It varies by season, too. By the time you are half way up the FO side seniority you can hold lines that have a mix of day turns and trips. Also, PM reserve and RE reserve offer decent QOL for locals.

 

What is RE reserve?

 

Red Eye reserve


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Hey guys, been watching the forums for a bit now, but I've got a couple questions about Sun Country if someone wouldn't mind taking a stab. Currently a Guard pilot with zero airline experience and live about a 4 hour drive away from MSP. Moving is out of the cards for us. I've been looking at the airlines for a little while, and Sun Country seemed to make the most sense from where we live. My biggest question is what is the average and/or the minimum amount of days it's possible to work each month? QOL and time home with the family is the most important to me, and my goal is not to maximize my paycheck at the airlines. How many days could I reasonably expect to be gone each month year 1, year 3, year 5, year 10, etc? Understand the first couple years will be growing pains, but after that what would it look like if a guy who was trying to minimize the days away from home. Is (2) five day trips/month a possibility at all?

Is sitting reserve a reasonable option for a person who lives a 4 hour drive away?

How does vacation work for Sun Country? I saw its 2 weeks of vacation for the first 9 YOS, but how does that work exactly?

Appreciate any responses, thanks.

 

A 4 hour drive (from Duluth?) is too far, especially during winter. You'll need a crash pad or a Cessna.

You might be off reserve in as little as a few months, then expect the same 12 days off per month, with the rest of the month out on 4-6 day trips. But at least you could then drive, because you'll know your schedule.

By year 3+, you might see 15 days off...

​

 

4 hour drive won’t cut short call reserve. Reserve is 12/13 days off a month. When the 3.5 rig and 5 hour average daily credit starts January 1st yes two 5-6 day trips should be all you need to do a month. If money isn’t a factor you can try and drop as much stuff as you can with initial open time and LIP. PBS could be on property by 2023. That could help with minimizing your flying as well. Bid min credit max days off. Retirement is good now which is great even though the market has tanked all year…

 

I’m not sure it matters but I’m curious how the five hour average is going to be applied. Per trip (i.e. four day trips must be worth at least 20) or per line (16 days on must be worth at least 80)?

 

This coming Jan 1, we get our 1:3.5 trip rig. If you take your total TAFB (Time Away From Base) or total time from report time on day one to release time on your last day and divide by 3.5, that's the absolute minimum you'll get paid. If you apply this to a current 6 day trip you'd likely see an extra 6 to 9 hours of pay on average. Not only does this increase your average pay per day but it will also likely increase your number of days off as we base our schedules on target credit. Also on Jan 1 we get an "average 5 hour min day" which is essentially the same as a trip rig and there will be very few days that it actually makes a difference. The following Jan 1 however is when we finally get our actual 5 hour min day guarantee. This means that the minimum pay for a day away from home is 5 hours. For example: If you have a 20hr 4 day trip you won't see a difference, however let's say you have a 4 day trip with 7hrs day one, 7 hrs day two, nothing on day three and another 7hrs on day 4. Under the current rules you'd get 21 hours because 21 is greater than the 5hr/day average of 20hrs. Under the new min day rule you'd get 7+7+5 +7 which would pay 26 hours. This protects your time, if they want to waste your time away from home then at least they have to compensate you and the extra hours count towards your monthly maximum, resulting in more days off than you'd have under the current rules.

 

Thanks for the responses. Sounds like QOL should improve each January for the next couple of years. Other direction, in Northwest Iowa. Long Call reserve would still be an option right? If you get transitioned to short call would have to pre-position. Or maybe I can talk to the wife into a Cessna after all...

Is there a minimum credit hours per month? 15 days off by year 3+ would be nice, even if it's not until year 5.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but... Day 1: 0800 report, Day 6: 1200 release = 124 TAFB / 3.5 = 35 hours minimum paid. Seems like a good deal to me. What's the average flying hours in a day of work?

Apologies for the ignorance, what's "PBS" and "LIP"? Appreciate the help.

 

Do new hires get any vacation their first year, or are they out of luck until they have a year under their belt? Does SY’s busy winter season make it actually easier to take time off during summer?