Ok,
I need to rant and ask some of you crusty old guys; To whom can I point my ire.

[Rant]
I was just awarded ATL on Nov 1st. I bid just in the top 50% of base. There are approximately 15 FO's below me. I did not think I would get a line this month, which I didn't. BUT... I did think I would be able to drop days and pick up open time flying from NY.
OK, we've been on for 12 days now, and only 2...YES 2 reserves have been used. The sheet has 1 green day, which I already had off. I have a really S#!tty schedule filled with 2 on and 1 off stretches. The only time I was even close to dropping a day and trying to open up my days off to get a trip. They were declined because I left a single day of reserve, while trying to move one/drop one.

Scheduling is absolutely NO help, with the party line of "The company will not be able to operate unless we have 13 minimum required reserves when there are only 10 900 flights all day...REALLY!!!!

I'm happy to pick up trips on my 11 days, but don't tell me you need this many reserves this month with only 300 departures all month long.

[/Rant]

OK, Now that I'm done venting and yelling. What can we do about this. How do we get the minimum reserve number to a more realistic level and get green days back. If we can get the "formula" modernized and act as a more realistic tool it will improve life for all of us.
Who really owns this? Who can I talk to, and who has the authority to change it. I don't believe this is a "Delta thing", because I had several DL new hires in my crash pad in NY, and they have a LOT more flexibility in their reserve.

I'm not going to call and yell, I am more than willing to help solve the problem. So, if the owner just happens to read this...please PM me, and let's talk.

If you know who the owner is, and don't want to name names here, please PM me.

This is crazy, that I want to fly and I cant......

MMmmm, bourbon. My new best friend you are, Yumyum.
Thanks for the reminder. It’s easier to remember the bad stuff, I guess.

NYC isn't any better either.. 30+ on reserve and maybe less than 5 get used

Well, for 900 ATL, yesterday, there was only 2/5/1 RSV. Today, 3/6/0. Tomorrow, 5/6/1.

I cannot tell you what the magic formula is, other than they schedule a certain percentage of RSV based on number of lines each day (have seen that percentage before, but don’t remember it).

That being said, I’m only seeing 5/7/9 lines for those 3 days. So that DOES seem like they are scheduling more RSV than needed. Might want to contact an ALPA rep about it?

I asked our reps about the reserve thresholds. There's nothing they can do about it. It's not part of the CBA. Everyone knows that the thresholds are arbitrary and set by the company. ALPA says it reduces the number of reserve lines so take that as you will. It is what it is. You'll never see reasonable reserve thresholds at a regional, especially since we offer all pick ups at %150. People dropping trips/days costs the company money. We will always be understaffed.

Don't bid single day off and then
Complain when they award you what you requested

I know you are all worried about it, but let me give some justification to my screen name...I have my pay accounts set up so that 10% goes to savings...so that "missing" $5 was sitting comfortably in my savings account. I'm dumb.

This is so true. One of my favorite captains to fly with lives out west and commutes to New York. Great attitude and a pleasure to fly with. 99% of folks here are great to fly with, anyway.

Last winter I sat reserve, one short call the other ready, during two days of consecutive IROPs in NYC and DTW. Never got called. It's not that scheduling just sets the reserve requirements as they please they also don't know how to use reserves efficiently.

Dispatcher turnover is so high the new guys can't get a 30,000ft view of anything. They get tunnel vision and have a hard time generating creative solutions. Most of the time they mess with my schedule I find myself telling them what I see is the best solution for my schedule. It's not entirely their fault either because we don't have enough schedulers.... No airline does.

This is something to bring to the reps over and over again. The next time we sit at the negotiating table they should work to get a data driven solution in place for reserves. Not just pick and choose at random.

Those IROP emails are the best
Reserve coverage: poor-nil
Open time: 500 Legs open

Yet no call to fly