The problem with our reserve rules is far far far more complicated than just “people don’t want to get used on reserve”.

1. Cash. There is next to nothing you can reliably do to break guarantee on reserve here. Most airlines allow you to pick up on days off if you want.previous airline had great incentive pay for FSB (anything you flew outside your originally scheduled FSB hours you got as add pay.) Most reserves got absolutely thrashed but you had 90-110 hours of credit for it.

2. flexibility. Reserve can be commuter friendly if you make it easier to pick up flying. We should be able to pick up a four day that starts on day 0 of a reserve block. It just provides options. Trading reserve days is a nightmare and should be automated.

3. Flying into days off. Insane we allow this an unlimited amount of times and there’s no day restoration if it’s before 12 the following day. Even most regionals have a hard limit on the number of times this can be done and it applies after midnight.
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I see large improvements in most of this stuff in the new AIP but our current reserve rules are laughably bad even compared to most regionals.

I know some of you are bristling with “well if you liked your regional so much why don’t you go back”. Overall this is a much better job but you’re on crack if you think our reserve rules are remotely competitive even against bottom feeder airlines. We far outshine them in most other sections and I’m happy to see the AIP address this.

Doing OK Tony; how's everything with you?

I haven't heard rumors of the seat locks being different. If that's the case, I wouldn't be surprised to see some disgruntled recipients resign and go to another airline.
This is an all around poorly thought out plan by management and I would expect a lot of pushback from those unhappy with a CA award in indoc. The pilot market is different; anyone who quits can find a couple other job offers before their flight leaves DEN to go back home. So their out will be to resign and go to a different airline.

I don't see this half baked idea lasting very long.

I don't disagree with your thoughts on reserve, but I've watched a lot of reserve improvement threads over the years here and there are changes that some want that others would hate. One man's trash is another man's treasure.

My biggest heartburn was always short call (I'm a commuter). The one hour of add pay was not a deterrent for the company; they overload short call with reserves when they can. But locals love short call.

Totally agree. Which is why we need a smorgasbord of reserve options. I’m a local, I’d happily sit an entire FSB line with the right add pay and maybe an extra day or two off. Same with SC. That way the local isn’t crediting 75 hours for 18 days of work and the commuter isn’t getting 80 hours but a bunch of unused SC ruining their QOL.
some improvements may benefit one group over another but right now everyone gets hosed on reserve.

I’m optimistic about the new reserve rules but the devil will be in the details re language and how the company uses it in practice.

Being able to bid CA while a new hire isn’t the same as being forced to bid CA. I’m not sure how this would even work, as they would need 350 hours on property before upgrading, wouldn’t that mean being assigned a FO spot, but being able to bid upgrade immediately while waiting for quals to catch up? I guess this is something that will need to be addressed in the explanations when the Language is done, I don’t read it as allowing forced upgrade. Hope it doesn’t, that’s a terrible idea to make someone be in command who isn’t interested in it.

That's the way I read it. Just like newhires being forced into WBs.
If you have a class of 55 with 55 vacancies in the drop that include 7 737 CA and 3 320 CA spots would force 10 newhires into the left seat.
We'll have to wait until we can read the TA.

the devil will be in the details ;

so how this is written will determine if someone can be forced into a CA position. They would have to write it so that if you select or are forced into accepting a CA vacancy during indoc, that you would also have to be trained as an FO on the same fleet with no ability to bid up.

that may be the reason for the “freeze” starting on the day of the awards provision rather than training start.


But what would that look like in a an indoc offering .

if it’s a 737CA position with no other qualifiers, how would they force one to train as a 737 FO to get the 350 hours in type. The freeze is for 737 CA , not FO

I didn’t feel like quoting the whole thing but that’s all well and good but none of that attracts an FO to become a CA when they are gonna be on reserve for the next 3-5 years.

You can still push problems on to reserves and not roll their days off. You can still push problems to reserves with out assigning short calls for absolutely no reason. You can still push problem to reserves without denying a bad day worse day trade from positive coverage to a day with negative coverage giving the reason “we just wanna protect the weekend”.

Again it’s a step in the right direction but I think it’s gonna need more to really push more upgrades. It’s about Quality of Life. That’s why people aren’t upgrading.

this is also how I read it and that’s what is problematic in my opinion

I don’t see anyone being forced to upgrade in that AIP. Much less new hires.