I have a question regarding reserve time. If I am on 2hr reserve do I just need to report to the airport within 2hrs? Or do I need to be at the plane ready to fly in 2hrs?

I am planning on living in Richmond VA, about 1 hr 45 min drive from DCA. I am realizing with traffic and parking I am cutting it close. Will I have enough time to wait for the call at home and make it to work on time?

 

I'll take a crack at this, DCA folks would probably have a better answer, I'm in EWR.

I believe the intent of the wording in the contract is 2 hours to report for duty, you report for duty at the departure gate. If you are really ready to go, packed etc when you get the call and you can normally do the route in 1:45, and it generally takes less than 15 minutes from parking lot to gate, you'd probably be OK.

My initial base was LGA, there are certain times of the day where you can't make LGA from my place in 2 hours (rush hours). On a 3 am RAP start, I would leave my house about 5, drive to about an hour away from LGA, sit and read for a couple hours then come home. It sounds worse than it is. Depending on how much you get used. In a 5 day RAP, you get utilized 3 days, you'll likely only do something like this twice.

If you get utilized quite a bit, the "call out" doesn't really happen much, most of the time I got notified for trips either the day before or several hours before the trip. The "we need you at the gate in 2 hours" maybe happened 5-6 times in six months of reserve.

Also, in your case, once you've been on a month or so you might be able to bid and get 11 am RAP's, the traffic would be likely be going in the other direction by the time you had to head in. As always, bases are different, YMMV etc.

 

Do not plan on this working out. I95 between Richmond and DC can turn into a parking lot at any time for many reasons. At certain times of the day on most days not a problem. If you get a call at 6am and need to be in DCA at 8am you have no chance. I95 is bumper to bumper dead stop most mornings from 5:45 am until 9:30 or so from Fredericksburg all the way to DC. It is only 1:45 in the middle of the night with no traffic. I don't want to bust your bubble but I live in Richmond and do this trip often.

 

2 hour call out with 45 min (or 30 for repos) “prep time”. You need to be at the airport 2 hours from the time they call. Up to you to decide what you need to do to get there within the 2 hour call out.

 

I agree with Seneca Pilot. It will take you longer than you think to get to the gate. I live 36 miles away with no traffic it takes me 45 minutes to get to airport, but can take up to 1.5 hours with traffic. The employee bus averages 15 minutes and then 10 minutes to get through terminal / security to the gate. I would monitor Google Maps to see what the travel times look like on a given weekday to give you a better idea.

I've been on DCA FO reserve since September and only received the 2 hour call out twice for extenuating circumstances. The rest were probably 12 hours or more in advance.

Welcome to DCA. Great group of pilots. I've really enjoyed flying out of this base.

 

I'm in a VERY similar spot to OP, except I live the same distance west. And I know I66 to Fairfax County Parkway/I395 are all over the place sometimes for no reason.

Thing is, IAD is closer to the point a 2hr call wouldnt be but a thing. But the regional carriers out of DCA have a number of quality bits about them that make them all the more attractive. And when it comes down to it, I'd love pick Republic and live it out at DCA.

I mean...in the long run of being an entry-level FO, going through reserve would be the unpredictable part since once you hold a line you're able to backward plan your trips and the drive time becomes something that you can anticpate, right?

 

Thanks for the responses. Sounds like I’ll be camping out in Fredericksburg when I’m on reserve, or maybe get a slip for my sailboat at Washington Sailing Marina and hang out on the Potomac while I wait for a call

 

The boat hanging out abeam DCA won't draw any attention at all. Nope.

 

You can use the Waze app and select times to leave and it will say how long it takes. I think Fredericksburg is too far away.

I’m out in Warrenton and I’m 50 minutes away. During rush hour I’m 2 hours away and drive to 495 to make it.


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