PK387

No problem! I'm going to answer the two follow-up questions in the opposite order just to clarify.

2) We always start out on long call, which is a 24/7 phone contactable status. If you get an assignment (including to short call), you're released into rest and are not phone contactable until that assignment starts. For example, at 11 AM yesterday I was on long call and picked up a short call starting at 6 PM tonight. For the 31 hours in between, I'm released and have no obligation to scheduling whatsoever (other than being rested at the start of my SC). Our SCs are generally 14 hours long and, of course, you're phone contactable anywhere in that 14 hour window. Once off SC (or a trip), you're right back on long call and are contactable again. And as previously mentioned, we don't have a defined callback time, but I personally wouldn't push it beyond 15-20 minutes or so. You're spot on regarding that assignment window meaning - it's just the period where scheduling assigns any trips and/or SCs for the following day that haven't been picked up and are still in open time. Currently that's 1300-1500 base time, transitioning to 1200-1400 this August.

1) Totally get it, my wife's definitely sick of me! I think this is a combination of a few factors, but let me throw out one caveat first: I've been here less than 2 years, have only seen 1 category (NB FO at 1 base), and don't have much to compare my experience to. That said, here are some factors to think about:

- General reserve utilization: The data that UAL ALPA puts out says that most reserves get used way more than I do. Without looking it up, I want to say the average is around 30-40 hours a month. NB utilization is generally higher than WB, and CA is generally higher than FO (I think that's because they intentionally staff the left seat a little thinner since they're more expensive and/or because we still have NB CA vacancies that are unfilled). Even looking around my category, I think that's a reasonable average/expectation, especially given that some people seem to want to go fly and will pick up work when they can.

- Relative seniority: Our assignments to reserves are given out in SILO/FIFO order, meaning first-in-first-out within your given bucket of remaining days of availability. We don't have any sort of seniority bypass that forces all the assignments to the more junior reserves. That said, relative seniority can be used to pick up more desirable assignments, including SCs. People that live locally will often pick up a SC just to reset themselves to the bottom of the list, especially now that every unused SC pays (at least) an hour. About 90% of my SCs have gone unused, so picking them up is a win-win-win for me: I dodge any crappy 3-4 day trips in OT, usually get left alone at home, and get paid a little extra for doing it. On top of that, covering the SCs as a local means the commuters often only have to come in to cover the trips in OT rather than going back and forth for reserve, so it's a nice kind of symbiotic relationship. When I do get called in off SC, it's typically just to cover one or two legs to the next hub, often with a deadhead home, rather than an entire 6-9 leg trip, which is why I haven't flown longer than a 2-day trip since July. In an average month, I'll pick around 10 SCs, get called once, fly maybe two legs, and get one landing. Oh, and one other benefit of relative seniority that's worth mentioning as a piece of this puzzle: I bid weekends off, and I'd say about 95% of our trips in OT touch at least one weekend day, meaning I don't have to worry about them at all. Lineholders scoop up all the weekday flying, so there's very little given out to long call guys mid-week, at least during most months of the year.

- Living in base makes all the difference in the world. If I had to commute, I'd still just bid a line 100% of the time.

- Some of this is probably just luck too.

With it being this slow, I have thought about bidding a line recently just to get out of the house, but the wife wanted to take a trip next month, so I bid reserve again so I could get 10 days off in a row... not sure I could pull that off as a lineholder. Hope that helps.

Hitch18

What a great thread for new guys! These great questions and answers are very helpful for lurkers like me.

PipeMan

Glad to hear that. There is so much good going on at United that it’s difficult to convey it all on these forums. Take some of the negativity with a grain of salt. Reserve isn’t too bad and will be much better in the next few months with new rules. This will equal higher compensation and a better QOL. Hope you have your apps in.

Tjamaica

Thank you PK387! Really good insight for us on the outside. Also, what is reserve call out time?

JTwift

2.5 hours.

Tjamaica

Thank you...

Turbosina

PK387, again, thank you so much for all the time you took to write those replies! Soooo helpful.

The one thing I am a bit surprised about is the requirement to call back within 15-20 minutes while on long call. At SKW if you're on long call, you have an hour to acknowledge/ call back after scheduling assigns you a trip. So if I'm understanding correctly, while on long call, you must call back within 15-20 minutes? Just trying to wrap my head around what NBCA reserve life would look like. Like you, I have PTSD from regional reserve, but UAL's new reserve rules are obviously vastly superior to what I'm used to.

Thank you!

JetDoc

And as a reminder, the 2.5 hour call out starts at the time the call was placed by CS. If you call back 20 minutes later you are down to 2:10. Not much of a problem if you live close like the OP but if you are a bit further away it could be an issue, especialy if you are still on probation.

Tjamaica

Very good to know! Thanks for filling me in

PK387

Contractually, there's no specific callback time defined, so it's really just a matter of what you're comfortable with and how good a mood the scheduler is in that day. That 15-20 minute range is what I was told was generally considered reasonable when I started, but even that really isn't based on anything written in black and white. I personally don't know anyone that's had to go in and explain a UTC (unable to contact) to the Bobs, so I couldn't say for sure when that risk really starts.

Good reminder. Two other things to keep in mind that work in favor of the pilot are considerations for traffic, etc., as well as extra time for reporting to a co-terminal (like LGA instead of EWR, or BWI instead of IAD). Here's the contractual language:

20-A-4-a A Reserve in a Short Call window or a Lineholder in a telephone availability window must be able to report for duty (call-out time), including to a voluntary Field Standby assignment, no more than two hours and thirty minutes (2:30) after the Company’s initial attempt at contact. Consideration shall be given to heavy traffic, construction, and similar circumstances. When the call-out time is less than three (3) hours, to effectuate an on-time Departure or a Field Standby report time, the Pilot may elect to pay for parking closer to the terminal and shall be reimbursed for such expense. Additionally, at Bases with co-terminals, consideration shall be given if the Pilot is given an assignment that reports at an airport that is not the primary airport of the Base.