ASA Ready Reserve

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Someone should print up a cheat sheet that explains all of the reserve points in the contract and hand them out to all reserve pilots. This could be used to foil the schedulers when they try to give you something that is illegal.

1: Don't answer your phone, ever. Let it go to voice mail. Check the message, check Sked+, call back in 15 minutes. If it's advantageous for you to call back sooner, call back sooner.

 

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Someone should print up a cheat sheet that explains all of the reserve points in the contract and hand them out to all reserve pilots. This could be used to foil the schedulers when they try to give you something that is illegal.

2: When 'self-releasing' from ready reserve, call scheduling at release time + 1 minute and say; "I'm leaving the airport and would like to see if there are any notifications on my schedule." If they have an assignment for you that day, it's too late, it's 1 minute past release time. They can, however, notify you of something for you next reserve period. Period.

 

[twott driver]

Never ever ever self notify unless it's to your advantage. Rather call them and if there's the remotest possibility that they'll f it up, they probably will. Trick is to know the contract well enough to take advantage of the f up

 

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Someone should print up a cheat sheet that explains all of the reserve points in the contract and hand them out to all reserve pilots. This could be used to foil the schedulers when they try to give you something that is illegal.

3: Don't act like a d!ck on the phone, you're simply putting a target on your head. It's human nature for someone in scheduling to want to give you the sh!ttiest assignment they can when they know you're a d!ck. I would do the same thing in their shoes. Don't expect them to know the rules, most of them are new to the job and haven't been in aviation. How long did it take you to learn the reduced rest rules (I know, I know, most of our pilots still don't know them). If your response to this is; "it's their job, they better know it." my response to you is; it's your job, you better know it more than you expect them to know it. And, when in doubt, call the ALPA scheduling hotline; 888-624-5195.

 

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Someone should print up a cheat sheet that explains all of the reserve points in the contract and hand them out to all reserve pilots. This could be used to foil the schedulers when they try to give you something that is illegal.

4: When notified of an assignment, your response on the phone is "I'll be there in 2 hours." (Unless said assignment is a nap and you need your beauty sleep, then you can hurry your as.s down there and get to the overnight.) The 2 hours starts when they leave the message, not when you call back in 15 minutes. If you want to be exact, and they call you at 12;03 for a 2;00pm ready reserve, say "Ill duty in at 2;03" just to get that extra dig in. But don't get pissed if the ready reserve shift is adjusted to 10;03 on the backend, when do you call for 'release' in this situation? 10;04.

 

[Data]

Someone should print up a cheat sheet that explains all of the reserve points in the contract and hand them out to all reserve pilots. This could be used to foil the schedulers when they try to give you something that is illegal.

5: Your start time for a reserve shift only counts toward the 16 hour duty limit.

 

[twott driver]

The contract says "you'll make an effort to be there in less than 2 hours if possible".... "you want me to duty-in in 45min? Well, I'll see what I can do, but I need to eat, shower, change, pack, take a dump, push the kids on the swing, and I'll be there just as soon as I can." 2 hours later you duty in.

 

[twott driver]

At the end of an assignment, the minute the park brake is set, get on the phone and call scheduling. Say "I'm calling to see what else you've got for me?" Don't ask to be released, that gives them the power. Get the clock ticking on the 1hr standby as soon as possible, because you know they're likely to use it. 59min later you call back and ask the same question. 61 minutes later you go home.

 

[twott driver]

If you've been given an assignment, you are not obliged to answer the phone 4 hours prior to the showtime. If they call you during that time, do not answer. Check sched+ to see what they're wanting you for. If they've removed the assignment and it suits you, call them and go home. If you're near the airport, try and duty in, then call them when it won't let you, and say I'm at the crewroom and I'm trying to duty in, do it for me please. "oh well we gave that assignment to someone else, you can go home". Great, show me dutied in and duty me out a minute later and I'll be going home if you don't have anything else for me. At least get the min credit for the day, it may count later in the month. If you call them before that, you ain't getting squat.

 

[Freebrd]

lol and I'm the Co isn't reading all these great ideas

 

[twott driver]

Having your domicile rest reduced to 9 hours for "operational delays" should just about never happen for a reserve, especially if the assignment involves a ferry flight. You don't have a schedule, it is made up as you go, throughout the day. If a plane is broken, the scheduled time is delta's problem, not yours. Scheduling needs to reschedule you to reflect realistic times of departure and arrival. The fact that the first 3 planes you tried to fly were broken and needed to be swapped is part of the operation, not an operational delay. When they say they'll see you back at the airport in 9 hours, politely tell them you'll either be dutying in 11 hours later and the flight can leave late, or you'll be happy for them to show you on-call 11 hours later and they can get someone else to do the flight ontime.

 

[twott driver]

lol and I'm the Co isn't reading all these great ideas

Nothing said here is in anyway in violation of the contract, and they can read all they want. They will screw you at the first opportunity. Your only defense is to know the contract intimately, and hold them to it. Ignorance of the contract by any pilot is an injustice to all the rest, because they will exploit that ignorance to the nth degree.

 

[asayankee]

At the end of an assignment, the minute the park brake is set, get on the phone and call scheduling. Say "I'm calling to see what else you've got for me?" Don't ask to be released, that gives them the power. Get the clock ticking on the 1hr standby as soon as possible, because you know they're likely to use it. 59min later you call back and ask the same question. 61 minutes later you go home.

Not true... Read your contract. Your 1 hour starts the LATER of block-in +15 or when you call them. If you call early you've only given them an extra 15 minutes to find something for you. If you wait the clock doesn't start until you call.

 

[twott driver]

Fair enough, the point being that people wait 45min to call and think they've only got 15min to be assigned something. Not the case.

 

[JustaNumber]

At the end of an assignment, the minute the park brake is set, get on the phone and call scheduling. Say "I'm calling to see what else you've got for me?" Don't ask to be released, that gives them the power. Get the clock ticking on the 1hr standby as soon as possible, because you know they're likely to use it. 59min later you call back and ask the same question. 61 minutes later you go home.

If I call for release and they ask me to call back in 30 minutes, assuming I'm not hoping for another assignment, I prefer to not do that. (I'm still available if they need me, but why should I keep bugging them?) I'll just wait to call back after a total 61 minutes, and tell them I'm on the bus. Odds are almost 100% that they will ask you to call back in another 30 anyway if you call them after only 30 minutes.