Reserve
 

How is the new reserve month rules and lines working? Any positives and negative people experiencing?

It hasn’t even been 72 hours yet. Ask again in a few weeks.

The $$$ for a VEC line is pretty sweet though if you live in base.

One major gotcha: A TRV (traditional reserve) or an LCL (long call line) reserve on long call has an 18 hour min call out time for a trip, while a VEC pilot has 12 hours. This means that, if there is an open trip that shows at 0700 on Monday, for example, the last moment crew scheduling can assign anyone on long call to this trip is 1300 on Sunday; unless they have someone with a VEC line, in which case they have until 1900. There are trips that become open every day between 1300 and 1900, and Crew Scheduling is required in that case to assign it to a VEC pilot, regardless of silo.

This is how I came to have been working five of the last six days 😞

BESIDES the early reporting requirements of the VEC, is it identical in rules and usage once a reserve stretch has started. Identical to LCL and TRV?

No, once a reserve stretch has started, any open trip will first be assigned to a LCL or TRV in silo before a VEC gets it, while any open SC period will first be assigned to a VEC or VSC in silo, if available. But the big difference is the call out time, as I described above, which is applicable for your entire reserve block.

Thanks...

I thought that window was only applied to your last day off before the block. The 1900 notification for a 7 am show example every day would be a meat grinder, and essentially limit the VEC to folks in base or with a very easy commute.

if you don’t live in base, VEC is not for you.

I just got burned by this as well on VEC. It is a little bit of a nice tradeoff that LCL and TRV are first on the list during the assignment window to get the crappy 3 and 4 day redeye trips that fester in open time all month

This right here… Commuters should be only bid LCLs and TRVs…

do you think as we get out of busy summer travel VEC will be used less but sit short call more often?

I wouldn’t say that, but VEC is best for those in base. I’m a commuter on VEC and it’s not all that different than the old rules when it comes to call out times.

I have been lucky to APU flying so I can stay busy. That said, you are the first to be converted and get assigned any flying inside 18 hours. Which is fine by me since I’m a commuter. LCL and VEC will get used more often with VECs being regularly converted to SC. TRV is a fine balance of both and probably best for those not wanting to be used a whole lot.

This is dependent on your BES so ymmv

I think that’s likely. If you’re the company, you want your VECs to be available to fix last minute problems, not off flying 4-day trips. In the busy season, they’ll assign trips that way if they have to, but it’s definitely not the ideal usage of that type of reserve.

Yes, I definitely can see this happening with the assignment ladders and rungs…. Since VEC don’t have short call caps and scheduling here loves to rely on short calls plus with the unused short-calls language being in the company’s favor… I foresee VEC are the reserves that the company will use to fix last minute fires…. With the emphasis of targeting LCL cover flying that can get covered ahead of time and TRV to fill in the gaps…

Anecdotally from some friends who are on reserve:

LCLs are always on the top of the list for full trips. They can pretty much count on being used for 3-4 day trips.

VECs will be perpetually on short call every day starting early and/or taking the early show trips with the 12 hour call out.

TRV seems like they will work the least compared to the other two. Again, anecdotally, it seems like TRV folks will work the least.

9 SC in IAH 737 today, and 7 are assigned to TRV. The other two are VEC. There were 15 (!) on the 6th, and 10 were TRV.

So, you may not fly as much, but you’re going to get hit with the crazy amount of short calls that get built every day.

How does that compare to the ratio of VECs/TRVs, though? Meaning at the individual level, are VECs & TRVs getting hit with more, less or the same amount of SCs?

LCL commuter here, with a long commute (SFO-IAH). So far LCL has been working well -- mostly because they can't convert you to SC. I always try to APU trips reporting late-ish on the first day of my rsv blocks, and so far that's been working well (except many of those trips aren't commutable on the back end.) But I'd rather do that then sit in IAH on short call, that's for sure...

I can see VEC being great for local folks, though. But unless one's commute was super short, or driveable in a pinch, I can't imagine bidding VEC as a commuter...

What does "APU" stand for? My (small) company doesn't allow us to pick up trips that fall on our reserve days. That would be nice, and make it a lot more palatable to commute in to sit reserve. But we just don't have the numbers.

Aggressive pick up

How soon to be able to get LCL? I assume many commuters will prefer LCL, so maybe not able to get LCL right away?

Aggressive pick up. At UAL, while reserves aren't allowed to pick up trips on our days off, we're (thank heavens) allowed to pick up open time trips on our reserve days, based on seniority. We can pick up trips (only in our domicile) that match our days of availability, or days minus one (for example, a reserve pilot with 4 days of avails can pick up a 4-day or a 3-day.)

This makes reserve a lot more palatable for commuters. If you're going to slog across the country for a reserve shift, it's vastly better (IMO) to be out flying, rather than sitting around some crashpad hoping to get called.

It isn't anywhere near as flexible as, say, SWA's reserve schedule adjustment tools, but it's a heck of a lot better than I'm used to at my previous carrier (OO)...

Depended on BES…

Yup. Looking at the September bid period, the numbers/ percentages of LCL lines are all over the place, depending on base.

Yup, I kinda getting a in my BES on who is going for what. Seems like a lot of folks punted on LCLs and stuck with TRV with all of the VECs getting taken up…

Bodes well for me I hope as I am not a fan of dealing with SC conversions all as my commute can be up and down. Once I come into base, I rather go to work at this point…

What can a newbie expect for RSV now in particular if there's any inputs out of EWR? How long on reserve before holding a line in general at the current moment? What's best option reserve option for those living very close to base? All these assume 737 out of Indoc TIA!!

You can expect traditional reserve (TRV), with a potential LCL or VEC depending on how those categories shake out over the next several months. The union just put out some nuances to VEC and LCL lines that may actually make them less desirable.

It wasn't uncommon in the past for more senior folks to bid reserve during the low volume flying seasons to get a break. A lot of guys are trying out the new lines and may or may not stick with stuff like LCL and VEC that on the surface seem like they offer advantages, but may end up with working a lot more. LCL in particular seems to looking like you will be prioritized in getting 3+ day trips even when you are in a mismatched silo. That could turn off people like I mentioned above who are normally line holders and want a bit of a break.

Time will tell, but it's looking like for now, TRV will work the least just based on the rule for VEC and LCL lines as constructed currently. The company pays VEC more and can make you do unlimited short calls on a 12 hour leash, so they're going to use you based on paying you a lot more for the VEC. LCL are structured so that you will always get used on trips so you will be covering the crappy 3-4 day trips that everyone tries to avoid.

Like someone mentioned, you can expect TRV off the bat. You might get lucky with a VEC or LCL depending on how senior folks bid above you… TRV is pretty much standard reserve…

VECs are going to see bulk of the SC heavy lifting and last minute flying assignments that pop up with TRVs falling in between with covering trips and SCs (but scattered throughout the month…

None of the specialized reserve lines are involuntary. So the great news is that you can sit on the sidelines as a TRV and see how VEC/LCL go or jump into the mix and experience each to formulate your own opinion on them… I suspect that VECs will start trending Senior with those who live in base and want to make extra money but don’t have the seniority to beat out top-senior folks for premium trips…

Sorry for my ignorance, what would the traditional call out time be for TRV? 2.5 hours?

Trying to gauge what would be best for someone with a three hour drive to EWR.

So if one were to bid for a VEC line as their number one big group, but somehow got edged out by more senior bidders for a VEC, would the bid award default to a traditional reserve line? If bid group number two is a regular line, would the solver just proceeded to the next bid group and award you a line? I'm trying to avoid ending up on reserve if I can't hold a VEC line only. Currently bidding about 30% in BES. Thoughts?

TRV = 14 or 18 hour callout depending on the time of day. 2.5 hours if/when converted to short call.

The bid group should fail if it can’t award a SET command. In your case the solver should move on to your second bid group.

Got it, that's what I was hoping would happen.

Thank you!

Thinking of bidding for a line (with everything waived) instead of RSV, because I'm below the G-line. But then I'm realizing that for September, reserves get 14 days off and line holders only get 12 guaranteed days off. Thinking of just bidding RSV instead. Am I crazy?

Lineholders never only get 12 days off. Look at the LPA values in PBS, most NB FO are like 70-72.5 or something like that. You'll likely work 13-16 days only as a line holder in September.

The ceiling in september even for the lowest lineholder should give you more than 14 days off. It's impossible to get awarded only 12 days off as a lineholder.

Derp. You're absolutely right, I should have thought of that! Thank you.

What everyone above said is absolutely true about true days off. If you are only counting nights away from home though often RSV works out better than a junior line. It’s very dependent on BES and staffing within BES though.

I personally find reserve MORE relaxing than holding a line. Sure I have to leave my phone on, but I don’t think about work at all beyond today or tomorrow. When I hold a line I constantly have open trip alerts going off and I’m always wondering what if I traded this for that, or picked up here, etc.

Im fully aware that this is a self induced stress. I’m just sharing the observation.

You need to do some math. Take your your BES highest LPA and divide that by the min daily of 5:15. You will get roughly you can expect as a line holder if you can hold a line…

Great info thanks

Post Traumatic Skywest Disorder.

Everybody get 12 days off.....