If it weren't for the un-predictability of Short-Call, the reserve system under this contract is pretty good and if you live in base, I'd say it's very good

 

Tread lightly and don't forget from whence you came or what might just happen again. So, pilots N and OM are hired in the late 90's after taking different paths to the majors. Things are good for about 3 years and then comes a string of unprecedented events causing them (& everyone else) to slide backward. They are on reserve, quite involuntarily, until they are furloughed. When they come back, they are lineholders for a short while and then back to reserve, near furlough again where they bounce along the bottom "just happy to be here boss" for the next several years.

Reserve is not always a choice; let's protect ourselves while we can.

Cheers and Good luck to us all.

(pilot N is far more intelligent and better looking; OM is more the ruddy ancient mariner and bourbon connoisseur)

 

That is all true, especially the last part! A very nice summation. Thank you.

 

At the end of the day, reserve is always a choice. If the job sucks that bad, we can always look for a better gig somewhere else. I have made this choice myself, voluntarily, twice in the last 20 years.

The pilot group will never negotiate to make being on reserve as good as 3 ORD-HKG's a month. It is just not going to happen. If we started from scratch, and built a new complete company/labor system, maybe we would choose differently. There is just too much inertia here to shuffle the whole deck.

I would predict that the reserve system will not get better with the next contract. We will negotiate away the 10 am show. Enjoy it while it lasts. I do. I am bidding reserve next month. Again.

 

OK, for the dreamers out there, here are my "must haves".

1. I want to be picked up by a private car and driven to work. (Emirates does this)

2. I want to be given a villa to live in, with all utilities paid.
(Emirates does this) Or 5000 USD as a housing allowance. (Cathay, Fedex in HKG)

3. I want positive space, business class, to and from work, anywhere on United's network. (ANA, Korean, some others)

4. Private school assistance for my kids. (Emirates, Etihad, several Chinese carriers)

5. Income tax paid, or tax free. (China, middle east)

Other companies have these. Why not us. We are getting screwed.

We don't have these because they were never important enough for the pilot group, as a whole, to negotiate for them. We will not make reserve a smokin' deal for EXACTLY the same reason. 85% of us will not give up what it would cost to do that.

 

Long term, yes. Short term, no. And it's the short term that matters. And there are two short terms. One, the new hire. When you "welcome" them to their dream job with reserve work rules no better (or worse) than their regional, you may lose them early on to unity with those who voted in these rules. That can take a long time to overcome. Two, all other pilots who pass through reserve during normal aircraft and base realignments over a long career. To have good reserve rules is important for every pilot on the property, not just those who do choose in the long term to be on reserve.

 

Your ladder is already up Probe there is nothing left to pull you can rest now.

 

hubris noun, 1. excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance.

clueless adjective, 1. ignorant, unaware, or uninformed.

schadenfreude noun, 1. satisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else's misfortune.

 

Ok peeps, here is a suggestion for your consideration:

Only Captains sit reserve.

The company would have to enlarge the pool of Captains to cover the increased flying in their category, but would require no more pilots overall. And they might actually need a couple fewer because one pilot could cover both seats.

As all FOs would be line holders the newhire involuntarily sitting reserve, (whether for a few short months, or several long years) would no longer be a thing. Likewise, when furloughs happen again, the bottom guy will not feel like Prometheus getting his liver ripped out day after day for eternity. Being the junior reserve pilot would actually be a choice. And would be fairly compensated, enjoying a healthy pay bump over peers who choose to remain FOs and enjoy the perks of seniority.

 

And you propose covering the open trips for FO's, how exactly??

Reserve is a funny animal. I'm in a base with almost 300 pilots in category and we are FATTTTTTT right now. Just got reassigned out of my home layover for the second time in 2 months to cover someone who had a helmet fire over being reassigned into a day off and got the flight office to take him off the trip and send him home. Why all of a sudden am I getting reassigned all over the place when there are plenty of reserves with almost 0 hours of flight time? Very strange, but it would seem there were no SC's or FSB's to cover it??