Commuting Pilot/Reserve Question

futurepilot1

futurepilot1

Well-Known Member
Question for you commuting pilots out there. If you commute to your domicile, and are on a reserve shift, are you expected to jumpseat to your airport and hang out, or do they allow you to stay at home, and catch a jumpseat if you are called?
 
Depends on your callout rules. If you have a 4 hour callout, theoretically you could stand reserve from home. Anything less and you'd be a fool not to be in your domicile.
 
Most airlines stipulate either a time or mileage requirement if sitting SHORT-CALL reserve (two hours or less usually). So if you are sitting short-call (most all regionals) you absolutely have to be within two hours of the airport.

Long-call like we have here at Delta is a twelve hour call out so I could be almost anywhere in North America while sitting reserve.
 
Velocipede said:
12 hour long call? Sweet. I guess that's the difference between a properly staffed airline and mine.
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I had long call in November and they used me 4 times (4 day trips), plus my recurrent training, so much for sitting home (at OH). Another thing they are doing is changing reserve windows whenever crew scheduling needs to (long call pilots switched to regular short call windows). Why bid? They may as well operate on a "We'll call you when we need you" status.
 
We have long call reserve (12 hours) as well at ASA as well as short call. Even though I could hold a line, I bid long call reserve so I could be home with my wife and kids as well as have the weekends off. Scheduling is pretty good about giving you more than 12 hours but the last couple of times it has been exactly 12.
 
This is what's rumored in our new contract at PCL: long call rsv, and if they don't call you by 1 PM, you're off the next day. Current contrat we've got airport rsv (get to the plane in 15 minutes) and home reserve (get to the airport in 90 minutes). No long call.
 
futurepilot1 said:
Question for you commuting pilots out there. If you commute to your domicile, and are on a reserve shift, are you expected to jumpseat to your airport and hang out, or do they allow you to stay at home, and catch a jumpseat if you are called?
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It's really up to you. So long as you can make your reserve call out time, the company doesn't really care where you are.

Start missing the call out time and questions would arise. Most who commute on short call reserve have a crashpad near the airport. But being on call in a crashpad away from home 5 days a week is no way to live.
 
At Horizon we have "short" call and Airport Reserve (ready reserve/hot reserve/whatever you want to call it)...it's 2 hours callout in Seattle and 1.5 hours in Portlando...(I know what you mean Velo...we're in the same boat!)

I'm going to be commuting to sit reserve (hopefully in Seattle) from Atlanta...best bet is to find a crashpad that's on a Bus/Subway line...walking distance to a grocery store, Target, Wal-Mart, etc...finding a place that's already furnished is the way to go!

I wish Horizon would go to a 12-hour callout...then I could sit at home in Atlanta...(one can dream right???)
 
E_Dawg said:
It's really up to you. So long as you can make your reserve call out time, the company doesn't really care where you are.

Start missing the call out time and questions would arise. Most who commute on short call reserve have a crashpad near the airport. But being on call in a crashpad away from home 5 days a week is no way to live.
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5 days would be easy! My girlfriend is a FA and she is on reserve. Her schedule this month - 6 on, 1 off, 6 on, 3 off, 6 on, 1 off, 3 on, 4 off
She has a 10am-10pm reserve window, so basically she can't get home for the one day off, so she is gone from home 23 days this month, either flying, on ready reserve (at the airport), or sitting at the crash pad.

I held a line until the last few months before furlough. I had long call one month (as in the above post) and short call the last month. I did not have a crash pad, so my last 19 days were spent: 4 day trip, 3 off, 5 reserve days spent in the crew lounge, 4 off, 3 days reserve sleeping in the crew lounge. I couldn't wait to be furloughed! I was getting tired of bathing in the sink:)
 
Do yourself a favor and DO NOT commute to reserve if you can help it. Of course at the beginning of one's career options are limited but it isn't worth it if you have a choice.

At SkyWest we do have long call reserve (12 hour), but with the current interpretation of the policy it isn't all it's cracked up to be.

I upgraded in the summer of 2007 and have commuted to reserve ever since. Not so much fun I say. YMMV :)
 
I have been commuting to reserve since September 2006. At the regional level, your QOL is not very good. There were many weeks I would only get a day or so at home. At NWA, it has been a lot different. With PBS and long call reserve, I have only spent 25 days in base since last June.

It is tough, but for me, the sacrafice paid off. It is all about what you are willing to do, to get where you want to go.
 
futurepilot1 said:
Question for you commuting pilots out there. If you commute to your domicile, and are on a reserve shift, are you expected to jumpseat to your airport and hang out, or do they allow you to stay at home, and catch a jumpseat if you are called?
Click to expand...

I'm getting ready to "jumpseat" 6 hours in my car to my domicile and hang out. If I had a crash pad near the airport, I'd probably jumpseat/fly, but as it is, I stay with my sister-in-law who lives 33.6 miles from the airport (free pad!). At the wrong time of day that 33.6 miles takes exactly the 2 hour call out I have.

Long call sure sounds nice...
 
the month of february i thought was going to be nice to me. nothing but "long call reserve" basically we have an hour to show up. either way i practically live in base since the two days off a week really arent that condusive for commuting three time zones. i have been called to go to work every day this month. i am actually kind of angry about this since i had big plans of sleeping until at least noon everyday then making my way to the gym. i know this sounds horrible when i write this but its a lot like college with no class. now if this is a couple years from now and im still saying this then something is wrong with me. im 23 with no real obligations to anyone so i live life accordingly. just my thoughts and ideas do as you wish.
 
Continental has a long call reserve. they only have to award 10% of the reserve lines as long call. On a reserve day you are on call 24 hrs a day, and once called you are released to rest. So it ends up being a 9 hour call out.

Short call is 2 hours. Long call guarantee is 72 hours, short call guarantee is 76 hours.
 
amorris311 said:
the month of february i thought was going to be nice to me. nothing but "long call reserve" basically we have an hour to show up. either way i practically live in base since the two days off a week really arent that condusive for commuting three time zones. i have been called to go to work every day this month. i am actually kind of angry about this since i had big plans of sleeping until at least noon everyday then making my way to the gym. i know this sounds horrible when i write this but its a lot like college with no class. now if this is a couple years from now and im still saying this then something is wrong with me. im 23 with no real obligations to anyone so i live life accordingly. just my thoughts and ideas do as you wish.
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Capitalization was taught in grammar school for me and stop complaining.
 
amorris311 said:
the month of february i thought was going to be nice to me. nothing but "long call reserve" basically we have an hour to show up. either way i practically live in base since the two days off a week really arent that condusive for commuting three time zones. i have been called to go to work every day this month. i am actually kind of angry about this since i had big plans of sleeping until at least noon everyday then making my way to the gym. i know this sounds horrible when i write this but its a lot like college with no class. now if this is a couple years from now and im still saying this then something is wrong with me. im 23 with no real obligations to anyone so i live life accordingly. just my thoughts and ideas do as you wish.
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I dont envy you guys in ALB at all. Do you ever fly more repos than you do revenue?

IAD reserve isnt too bad. In December I only drove to the airport 5 or 6 times. If you count reserve days that you arent called out as off days I had 18 days off.
 
kellwolf said:
Irony. You can haz it. :)

I take it they taught capitalization, but they skipped the units on sentence structure?
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im writing as i speak. i know this is not a good way to convey my idea but i am too lazy to go back and check. most people get the point if they take the time to read my usually 2 cent post. :)
 
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