You need to losen up you big looser!

Carl

It all depends on staffing and block hours, in the slow seasons with normal staffing you'll get more time at home. However we're running low on staffing so we're flying more right now, especially on the 320. I live 500 miles from my base and i'm home more now than i ever was before at my regional fwiw. Our system isnt perfect but its manageable.

You'll find a routine pretty quick and once you do, you'll be able to maximize your time at home. Welcome aboard!

You are welcome, glad I can help. The first thing you'll likely have to establish is what periods of time exist on various days of the week that you cannot make a 12-hour callout via three -200s. Read the call in honest very carefully, it requrires a jumpseat that is booked (which you cant do on other carriers) or seat availability (you non-rev with enough open seats that your seniority should get you on the flight) 24 hours prior. My commutes are all mainline, but I think one of the two flights has to be mainline to count. Also, it is only after you have tried twice that the call in honest policy kicks in, scheduling may positive space you (which would be a third flight) or they will likely convert your trip or reserve days to a PD, depends on staffing and the scheduler. There is a rumor that the old NWA call in honest policy apples to DTW, MSP and MEM, but I have not seen a copy of this policy anywhere, it's surely not in the contract.

For three years I only played reserve roulette a few times, lately commuting home the night prior to my last day if on long call the last day. The entire flight I sit in wonder if my phone will have a (404) area code in the voicemail inbox for a trip the following am. Hasn't happened in the last three times, but once they did call at 21:00 for an 0900 show, fortunately I was in base.

I was never taken off guard, but I also spent 99.9% of my short calls and long calls in base, 2000 miles from home as a newly wed (she has a career too). It's been a total crud deal like you cannot imagine but it was a hedge against what lurked as an inevitable furlough. If it weren't for the merger I had full planes to commute one year, accrue some seniority and pick a base. In your favor, its a six hour drive and the likelihood of having a 15 hour day and five legs is nil. Hockey has a bunch of experience with the 320 and reserve, a hotel for shortcall or assignments the following am is probably your best bet, you will fly quite a bit. Just stay out of trouble until you get those 400 hours (you'll have them by summer).

There is an LOA in regards to the last day. If you are on long call the last day, you are released at noon base time. If you are on short call and it's followed by golden days (*) you are released at noon. If you have normal days off (X), then you are on the hook till the end of your 12 hour period, I think they can let you go up to 2 hours early. Short call the last day is rare, have seen some crazy stuff however.

Call and check VRU after a trip


The reality is a six hour drive is your get out of jail card in the event a CRJ is landing weight restricted (as I imagine the case with only a 300 mile leg).


Hockey is dead on about the rules and what to expect on the 320

TOGA... LK, I misspoke earlier, the correct callout for a go around on the 88 is "aw damnit..." that means whether its your fault, their fault, everybodys fault, or 'its' fault- go around.

Could you explain that sentence? I don't know what you are trying to say.

I have done the commute to reserve thing for two years now. SAT to JFK used to be a double commute through ATL, DTW, MSP, BWI, etc, etc, etc.
Now there is a direct SAT-JFK flight. Life is good. I spent upwards of 18 days a month on the road because I could not sit long call at home. The addition of domestic time really impacted the quality of life in the ER category and made reserve really suck. I guess it's better than displacement and furlough though, so no complaining.

Bottom line commuting far to reserve blows big chunks. I bid down a plane to get off reserve. If you live in base, however, reserve can be quite nice. Lots of extra days off in the slow times. As understaffed as we are though, there are not many slow times anymore.

Welcome to the Big D and pray for hiring so you can move off reserve.

Satch;
If the NPRM comes out anywhere near close to what was proposed, the hiring that will take place will be beef up reserve manning, not to get guys off reserve.....

I knew there was a LAX 767 last night that had to return. There is/are some other stories surrounding the LAX air return as well be here is the press report on it.

Three Delta Air Lines Inc. jets suffered separate engine emergencies over the weekend, despite a stepped-up maintenance program put in place partly to combat engine problems.
The trio of engine shutdowns—two on specially equipped planes used for long-haul international routes—all ended in safe emergency landings without injuries. They are being probed by Delta and federal safety experts.
The incidents included a Moscow-bound Delta Boeing 767 with more than 200 people aboard, which returned safely to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on Sunday after losing thrust from its left engine shortly after takeoff. A phalanx of fire trucks and more than 100 fire fighters showed up for the touchdown because of mistaken early reports that there was a fire from the engine or on a wing.
A Delta spokesman said late Sunday, "it's too early to speculate about the exact causes of each of these incidents." Officials won't know for at least a few days whether maintenance had a role in any of the incidents.
But the pattern is likely to prompt federal air-safety regulators and accident investigators to delve into maintenance practices at Delta, which suffered an unusual spate of in-flight engine malfunctions, shutdowns and other maintenance-caused delays and cancellations throughout the spring and part of the summer.
The Delta pilots of a Boeing 767 en route from Atlanta to Los Angeles on Sunday declared an emergency after reporting an engine problem and returned to Atlanta. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating the incident, the plane scraped its tail during the landing.
Saturday, a Delta Boeing 757 with more than 160 people aboard made an emergency landing in Shannon, Ireland, after developing problems with one of its two engines while crossing the Atlantic from Philadelphia. On Sunday, a Delta spokesman said preliminary indications are the Shannon incident was caused by a compressor stall.
During much of the busy summer travel season, Delta's flights on average recorded significantly more delays than those of some of its biggest competitors.
But according to a Delta spokesman last month, the carrier's on-time percentage had improved, with maintenance-related cancellations dropping by as much as 80% for some periods.
Delta officials previously acknowledged the airline's Boeing 767 fleet had a higher than anticipated number of in-flight engine shutdowns earlier this year. But the spokesman said Delta's aircraft "never exceeded the threshold of what was acceptable.''
According to air-safety websites that keep track of various types of in-flight incidents on commercial jets, between early July and late September Delta's overall fleet of single-aisle and wide-body aircraft had more than ten incidents of engine problems on takeoff or in the air.
Last month, a Delta spokesman said in-flight engine shutdowns were more frequent earlier in the year. He attributed the overall increase in maintenance problems to the challenge of melding Delta's maintenance and operations with those of Northwest Airlines as part of the merger of the two carriers, completed late last year.
Prompted partly by recurring engine issues and, to a greater extent, an uptick in many other types of maintenance-related delays, Delta's management months ago opted to increase the frequency of certain inspections. The airline also beefed up the mechanic work force at some airports, and extended layover times to allow more-thorough checks of some planes between flights. Delta says those efforts paid off in better on-time reliability in October.
Throughout the Delta-Northwest merger consolidation period, according to industry officials, the new entity had to reconcile different maintenance practices, flight manuals and other operational procedures. Pilots at the two airlines, for example, had different rules about when they were permitted to fly with elevated engine-oil temperatures.
On Sunday, the Delta spokesman said most of the maintenance changes made earlier this year focused on onboard systems that didn't pertain to engines. While overall engine incidents in some months spiked above historic levels, the spokesman reiterated that the number of in-flight shutdowns never exceeded regulatory limits or any of the company's own acceptable trend lines.
Last month, Delta confirmed that over a five-day period, one of its Boeing 767s had two different engines malfunction in midair. The first incident occurred Sept. 27 on a flight from Atlanta to Stuttgart, Germany, when the crew opted to divert to St. John's, Newfoundland. There were no injuries.
The engine was changed but the same plane—on its next trip carrying passengers—suffered a second emergency with the replacement engine. Bound for Seattle with more than 150 people aboard, the pilots decided to put down at Syracuse, N.Y.

Pretty sure its tax law.

When you are "sick" you are still an active employee. When you are on long term disability you are not. You are disabled.
The IRS does not allow you to collect a "pay" check and a disability check at the same time.

Somethings not right here...I thought you could only be on short call for 6 days a month

I think he means they have been assigning trips right away when he comes off X days. He never really "sits" long call.

You are correct about the 6 short call limit.