Question for you regional pilots about schedules

[IndianaPilot]

Hey question for u guys flyin for regionals. How does ur schedule work ? If you dont live where your base is at, how do you get to work when u fly ? Say your based somewhere else, and you need to fly there to get to work, and ur flight is cancelled ? And does this apply to both reserve and line pilots ? I know when ur on duty as reserve obviously you need to be nearby, but what about ur days off ? Just wonderin

 

[aloft]

ur nt sndng a txt msg, it dsnt cst xtra 2 SPELL OUT YOUR WORDS, BRO

 

[IndianaPilot]

Aloft...the only words i didnt spell out was "your" --- ur. And maybe leaving out a letter "g" ...like in "wonderin" . But everything else is spelled out ????

 

[MQAAord]

Re: Question for you regional pilots about schedul

First, please spell out your words. We're kind of harsh here about using proper sentance structure!

Second, to answer your question, are you talking about commuting? Where you live in one city but are based at another? If you choose to commute it is your responsibiliy to watch flights & weather to get to work on time. You use your non-rev flight passes to 'commute' to your base city. These passes are standby, so you have to watch loads so as to not try to commute on oversold flights. If you don't get to work on-time because you've missed your commuter flight, that is HIGHLY frowned upon, and WILL get you a visit to the chief pilot's office. The only time commuting absences are somewhat tolerated is if there's a MAJOR weather event, like the recent massive blizzard on the east coast. It's your responsibility to get to work on time, no matter where you live or how you choose to get to work.

There have been many threads here about commuting, if you put 'commuting' into the search function, you'll come up with lots of info.

 

[EatSleepFly]

Re: Question for you regional pilots about schedul

[ QUOTE ]
If you don't get to work on-time because you've missed your commuter flight, that is HIGHLY frowned upon, and WILL get you a visit to the chief pilot's office.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, just ask me!

 

[av8trxx]

How does ur schedule work?
Kinda vague here....

If you dont live where your base is, how do you get to work?
You either drive or fly.

Say [you're] based somewhere else, and you need to fly there to get to work, and ur flight is cancelled?
Most airlines have a commuter policy. Usually a pilot must allow themselves at least two flights to gt to work. If one cancels, and the other fills up, then you can use the commuter policy. This is not to be done on a regular basis!

And does this apply to both reserve and line pilots? I know when ur on duty as reserve obviously you need to be nearby, but what about ur days off ?
Reserves do not have the time to commute by air as the call out is too short. If they commute from another city then they need to get a crash pad so they have a place to stay in base nearby so they can make their callout. When you are on days off, then you are on days off unless they junior man you before you leave for them.

 

[derg]

[ QUOTE ]
Hey question for u guys flyin for regionals.

[/ QUOTE ]

I can virtually guarantee you'll get the same answer from a major airline pilot, so I'll have a go.

[ QUOTE ]
How does ur schedule work ?

[/ QUOTE ]

Main page, left hand side of the home page and there is a plethora of information about major and regional schedules.

[ QUOTE ]
If you dont live where your base is at, how do you get to work when u fly ?

[/ QUOTE ]

You need to either nonrev on your own airline and roll the dice and hope another airline can get you to work via jumpseat if there is space available.

[ QUOTE ]
Say your based somewhere else, and you need to fly there to get to work, and ur flight is cancelled ?

[/ QUOTE ]

Hosed! They're going to most likely call you into the office and ask why you didn't anticipate the weather and leave earlier. If you make a habit of it, they will fire you.

[ QUOTE ]
And does this apply to both reserve and line pilots ?

[/ QUOTE ]

I wouldn't suggest commuting to reserve. Because by the time they call a reserve pilot on duty and he's not able to show up to begin duty at the contractually alloted time, they're going to be seriously pissed. They're already in a SNAFU because the scheduled pilot was unavailable and they're counting on you being ready and available to pinch hit for him.



[/ QUOTE ] I know when ur on duty as reserve obviously you need to be nearby, but what about ur days off ?

[/ QUOTE ]

Your days off are your days off. However you're certainly going to be potentially sitting your last day on reserve in the crash pad/self-funded hotel and traveling back home on your first day off and most likely heading back out to your base city on your last day off.

I wouldn't suggest commuting to reserve.

 

[Cheechako]

Hey Doug,

Things have changes a little since you were at the regionals- (do you remember Ryan Haldenwanger from Skyway? I flew with him all last month...he remembers you) anyway..

Maybe we could update the regional section of the main JC page to reflect the schedules of the RJ operators. At least at Skywest, the 5-day work week is very rare and has a mix of locals and 2-4 day trips. There are also pilots who plan on making a career out of the regionals given the current state of the major airlines- I'm sure you know all of this, but the main JC regional page still has the "stepping-stone" feel.

just a thought...

 

[FlyChicaga]

If you want Doug, I can write up a "summary" of one of our four day trips. Maybe this one I'm on? The Chicago Express one is becoming dated (since the company won't exist anymore), hopefully Omar or one of our other resident turboprop pilots could rewrite what I did earlier?

Let me know! Omar, what do you think? I know you like to tell flying stories!

 

[derg]

That was my actual schedule from Skyway. It probably has the 'stepping stone' feel because it sucked! No question about it! And it actually still goes thru the ebb and flow of 'ok' and 'sucks' now even at Delta.

Here's the kicker. I get email about all sorts of things on the site, but whenever I say "Hey, while I've got your ear, why don't you write something about your experiences?" it's usually the last I hear from them.

 

[derg]

Sounds good man! Anytime!

All content has a particular unwritten 'freshness date' but unless you're receiving updated reliable data, you kind of have to make do. Like my sched stuff still has the DFW base and DFW-style trips although the base closed, but it's still reliable and real-world data.

Speaking of reliable data, a few years ago, a user wrote wanted to write an article about flying the F-14. Of course I was all giddy, but then it turned out that the person was "Tomcatter", before the goon squad busted him for misrepresenting his identity. Funny story, but I'm not even sure why I even told it.

 

[mrivc211]

It just depends on your seniority. I only started 6 months ago and was on reserve for two weeks and have held a line since. It's varies everywhere you go. I went from about 12 days off one month, to 13 to 14 to 15 last month. Heres what my schedule looks this upcoming month:

two 2 day trips back to back.
By that I mean, a trip that lasts two days then back at your base, then another trip the next day that lasts another two days.

March
1 OFF
2 OFF
3 FLY
4 FLY
5 FLY
6 FLY
7 OFF
8 OFF
9 OFF
10 FLY
11 FLY
12 FLY
13 FLY
14 OFF
15 OFF
16 OFF
17 FLY
18 FLY
19 FLY
20 OFF
21 OFF
22 OFF
23 FLY
24 FLY
25 FLY
26 FLY
27 OFF
28 OFF
29 OFF
30 OFF

Then of the four days that I'm flying :

Day 1
Report for duty at 11:55am

PSP-LAS
LAS-FAT
FAT-SFO
SFO-RDM

Released at 20:52

Day 2
Report at 06:25

RDM-SFO
SFO-FAT
FAT-LAS
LAS-PSP

Released at 15:53

Day 3 and 4 is a repeat of day 1 and 2. These are whats called two day back to backs. With the exception of it being a weekend trip(the trip existed weekdays, my seniority couldn't hold it) this is an extremely easy schedule for the Brasilia. We're used to having an average of 6 to 8 legs, depending on your line.

My buddy who was hired at American Eagle about 6 months ago spent quite a bit of time on reserve. (I'm not sure if he's off it yet) It really depends on company needs and being at the right place at the right time.

 

[SmitteyB]

Re: Question for you regional pilots about schedul

[ QUOTE ]
First, please spell out your words. We're kind of harsh here about using proper sentance structure!

[/ QUOTE ]

I wouldn't be saying much.

 

[FlyChicaga]

Re: Question for you regional pilots about schedul

Just curious, how old are you?

 

[Windwalker]

Re: Question for you regional pilots about schedul

Sure beats sitting in a office all day.