Reserve vs. Holding a Line, dilemma

AngelFuree

AngelFuree

Well-Known Member
So I'm stuck in this dilemma...

I was recently hired at my company and was assigned DTW as my base. However, by the time I'm done w/ IOE, I would most likely be able to hold MSP.

The only thing here is that MSP is the more senior base, so I'd be on reserve for a lot longer than in DTW (as far as I'm aware). The positive of MSP is its location. I think I would like it more here than in DTW (I've never visited Detroit, though). However, the positive of DTW would be the ability to hold a line sooner over there. Money is important to me (i.e. holding a line = more pay). However, QOL and location are also important. I have no idea if I would like Detroit nor do I have any idea how much I would dislike sitting reserve for a while. Sitting reserve, I would most definitely have less days off in a row than I would holding a line, which is huge to me.

Anyone else face this dilemma in the past? :o Suggestions?

I'll be living in base, regardless of where I end up.
 
DTW. It's not as bad as people say. Holding a line is MUCH better than being on reserve unless your company has killer reserve rules. If it did, you wouldn't be able to hold reserve from all the senior guys living in base bidding it. The first week I was back on reserve as a CA, I remember why I hated it so much as an FO.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess....Mesaba.
 
So I am guessing it doesn't start with a P or C......Minneapolis is great this time of year. By the time you finish IOE we should be in the depth on Winter.

And just think....If you have some time off, you can head on up to ND. :D

I would have to go with QOL, but then I have a wife and 2 kids.....If I were single, maybe I'd think different.

Good Luck either way.
 
Reserve sucks. At Mesa we can get 12 or 24 hour callout for a reduction in min guarantee but it is kind of retarded that they can just call you and say "In 12/24 hours you have a ready reserve shift."

I hate ready reserve with a passion that exceeds the heat of the sun!
 
Go to DTW, it's not THAT bad.

If you want to live close to the airport, then move to Ypsi and hang out in Ann Arbor.

If you want a chill college town on the west side of the state, which kicks the living crap out of the east side of the state in my opinion (having grown up on the east side and then went to college on the west side), move to Kalamazoo once you hold a line. It's a 1.5-2 hour drive to DTW and it's a solid little town.

If you like Big Ten football, but hate Ann Arbor, move to East Lansing. It's a hip college town and only 1-1.5 hour drive from DTW so you can sit reserve there until you hold a line.

Do not live anywhere near the airport, in fact don't live any closer to Detroit than Plymouth/Canton/Ann Arbor.

If you want recommendations on specific places to live, PM me or TheShortOne. Emily went to school in Ann Arbor and is from the Detroit area.
 
AngelFuree said:
So I'm stuck in this dilemma...

I was recently hired at my company and was assigned DTW as my base. However, by the time I'm done w/ IOE, I would most likely be able to hold MSP.

The only thing here is that MSP is the more senior base, so I'd be on reserve for a lot longer than in DTW (as far as I'm aware). The positive of MSP is its location. I think I would like it more here than in DTW (I've never visited Detroit, though). However, the positive of DTW would be the ability to hold a line sooner over there. Money is important to me (i.e. holding a line = more pay). However, QOL and location are also important. I have no idea if I would like Detroit nor do I have any idea how much I would dislike sitting reserve for a while. Sitting reserve, I would most definitely have less days off in a row than I would holding a line, which is huge to me.

Anyone else face this dilemma in the past? :o Suggestions?

I'll be living in base, regardless of where I end up.
Click to expand...

Live where you want to live. Reserve won't last forever. Once you settle in and start laying down roots, it will get harder and harder to pull them up.
 
jtrain609 said:
Go to DTW, it's not THAT bad.

If you want to live close to the airport, then move to Ypsi and hang out in Ann Arbor.

If you want a chill college town on the west side of the state, which kicks the living crap out of the east side of the state in my opinion (having grown up on the east side and then went to college on the west side), move to Kalamazoo once you hold a line. It's a 1.5-2 hour drive to DTW and it's a solid little town.

If you like Big Ten football, but hate Ann Arbor, move to East Lansing. It's a hip college town and only 1-1.5 hour drive from DTW so you can sit reserve there until you hold a line.

Do not live anywhere near the airport, in fact don't live any closer to Detroit than Plymouth/Canton/Ann Arbor.

If you want recommendations on specific places to live, PM me or TheShortOne. Emily went to school in Ann Arbor and is from the Detroit area.
Click to expand...

This man speaks the truth! Kalamazoo is a great place to live with lots going on geared around the younger crowd since we have Western Michigan. PM me if you come out to Kalamazoo and feel the need to hang with some dirt poor aviation students.
 
Reserve at home is great if you can find things to do when not called. Commuting to reserve is Hades on Earth IMO.
 
skydog said:
Live where you want to live. Reserve won't last forever. Once you settle in and start laying down roots, it will get harder and harder to pull them up.
Click to expand...

Reserve won't last forever? You must have had a great career before you left to become a school teacher, because depending on where you end up on a list reserve CAN in fact last forever.

The other nice part about Michigan is that if you DO have a job, it's INCREDIBLY cheap to live there. You can find a nice 2 bedroom house in the Canton area for $80,000 right now.
 
A year or two on reserve is nothing over the course of a 35 or 40 year career. I'd rather live where I want to live, even if it meant putting up with reserve for a year or two. Never understood why people had a problem with reserve anyway. You get to sit at home and get paid. If you live out of base that's a different story, but that's a personal choice.

I did have a pretty good career. 10 years+. Never laid off, never had a company shut down on me. Spent 1 year on reserve.
 
If your going to stay somewhere for awhile I'd pick MN personally but i may have some bias. Overall quality of life in MN is top 3ish in the nation, the public schools here are amazing, and small/ish town living can be found an hour or less from the airport. If your going to live in a town 130-2 hrs away look at Mankato/North Mankato MN was awarded best to live in the nation by CNN this year.
 
If it were me I would bid DTW and move to Ann Arbor. Sounds like a cool college town. Furthermore actually LIVING in the JUNIOR base has HUGE pluses. I've benefitted from those pluses for over 4 years now at XJT by living in NW NJ near EWR. Sure there are other places I would rather live but my QOL would take such a dramatic turn for the worst that it is currently not worth moving.

Consider this...you will have a line which means more time off and a much better QOL. As time goes on you will bid much higher up the seniority list relative to those with equal seniority because you don't have to worry about start and end times like commuters...only days off. You will most likely upgrade faster and hold a line in the left seat quicker as well.

If your plan is to live in base, might as well live in the junior base IMO.
 
Totally agree about the DTW dilemma. Personally JTrain said it best...don't live close to DTW. I would go as far to say as not any further east than Ann Arbor and not any further South than Plymouth. I currently live in A2 and it is awesome here...kind of like a mini Boulder, CO without the mountains. A2 is much more laid back than most of the communities in metro Detroit. To add to that though, as Bronco said, the west side is great. It is even more laid back over there. As JTrain said, it isn't that bad, but there are much better places to live not only in metro Detroit, but the country as well.

PM me if you want any help or advice as to different locations in the area.
 
I would choose QOL. BTW, I do live near and commute from Kalamazoo airport. It is a cool college town north of I-94. JTrain should know more than I do since I don't really go out anymore. :D
 
I want to live in Orlando. I'm not about to put myself through the hell of commuting to reserve for a couple of years (potentially) for that. I can just wait until I hold a line, THEN move.
 
Wow, thanks for the all replies. I have definitely heard of Ann Arbor being a pretty nice place. I may just end up staying in DTW because days off are REALLY important to me.

I'll get back to this thread shortly. I'm gonna catch a flight up to Dump Forks, ND here in a bit. I need to start packing some stuff and check my mailbox. (I know I could have forwarded it. I wasn't thinking straight when I left.)
 
So I am guessing it doesn't start with a P or C......Minneapolis is great this time of year. By the time you finish IOE we should be in the depth on Winter.
Click to expand...

He could work for a company with a P or a C because they all have the same domiciles.

It depends if you have a reason to live somewhere else. If you have family or obligation to live in MSP then I would reccomend that. If you are single I would do DTW because the flying typically is better over there. If you are here at XJ you will be on reserve for a LONG(probably 6 months to a year or more) time either way so I would go where you are going to be the most comfortable. If you are at XJ and on the 900 I would bid ATL once it opens up and move there if you want the best relative seniority. I live in MSP, but choose to commute for the schedule.
 
Ann Arbor is awesome, if you want to live anywhere near campus though, be prepared to sign a one year lease beginning in September (and you usually have to sign the lease in October for the following year). There are some nice areas near Ann Arbor along the bus route which is money if you want to go into AA for some drinkies. I lived in Ann Arbor for several years as well as Ypsilanti for a summer so if you're interested in the area I can give you some serious info :) http://arborweb.com/cg/t0030.html
 
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