Quick question about acknowledging reserve assignments. On your last day off before a block of reserve, advice was given not to answer the phone as that allows for "two way communication" and that you can be assigned a SC or FS earlier than 10:00.

So when they call up at 13:00 on your last day off with a 16:00 SC and you can see a lot of earlier SCs and FSs in open time AND THEY SAY ON YOUR PHONE MESSAGE to "please call the crew desk with acknowledgement", are they baiting you into "making two way communication" so they can switch it to an earlier (before 10:00) SC or FS?

Am I paranoid?

Can they change it to something else?

Can I "acknowledge" it online instead of calling?

When do I have to acknowledge it by?

 

I've made the mistake before and got an earlier than 10:00 assignment. It was my first month on reserve.

So is there a way to acknowledge on line; CCS?

Do I have to acknowledge by a certain time?

 

From an MEC update, 10-15-2015:

Because reserves are required to check their schedule on a day off between 1800 and 2359 (20-K-7 as modified by the JIT), this must be accounted for as company-required duty. A one minute duty period will be recorded at midnight of the first day on reserve (interim process pending programming changes that move this time to 1800). Following this one minute of duty, a minimum of 10 hours of rest free from duty is required.
Therefore, a reserve coming off days off is not legal to report for a trip or begin a SC/FSB until 1000 on his first day of reserve unless the crew desk achieves two-way contact (see Important Note below) or the pilot aggressively picks up an assignment.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If the crew desk calls you on your last day off and achieves positive contact (two-way telephone conversation) they can give you an early SC or trip that departs as early as 0600. If such positive contact is achieved, there is no requirement to enter the 1 minute of duty at midnight but contact must be made at least 10 hours prior to the report or SC/FSB start time.

Also, leaving a message is not considered legal contact. So, if they leave a message at any time, that is not adequate. I've had them recently leave a message prior to the legal window, on my day off, and then they think I am on short call the next day. That is not legal notification.

Reserves, no there is no way to acknowledge an assignment. That is supposed to be there, but alas, another thing not implemented.

And no, you are not being paranoid.

 

So I don't have to call back, and there is no way to acknowledge, yet I am required to check? I am confused.

Am I just expected to show at 10AM the next day?

 

Not paranoid but know the rules. Do not answer the phone before 1800 and do not call them to acknowledge until after 1800. Trips can be acknowledged on CCS so there no need for contact at all in that case. As Dave said, a voice message is not an assignment, period. It's easy to feel we have to react to them but don't. It is safe to call at or after 1800.

20-K-7-d Assignments made after 1759 on the last day off prior to reserve days shall be placed in the Pilot's schedule and the Company shall notify the Pilot by phone. The assignment shall not require the Pilot to:
20-K-7-d-(1) depart prior to 1300, for a Trip; or
20-K-7-d-(2) begin earlier than 1200, for a Short Call assignment; or
20-K-7-d-(3) report prior to 1200, for a Field Standby assignment.

Many folks don't acknowledge last day off assignments at all which I don't advise. At midnight you go on long call and sometimes they see you haven't acknowledged and can now call at will. I had a 1600 SC that I did not acknowledge and they called at 3am to assign it, waking me up from a deep sleep. I'd rather go to bed knowing that I've acknowledged it and once acknowledged I'm released to the assignment and I can turn off the phone until the SC starts.

 

This may help a bit too:

Reserve rules for telephone availability:
The following guidelines apply regarding pilots obligations to be phone available when on reserve:
Day Off: No requirement to be phone available. If positive (two-way) contact is made by the crew desk a pilot may be given an assignment. A pilot is required to check their schedule between 1800 and 2359 as explained above and acknowledge any assignment.
Long Call: A pilot is expected to be phone available 24 hours a day while on long call until given an assignment. Once given an assignment a pilot is no longer required to be phone available until report time of the Trip/assignment, however as discussed above, you must check 15 hours prior to departure to make sure your trip was not picked up by a lineholder. If a lineholder picked up your trip you are back on long call and must now be phone available again.
Short Call/Field Standby: A pilot is expected to be phone available for the entire SC/FSB period. At the end of your SC/FSB you revert to long call and remain phone available 24 hours a day.

 

We are required to acknowledge assignments of any kind. Trips can be acknowldged on CCS, SC/FSB require a callback. Just be careful when you call.

 

One more question; what is a "Reserve Type" of CDW?

 

Thanks guys. Crystal clear now.

 

Last day off. 20-K-7-e A Reserve on his last day off must check his schedule and/or messages sometime from 1800 to 0059 on his last day off. He must acknowledge any assignment entered before 1800 by 0059 on his last day off.

During a long call. 20-I-6-d At 1500 all such assignments shall become firm and a Reserve must check his schedule after 1500 to see if he has received an assignment.

Upon completing a trip. 20-K-1-d After blocking in at the termination of a Trip, a Reserve must check to see if he has been given an assignment or reassignment

Upon completing an FSB. I think. I can't find the reference. There's "5-H-3-g A standby reserve...At the end of each assignment, each Pilot shall be obligated to check if he has been released from his next standby assignment." But this is when they build FSB lines for the month, which they aren't doing.

We do NOT have to check our schedule after a SC. 20-K-6-g If unused, a Short Call Reserve reverts back to Long Call.

This actually applies to everything. After checking for an assignment in all of the above, if nothing is there, we're back on long call if "LSR" is there. It has to show that on the master schedule. Otherwise, we're off with phone availability required.

20-K-1-b During a period of reserve days, the Company may release, or schedule to release, a Reserve into an Off-Duty Period of predetermined length.

Sometimes scheduling forgets to put anything on the schedule. Even long call is required to show as "LSR" with a time frame. Union has fought this one with the company and the current directive is "master schedule is king" so if the schedule is blank, nada, nothing listed, then we don't have to answer phone.