It can actually depend on what your needs, as well as expectations are. I've had great relief lines, 18 days off, etc. And I've had crappy relief lines, min days off, 4 on 2 off the ENTIRE month, working most weekends, right at 75 hrs credit for working 18 or 19 duty periods in the month, etc. With the kicker being NOTHING to trade for in the SLIW due to 30/7 issue, or the 4 on 2 off, or losing pay credit in the process of the what's left over. So those months, a 4 on 3 off Monday-Thursday long call line IS better as far as QOL goes. The rest is up to the individual persons knowledge of the contract and how to "game" the reserve system. Whether you want to work the Monday-Thrs, or simply sit home most of the month with just an occasional ARC sit thrown in.

And nope, you don't need to point out the pitfalls of long call, of which there can be many. Again, it's about managing expectations and exploiting the contract to the fullest extent, I've done it plenty in the 7+ years in EWR, IAH, LAX, and ORD.

 

And don't forget about dropping you schedule and then picking up stuff on days off with lots of soft time. By doing this you can easily block 70 hours and get paid for 110. With PBS you're stuck with what you get. Our line bidding is nothing like how your line bidding was.

 

He was talking about the ILIW, not the SLIW.

 

Don't agree either. I want weekends off, I bid a reserve line weekends off THEN a relief line, no question. Though I'm not a commuter so I don't care what I get. LOVE arc - 4 hours pay for 4 hours work, you can't get more productive than that.

Hopefully, this will change with the new smartpref for the secondary window, if you know what You'll get on your relief line I'd be more inclined to bid it. Might even opt out of the crappy hard lines to take a senior relief line.

 

Remember, we are claiming our system is better for EVERYONE, thats the difference. With PBS, a certain percentage of pilots get exactly what they want, after that its a crap shoot. With our system, all the senior guys get what they want, then the junior guys are able to completely change their schedules to benefit them. Thats the difference. When comparing our systems you don't look at the senior guys, you look at everyone as a whole. As you can imagine, all line holders getting basically what they want every month makes for a much happier pilot group as opposed to one where the senior guys are all fat dumb and happy while the junior guys constantly get siht on.

 

To each his own I guess. I never really cared for having weekends off just so I can get 75 hours of pay @ 23.05 per with 12 days off ....

 

Which just circles back around. On a relief line, you can have 12 days off with 18-19 duty periods in a month. Toss in a commute, and you're at less days off/at home. Or you you can do reserve, have just as many and sometimes one more duty period in the month, and work LESS for that 75 hrs @ @23.05. It's all a crap shoot, and again it's about wants/needs as well as expectations.

It never ceases to amaze me when flying with a pilot that held a relief line for the first time and is b1tching about how crappy it is and wasn't able to trade for anything better. Usually the same guy that b1tches about the grueling 3-4 months he sat reserve as a newhire.

 

I'm just speaking on limited experience. I only spent 6 months on reserve never broke guarantee . All my relief lines have allowed to me to do what I want . Which is make as much money as possible right now . Im not a commuter, so far relief lines have met my needs but I totally understand everyone is different.

 

I'll let you know in about another month if I'm that guy .

 

I'll be looking at a relief line in June, possibly. I don't know if I'll even want it. I'll be able to get all weekends off during the Summer if I choose to stay on rsv. I might just choose to enjoy those weekends with my friends and family instead of being left with the crappiest lines possible.

Different strokes for different folks. QOL carries more weight with me than the extra money I could be making with a relief line. Once I get off first year pay then I'll probably be busting it a little more because I'll have a shot at actually making a little money.

One thing people haven't really mentioned is how much of a difference it makes if you live in base. I'm lucky enough to be one of those people. Makes reserve almost a non-issue, especially cause my base is my home town. I don't understand how some people can commute from coast-to-coast to sit reserve. I just don't get it.