Ready Reserve
 

Ready Reserve

Question for your guys and gals;

1. Does your company use ready reserve (airport standby)?
2. If not, is it because it’s contractual, or they could, but just don’t?

This topic has arisen periodically, and I have a general sense of who does and doesn’t use it, but wanted to get an official word from the boys. And for those looking into companies, this is a nice thing to know too as a side note to this thread.

Thanks,

HPD

Piedmont does not do ready reserve. Out typical call out is 75 minutes but can go to 120 minutes with bussing operation.

TSA does it. 10 hour shifts at the airport.

Mesaba does.
8 hr shift. Pays 4 hours + per diem
Max 10 times per month. No more than 3 in any stretch of reserve days.

That does not sound fun. How about American Eagle and Air Wis?

aside here... what are we negotiating for RR-wise in the JCBA, do you know?

Pinnacle does:

9 hours max (always assigned), no extra pay, no max RR per month (1 AM, 1 PM, 2 late allowed)


TA1: 9 hours, no max per-person RR per month (but 2 per shift, 3 shifts daily) RR allowed to be assigned during schedule integration to crewtrac; 1 hour of pay only if called in for RR...

You forgot the best parts. 5 hours pay, no limit to how many times per month, no limit to changing sides of clock. IE very common to be assigned 1300-2300 airport reserve just to get a call at 1400 to do one leg to the overnight and have a short overnight with a 515 show. Good times all around.

Um, they can assign RR during schedule integration NOW. Before final schedules are out, everyone on reserve has home reserve PM. After the "integration" is done, then we see how badly we get screwed. Then they can escalate you pretty much any time they want, you just get 90 minutes to get there. XJ can only be escalated the night before. No same day escalations, which is kinda nice. I had one stretch of 5 home reserve days. Escalated to RR Am the first day, and then every day after that at 1 minute after going on reserve, the call would come in: "We're escalating you to RR." There's no limit, and there's no contractual language to force them to go in seniority order. Even then, there's no transparency to make sure they follow the rules.

What's ready reserve? :D

I do not know what direction the negotiations are. I know what I would like (No RR, No JM's).

Otherwise known as "Airport Appreciation". You spend your reserve duty at the airport, usually hanging out in the crew lounge watching the paint on the walls dry.

I know what it is. ;) We don't have it at my airline... and in fact when I was at 9E they didn't utilize it except for a couple of my months there.

Color me lucky.

They hadn't gotten around to abusing that part of the contract yet...

Mesa used to (and perhaps still does) absolutely abuse reserves by assigning them to 12 hour ready reserve shifts with eight days off a month. Nice huh?

I bet you don't miss the CDOs either...:D

Comair:

Ready reserves are 6 hours long.

Max 2 in a row.

Max 6 in a month.

Can only be assigned in domicile.

No seniority on RR (They give assignments out based on who's about to finish, not who's junior)

4:20 credit toward monthly guarantee.

A RR that becomes a 4-hour trip will still only pay 4:20.

A RR assigned at the end of a trip pays 4:20 in addition to the daily credit for that trip.

Start of RR also starts the 13:30 max scheduled duty period.

Pilots with more than 22 years or less than 3 years don't need to worry about RR (They're either furloughed or lineholders)

PSA

10 hrs of ready reserve/day.
NO PAY/NO CREDIT/FREEE RESERVES
3 times in a row max
No monthly max
Either 5am-3pm or 2pm-midnight.
They can call a regular reserve out at say 10am and have them sit at the airport for 10 hrs. Up to 14hrs duty/day.
You can be DHed out of base to sit hot elsewhere.

ExpressJet: RR Max 4 hour shift and 4 hours of pay

No more than twice in a set of reserve days

Can't sit RR 2 days in a row

Can't sit RR on your last day in a block of R days

No more than 6 times per month

Has to be in domicle

Wow, its amazing the spread here....

On one end you have airlines with 4 hour shifts paying 4 hours, max 6 a month.

On the other end, you have airlines with 8-10 hour shifts, unlimited times per month, and no pay whatsoever.

Nobody should accept a new contract that has anything less than rules similar to the best of regionals. This is an area where some need to really come up to the bar.

Just curious, but which MOU/LOA are you reading that part in? It's not in the updated contract as such.

I'd love no RR, but I don't think we'll get it. Very few regionals operate without RRs, and all three of us currently have it as it is. Likely, we'll see it with restrictions. I'd say no more than 8 hours, but it falls under the 4 hour min guarantee for the day. Limit on the number of RR, but I'd guess it's gonna be about 10 per month. The big question is what kind of escalation language are we going to get? In TA1, the could only escalate you twice a month. At XJ, it has to be done the night before. TA2 it was still one of the open sections, so there's nothing to build on there. Another thing is what happens when you're done with an assignment (also one of the open JCBA sections)? Can they hold you for an hour on RR as they can now, or will you be free to go if they have nothing for you? How many guys will they be allowed to have at the airport? 99 agreement for 9E says no more than 2 at a time, and TA1 language was pretty much the same.

As for no JMs, I hear that's a deal breaker if we're forced to accept JMs. Who knows, though?

Anyone got any word from today's meetings?

It's been a while since I was at Mesa (furloughed) but this (the quotation) is old info, but not incorrect. We had 11 days off, per the last contract, and there have been several iterations (and still ongoing) of reserve LOAs to make it less abusive and more contract adherent. Our MEC has been pretty proactive with reserves and before I got furloughed was doing a good job of working for the reserves with PBS and other stuff.

A positive thing about the furlough and downgrades was that a lot of folks who were never touched by furlough policies have been thrown into the grinder and are now more sensitive to how it is to be screwed around by Crew Tracking, I think.

I'm hoping the new contract negotiations we're starting will do more to strengthen the reserve language in the contract and improve QOL as much as it can be improved given the general crappy-ness of reserve life. I'm pretty pleased with what I have read from various MEC communications and talking to my friends still on line that this has been an area that the MEC has taken to heart and been working on improving.

Not to say that management won't mess with it anyhow at their whim, but then that's what happens in AirlineLand, isn't it?

CommutAir: (Contract negotiations in progress)

-8 Hour ready reserve, 7a-3p OR 3p-11p.

-All reserve days pay 4.0 hours of flight pay, RR also adds in Per Diem.

-No limit to amount you can sit per month or consecutively.

*Note about our reserve guarantee: If you're rolled to an assignment off reserve or RR and it is blocked more than 4 hours, you're paid the additional time above 4 hours on top of your monthly guarantee.

Example: 76 hour guarantee, you fly once that month for 6hrs for the day. You will be paid 78 hours that month because you exceeded your 4 hour daily guarantee for that one day of flying. Reserves have the opportunity to make a lot of money over guarantee if they do a lot of flying that exceeds 4 hours per day.

I'm sorry you're right, it doesn't specifically say this and there are loop holes. This is assuming a max 5 day reserve block. With 5 reserve days, it would be impossible to sit RR more than twice because you can't sit RR on your last day. If it was a transition month and you were scheduled for 6 I suppose three times would be possible.

Are you guys paid block or better?

Recently we have had some clarifications to our RR rules. If they call you for a trip that trip must leave within the the 8 hours (comes from being called 3 minutes before end time for a flight 3 hours later). If you're flight ends before you're finished their are 3 possible things. Stay until RR periods ends - and leave. Scheduling can release you early then extend your reserve day to the 14 hrs. Or just released early no strings.

If the flight ends after your RR period, you're contactable for 30 minutes after. I am not sure if there is a limit of how many RR's you can have but I have never seen more than 1 complete crew per aircraft type. So 9 people sitting per RR period. However I haven't seen 900 or SAAB RR's for sometime.

We check in at Mesaba but not check out. To me this check out business you have is a non-starter for me...If the scheduling section is TA'd I would sure like to believe the type of bs you guys are going through is over.

My understanding is you do only if you break monthly guarantee. It is usually just scheduled block. That's something we are working on in our first contract.

Checking out for lineholders was gone in TA1, and I'm pretty sure it was gone in our Section 6 TA2 negotiations. Reserves still had to check out. If it got snuck back in during the JCBA, it's a step backwards from what was already negotiated and agreed upon.

And by 2012 the 22 year guys will be on reserve :mad:

Good they deserve it.

ASA:

8 hour shifts (Pays greater of 4:00 credit or actual block)

Up to 6 times a month

No limit to days in a row

Come on Jesse, don't hate on the company that made you who you are today! Ask yourself this; would you have you're job today without good ole' Comair? (You know you loved concourse C!)

yes but every regional is the same right? wrong. what a bunch of horse ****.

I know a few guys who enjoy ready reserve at AWAC. I've never done it, since we don't have ready reserve in RDU, but it consists of:

-8 hour shifts
-paid I believe 4:10 per day (any flying past that goes above guarantee)
-I believe it's 10 minutes to get to the plane when you are called, but I think all of our ready reserve rooms are outside of security so they can't really hold anybody to that.

Basically, if you live in base, and don't mind sitting at an airport for 8 hours, it's a great setup. It's probably as close to a normal job as you can get, with the exception of some of them start really early. If they get ready reserve in RDU, I'm going to be all over that, but my guess is it will go senior since a majority of the people live here.

Actually... I would be the same person but probably 3 more years seniority on the same list I am now at the bottom of.

Come on, if you sit for 8 hours you should get paid for 8 hours!

Colgan has ready reserve

8 hour shifts and three per day of AM, PM and overnight

Shifts can be extended (I did a 12 two weeks ago)

Paid at 4 hours

With no contract you could sit hot reserve 5 days per week for the entire month.

You can sit hot reserve until 2200 and then start hot reserve again at 0600 the next morning. I consider this to be a potential plus. If you are working the 0400 reserve then your first day is non commutable. If they switch you half way through to an evening reserve and keep it that way you then will finish at 2200 and be non commutable on both ends.

So are you saying that crews sit ready reserve overnight? If so, where do they sit this ready reserve? Is the crewroom open 24/7? Some airlines have a policy to close the crewroom at night to prevent the "crewroom residents" from taking over.

From what the guys in my crashpad tell me, AE has ENTIRE lines built of airport ready.

Actually many of them will be first officers with good lines...

Ya, if you come to Eagle, you can be a line holder right off of IOE!

Ready reserve is known as "airport appreciation" at AE. I did it for 3 months straight in ORD, and a couple more here and there. I guess the only thing good about it is the fact you can somewhat plan your commutes easier.

The fun game was to start out of the exit of the crew room, pick right or left, and walk the entire ORD airport with your right or left shoulder on that wall until you made it back to the nest. I can say I've seen every inch of ORD, sadly.