18% and my gut feel is we are not done adding flying to united this year.

About april or may, it seems that it really kicks into gear. With the staff we have right now, by summer prolly around 15% is about the coverage I expect.

Right now it is kinda nice having all of you guys cleaning your rectums with your thumbs, I have not had a drop request denied in many months.

Problem being is we used todays standards to predict the future, never really works.

You will get off reserve someday, just hold, when things start moving again, your senority will out run you.

Reeves

Reeves you were at TSA too right?

Still am,
I have no real plans on heading out

Do you drive a red Oldsmobile and keep a crowbar by your bed? I sure flew a lot while I was there. It is good to not have to commute, even though I am not flying much.

Nope never had one,
I dont spend time there, just drive in hop on the plane and leave
fly back, car, home

I spend about 2 to 4 hours a trip in st louis and thats it

I mis read your post, none of that makes since what I posted, I thought you were still there.

I have no idea what your reseve looks like

but for anyone else, that is what TSA's looks like

sorry for the confusion

I was in a crashpad with a reeves, thats all. He had a crowbar by the bed. One night there were a bunch of gunshots by the house and the crowbar looked pretty inviting.

You must have the wrong reeves
never had a red car, or a crowbar

Anyway... Any other pilots out there not flying want to chime in?

Don't know what's going on...it's gonna be slow for awhile. But I wouldn't expect that to last. Jerry doesn't like slow.

They may have staffed up for possible growth, or they may have simply FINALLY caught up with staff shortage.

Remember, this is the slow season. If you don't have excess staff in FEB, then you will be woefully short durig the summer (unless you do a great deal of hiring and training).

It's nice to be able to drop trips as desired for a while...especially during ski season :cool:

Take advantage of the down-time to add up your logbook, take a class, do a project etc...cuz it won't last forever.

What carrier are you flying for? At AE all reserves fly a lot and you would be hard pressed to find any FO or CA that has had days on call without being called.

He's with SkyWest - we all know that Eagle is hard-up for Pilots - even in February! ::eek::

To sayings come to mind:

1. “Slow and steady wins the race.”

2. “Inch by inch life is a synch, yard by yard it can get pretty hard.”

He doesn’t mind it being slow as long as we are one of the best in performance & profitability and we maintain our respect. I know some may say that "we're a regional so what respect can we have?" Well, SKW won't accept flying just to gain market share, they what to remain profitable and well respected in the business industry and brand imaging counts for something. Just look at MAG, don’t you think that UAL is getting sick of all the negative press as well as the headaches (cancellations, poor performance, poorly maintained a/c, poor customer service, etc) and extra money it costs them to find a carrier willing and able to fly the flying MAG can’t staff during the peak season. It cost UAL extra when time is short. In 09 you’ll see UAL (as well as a few others) start turning to better performing regionals that cost .02+ cents per seat per mile more and to offset the cost you'll see more efficient 66+ seaters enter into the industry coupled with a reduction in 50 seat flying.

Great post I agree 100%

Don't worry, by about mid-July you'll be longing for those lazy days of winter when you're stuck on reserve or wishing you had airport appreciation time to catch your breath. :)

You've been on reserve 4 months. Boo friggin hoo:rolleyes: Just give it time, you'll be longing for the days when the company left you alone.

I guess we can't ever be happy ;)

How many skywesters are former mesa crew??
 

I heard from a friend that many do fly mesa until 1000 hours then jump to skywest, especially if they're west coasters.

Hmm...right on JetJock. I kind of meant "slow" in a broader sense...they want (perhaps need, even) something on the horizon - I'm sure they're hard at work looking for the next step(s), just waiting for that right one to materialize. And it doesn't have to be "explosive" growth, just something good. Midwest, I believe, is exactly what you stated in your post, and what I am eluding to LoL. Slow and steady wins the race, but that doesn't mean that slow and steady doesn't have an ace up the sleeve.

Perhaps the best part of jumping-ship for me is having every ounce of faith in those at the helm. That is something I had none of at Trans States...To some, that faith may just be a luxury, but for me, it is absolutely necessary.

And so many think that we at ExpressJet are misguided, delusional or have our faith misplaced. Interesting...:D

No way! Misplaced faith, perhaps...but delusional and misguided? Absolutely!! LoL ;)

I really think XJet and SkyWest are run by two very different kinds of people. Both very, very good at what they do, but different none the less...But that's good, isn't it?! I mean, who the heck would want to SkyWest's or two Jetlinks running around the industry LoL

I just meant that most at XJet have a lot of confidence in our management team and their ability to do incredible things with an incredible company. But you're right, both very different managements. I'm pretty sure our CEO could offend your CEO after about 4 seconds in the same room together:D

You got me there man! Almost fell off the chair...worse, I almost spilled my beer!!