How do airlines accommodate military reserve duty? I read on another forum about a regional pilot who seems to drop at least one trip every month to accommodate military reserve duty during the weekdays. Are these drops automatic?

They must drop, it's the law. Airline pilot is perhaps the most military reserve friendly profession.

I can only speak for my airline (RAH)...

I send an email to the Leave of Absence desk for drill prior to the bids being released. So to get my drill dates off for August, I usually try to submit my military schedule no later than July 5. If I know my drill dates for several months out, I will give them the dates I have, but I try not to schedule more than 3 months out because the dates can change.

When the bids come out on FLICA, my drill dates show as a pre-assigned activity, so the system will not award trips on those days. You are not required to provide orders, but generally if I will be out for a week or more I submit orders with my request.

Feel free to PM me if you have other questions!

Can't say for other carriers, but one thing SkyWest is fantastic about is MIL Leave. They're very supportive and make it very easy. That's something, at least, to be thankful for ha...

Do military duty days count against minimum days off, or do you get your minimum days off plus your military duty days? Do they just fill in your minimum hours in the remaining days?

Thanks for the responses.

They do not count, as long as you get your MIL paperwork faxed-in after your schedule comes out. Wouldn't suggest doing it prior to the bid.

I bid, the try to trip trade and lastly I asked for them to be dropped if they become an issue with the drill weekend, but USERRA protects you. Also remember that like the above have said in this industry we have the largest % of military folks per profession. Good luck but there is nothing than an airline can do about you fulfilling your military commitment

There's one fundamental reason why airlines are so military friendly...it's because of the Reserve guys sitting around waiting for the call. Some guys in my squadron work for G.E. or for the local hospital, etc., etc., and even though they have to respect USERRA, their employers still give them grief because there's nobody to cover them.

Rickair7777 would know best on this one. But as far as pay goes, I thought he mentioned that SkyWest gives "virtual credit" for mil duty. Not sure if it protects full pay guaranty. Bear in mind, that's SkyWest, not all companies may have the same polices as far as what happnes outside of the law as far just time off goes.

http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/re...guard-guy.html

That's a pretty un-contestable point...Wouldn't put it below some carriers, like Mesa (I profess I'm guessing completely on no evidence whatsoever),Trans States, and the like to be less than accommodating, however.