Reserve schedule?

11-07-2005, 12:04 PM

Can anyone give me an idea of a typical reserve schedule? Are you typically on reserve for a number of days and then are allowed to go home for a day or two?

azpilot · 11-07-2005, 12:54 PM

You will get 12 days off per month. Typically 4 on 2 off. Sometimes 5 days on. Best thing that can happen to you is you get released early on your final day thus giving you a bit more time off. Many reserve lines have weekends off. That is a small benefit.

pscraig · 11-07-2005, 01:22 PM

I was usually 5 on/2-3 off. If you want to travel I suggest bidding for a line that does not have weekends off, since the loads tend to be lower during the week. On days off you can go wherever you want.

Chris92 · 11-07-2005, 04:02 PM

while on reserve i have pretty much been 4 on 3 off most of the time. However there is that occasional 5 or 6 days on 2 off.

V2+15 · 11-07-2005, 05:51 PM

While on reserve, I typically had 5 on, 3 off. Scheduling was VERY kind and usually gave me a heads up a day in advance if something was put on my schedule. I usually flew a 4-day trip out of my five days of reserve.

If I was lucky enough to fly the first 4 days of my 5 day block, I would usually get up about 7:00 am on day 5 (had the 3:30 am call out), put on my uniform and go to the airport and call scheduling to be released. I think I got released to days off just about every time on the first call (had to call back later on a couple of occasions), but this allowed me to travel home on my last day of reserve and enjoy more time off.

If I happened to fly on days 2-5 of my 5 day block, I was able to get home about half the time after finishing on the last day. All the other times I had to go home on the first day of my days off. All in all it was a great experience, as I learned that crashpadding, commuting, and trying to get direct flights to/from IAH and EWR SUX. If you live in a HUB city or are close enough to drive to it, it's great.

CIAO

11-07-2005, 08:03 PM

Is commuting to and from CLE doable on reserve? I live in Denver and am wondering how much time I will have to get home and get back on my 2 or 3 days off? Is CLE any better than EWR or IAH for commuting?

V2+15 · 11-07-2005, 08:26 PM

Well...if it's any help, there are roughly 8 flights per day on mainline from DEN to CLE. Only 2 of those are direct; the other 6 go through IAH. There are 9 flight from DEN to EWR; only 3 are direct. Express doesn't have flights from DEN...yet. :wink:

As an alternative, you can go from COS to CLE, but all flights go through IAH. DEN is going to be VERY difficult to commute out of. It used to be a CAL base and there are still A LOT of VERY senior people commuting out of there.

If you were to get hired, the time spent on reserve is pretty extensive now. Movement has slowed somewhat and those getting hired now may see reserve for a year. I would recommend getting an apartment in the base you're assigned until you can start bidding lines that are commutable. And even then, you're going to have to start building seniority to get "commutable lines".

Good luck!!

Dorsal Fin · 11-13-2005, 09:17 PM

Bid what you want. I was able to get a stretch of 5 days off in a row. This was with a little work and request on the ad opt. to get things changed around. The down side to this is that one half of the month I get bored, no fly, and the other half I get worn down, gone to long.

I think that you can get prety much anything you want, if you are not to specific on the dates