Ready Reserve, Hot Reserve, Involuntary Reserve?

Eww, "thanks" for the visual. I'm going to go gouge my eyeballs out! ;)
 
Are you a reserve or line holder? How long have you been there? What were your times when hired? Times now?

I don't think there is a SINGLE 121 company that will pay you for the time you sit at the airport while sitting "hot reserve" over and above what your duty credit or credit for the day would be.

If you want to be paid for all your duty time, look into Ameriflight, Airnet, or Flight Express. I think they pay per duty hour.

Now, I've "heard" that when Colgan pulls you off of these trips/legs to sit hot reserve you don't get paid for the scheduled block times that were lost. That is such BS!! I would be livid. But then I would also think about the quick upgrade. Everything in life is a tradeoff, seriously. Either deal with the lack luster QOL/working conditions, upgrade, and GTFO, or vote with your feet and leave the Company.
 
I dunno how quick the upgrade is at Colgan. It took Mark 2 years to upgrade and if things continue at my company the way they are right now then I'll be in the left seat in 20 months.

Wait...wait...I can already here it, "But Cal is going to drop more flying."

Good, I hope they do.
 
Side note... unrelated to this thread...

It SEEMS to me (and I'm not pointing fingers at anybody, especially John) that there are some XJet guys out there who are taking a very caviler attitude towards the potential loss of more Continental flying. They point to how well the branded flying is doing and DARE people to think that they couldn't make a solid go of it on their own if they were to lose all the COEX work. Before people go around even THINKING that they need to take a long look in the mirror. I hate to make the ACA comparison, but for the first few months their loads were really good and they were actually making money. My point being, I would hate to see over confidence do damage to a damn good company.

Back on topic. Our hot reserve is 10 hours and we don't get paid anything other then per diem. AND... that is with a contract is place.
 
Agreed.

In the business of flying airplanes, cash flow is everything. CAL's deal with XJT provides this regardless of whether a profit is turned. Everyone from Morgan Stanley to XJT's chief have acknowledged this aspect of the CAL flying.

If CAL were to pull more planes, it wouldnt be as simple as some have made it out to be. People need to realize there are multiple stipulations withing the CAL and XJT CPA that prevent XJT from doing anything and everything they want. Profitability, cash flow, restructuring costs, base reassignements, SG&A costs associated with new CPAs, "learning the ropes" of a new agreement and carrier would spell a rocky road for XJT. This company is not as indestructable as some would think.

Why would anyone want to LOSE business? If you're that confident and arrogant, you've got it coming (also, no fingers at JH. Pure generalization).
 
jtrain609 said:
I dunno how quick the upgrade is at Colgan. It took Mark 2 years to upgrade and if things continue at my company the way they are right now then I'll be in the left seat in 20 months.

Wait...wait...I can already here it, "But Cal is going to drop more flying."

Good, I hope they do.
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When what you are hoping for happens (not if, but when), the 20 month upgrade time could get much, much longer.
 
Seems to me that all the regional companies that are expanding right now have been awarded some kind of jumbo-regional jet flying such as EMB-175, CRJ-900 type stuff, as if these jets are the future of regional airline flying. I heard sometime ago on this site that 50 seat jets are not profitable and the airlines want to get away from them. And the Q400 is "supposed" to be revolutionary as well. Ironically, this aircraft is taking flying away from XJET in EWR. My question is, will having a fleet of only 50 seat RJs hurt companies such as XJET in the future where as companies like RAH prosper?
 
Nick said:
When what you are hoping for happens (not if, but when), the 20 month upgrade time could get much, much longer.
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Not a chance. Delta is chomping at the bit to get 50 airplanes from us, which is exactly what Cal wants to drop.

ExpressJet will be fine.

EDIT: Let me explain myself a little bit better.

The guys at the top at Express have proven that when push comes to shove, they can find ways to make money. Notice I didn't say find ways to find work for airplanes, but find ways to make money. To be real honest, I'm not positive that the branded flying is the future of Express, but CAL certainly is not.

If CAL were to drop 50 airplanes and they were to go to Delta, I think it would be the best possible situation for ExpressJet. It would diversify the flying so if one side tanks, the entire company doesn't come crashing down. The fact that Express is doing work for CAL and Delta in addition to their branded and charter work says to me that they're doing the correct thing in trying to diversify, because in such a cut throat environment where companies are at the whim of their parent companies, having diversity is a good thing.

Express is already setup with Delta flying and expanding the operation wouldn't be a huge task.

To be real honest with you guys, the last thing I'm going to worry about at Express is where the flying is coming from. If CAL wants to shoot their other foot, so be it, Express will find ways to make money with their aircraft.
 
777forever said:
And the Q400 is "supposed" to be revolutionary as well. Ironically, this aircraft is taking flying away from XJET in EWR.
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Yup, thats because Colgan says " Oooo....Look at us look at us! We can steal Xjet's flying because we refuse to pay our pilots a respectable wage on a 74 seat aircraft!! Choose us! Choose us!!"

:rolleyes:
 
777forever said:
Seems to me that all the regional companies that are expanding right now have been awarded some kind of jumbo-regional jet flying such as EMB-175, CRJ-900 type stuff, as if these jets are the future of regional airline flying. I heard sometime ago on this site that 50 seat jets are not profitable and the airlines want to get away from them. And the Q400 is "supposed" to be revolutionary as well. Ironically, this aircraft is taking flying away from XJET in EWR. My question is, will having a fleet of only 50 seat RJs hurt companies such as XJET in the future where as companies like RAH prosper?
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There's always going to be a 50 seat market, but it will not be what it has been. I think Express is going to capitalize on that and try to be the best provider of 50 seat lift out there.

And Express hasn't figured out how to make money with 70 seat jets, but they sure do know how to do it with 50 seaters. Why change something that's working?
 
Airdale said:
And see, your attitude is the kind that kills our industry. Just "suck it up". NO! When the hell are pilots going to wake up and put and end to this.

Do I love my job? You bet. I love flying and getting paid to do so. But at the same time, there are things that happen that are down right wrong. Managements continue to WALK all OVER pilot groups. Who has the balls to stick together and say enough is enough, because I'm the first one to stand on that side of the line.

You see my complaining isn't about having to work, its not about having to fly, its not about getting delays, and MX cancellations. That stuff COMES with the territory and I do suck it up. I don't complain when we're ground stopped in LGA. I don't whine when I get called on my reserve day to do a 4:30am REPO flight.

I complain when the company doesn't pay me for things that SHOULD be paid. I complain when the company intentionally does things to save a buck in THEIR pocket. I complain when the company has no consideration for how their actions will affect their pilots.

Its works like this my friend - I provide a service to my company as a pilot. I am entitled to be paid for the service I provide. Even if that means sitting on hot RESERVE, in UNIFORM, at an AIRPORT. I am still entitled to be paid for spending MY time, minutes from MY life, being held responsible to the company.

If I'm the only one that has a problem with that, or finds that above statement to be BS, then maybe I need to see a shrink.

The job - I love it. The work rules and the way management screws the pilots - I hate it. Go tell anyone in any other industry that some of us "Airline Pilots" wear the uniform 13hrs a day and only get paid for 5hrs. They'll think you're full of it. Its the sad honest truth - open your eyes.
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Airdale...I don't specifically disagree with your gripes, however I feel that in general it is tacky when a person reaches a professional level in their career and then boards "the complain train...non-stop service to Oh-whoa-is-me-ville : ("
First off...If a normal working person was able to dissect the complexities of a Hot Reserve Sit, Jo Schmo would interpret it as you got 5 hours of pay for doing absolutely nothing. He would have no sympathy because he's chained to a desk with his TPS reports, working on salary, and he's got to stay until every copy of that damn report is finished...cover sheets and everything. You see, working people aren't paid by the hour either, in effect they have a minimum guarantee and they're expected to produce. If they don't like it, they can go get an hourly job working in produce. End this part of the rant.

That being said, I completely understand your situation. The stuff MGMT pulls on pilots is completely assanine and is sometimes in violation of a collective bargaining TA. Have they in this case? I don't know for sure but it doesn't sound like it.
If it ticks you off enough, maybe with your union reps and suggest a duty rig system for reserve pay during the next round of negotiations. Sounds crazy but if enough people feel that way then the union will start listening and will work to try and change the situation for you.
My attitude is not killing the industry. I just feel that there are more constructive ways to bring about change rather than complaining on th e internet that you only see your wifey 3 days a week and come home with ramen noodle take home pay (that part you should've been well aware of at the regional level, and I hope it gets better for you sometime in the future).
 
jtrain609 said:
And Express hasn't figured out how to make money with 70 seat jets, but they sure do know how to do it with 50 seaters. Why change something that's working?
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This is the thing that should make every XJT employee want CAL flying to never end or decrease.

CAL paying the bills helps XJT make money from 50 seat jets.

Delta flying at XJT is limited to the 8 airplane pro-rate deal that is now going on. Any more airplanes to Delta or any other carrier has to be that way for each airplane after the tenth. More risk for the regional carrier involved.

An aircraft order would render the pro-rate deals mostly irrelevant and change everything.
 
Nick said:
This is the thing that should make every XJT employee want CAL flying to never end or decrease.

CAL paying the bills helps XJT make money from 50 seat jets.

Delta flying at XJT is limited to the 8 airplane pro-rate deal that is now going on. Any more airplanes to Delta or any other carrier has to be that way for each airplane after the tenth. More risk for the regional carrier involved.

An aircraft order would render the pro-rate deals mostly irrelevant and change everything.
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I'm not so sure about that.

There are going to be 50 seat jets flying around, there IS a market for them, but the market isn't NEARLY as large as what it is right now. That means only the most cost effective 50 seat companies are going to survive and the rest are going to have to go with bigger aircraft. I can see Express positioning itself to be the company that gets that flying.

But I've been wrong before. Either way, there's nothing I can affect what's going to happen. Either CAL is going to drop more flying, or they won't. It doesn't matter to me, I'm fairly confident in this management team to find ways to make money with what they have in front of them.
 
jtrain609 said:
The guys at the top at Express have proven that when push comes to shove, they can find ways to make money.
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Well, you are correct. They've made money for the last several years however their operating margins have steadily decreased 50% since 2003. This is no reason to panic though. Obviously we took a $25M loss last quarter and most likely will encounter one (or two) more with the expenses the branded is going to have. The 50 seat market is a hot topic for debate. Most the bears say the flying is trending towards 70-90 seat operations and rightfully so. The 50 seat E/CRJ have a notorious amount of inefficiency with respect to the CASM and RASM.

Express, IMO, will need larger aircraft. When? That's up to the CEO and BOD.

This is an obvious transition phase for XJT and will have it's bumps and bruises but if, as you said, XJT can diversify their customers, services, and routes while keeping an appropriate CASM/RASM ratio and operating cost(s) under control, they will do just fine.
 
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