JB New Hire pay

[pal]

Should a new hire at JB count on Reserve guarantee only for the foreseeable future or are there ways to make extra pay by adding legs at the end of a duty period, etc.?

 

[J32driver]

Count on guarantee only. Breaking guarantee around this joint as a reservist is something that doesn't happen all that often. I've only managed to do it once. There are some guys that just get lucky and pull it off 3 or 4 times a year.

 

[TDK90]

Can you move off days around or are the reserve lines fixed. For example could you work 6 on 1 off for 3 weeks and then have the last week off? I manage to do that at my regional.

 

[Dave's kid]

Should a new hire at JB count on Reserve guarantee only for the foreseeable future or are there ways to make extra pay by adding legs at the end of a duty period, etc.?

First year pay is $47/hour for both fleets with a reserve guarantee of 75 hours ($3525/month before deductions). Second year jumps to $68.57/hour for the 320 and $61.72/hour for the 190. Right now the senior reserve FO's in JFK/BOS have about 3 year seniority, LGB/FLL are longer.

In a few months a new section in the FSM will allow the possibility of picking up time above guarantee. But there are a lot of hoops to jump through to pick up extra time, so it is questionable whether anyone will actually be able to go over guarantee. So don't count on anything above 75 hours until you are a line holder.

 

[Dave's kid]

Can you move off days around or are the reserve lines fixed. For example could you work 6 on 1 off for 3 weeks and then have the last week off? I manage to do that at my regional.

You can move days around by either trading with another reserve pilot, or based on coverage trading with yourself. The reserve schedules are built by pref bid, not hard lines. So it is possible to build a 6 on 1 off schedule. The only requirement is to have a minimum of 3 days of reserve per block.

Reserve schedules are built to 18 days of reserve. So in a 31 day month you'd have at least 13 days off, and in a 30 day month you'd have at least 12 days off. All bid periods are either 30 or 31 days.

 

[UpNDownGuy]

You can move days around by either trading with another reserve pilot, or based on coverage trading with yourself. The reserve schedules are built by pref bid, not hard lines. So it is possible to build a 6 on 1 off schedule. The only requirement is to have a minimum of 3 days of reserve per block.

Reserve schedules are built to 18 days of reserve. So in a 31 day month you'd have at least 13 days off, and in a 30 day month you'd have at least 12 days off. All bid periods are either 30 or 31 days.

This is theoretically possible, but completely unlikely. There are two roadblocks to swapping days around like you want: weekends, and minimum 4-day reserve pilots.

Until you are in the top 5% of reserve pilots, you won't get a single weekend day off on your bid. Zero. You may be able to drop one or two days on the PTO/UTO bid, but an entire weekend is unlikely. Getting weekend days on the Swap window is less likely than winning the lottery. That will leave you with a minimum of 4 groups of days on to spread your 18 work days.

Also working against you is a new requirement that each day have a minimum number of pilots in each base/seat with at least 4 days of reserve available. That means reserve coverage may have plenty of pilots for that day, but if you're the 4 day guy, you can't move anything.

The end result is that you will work every weekend, every month with no possibility of changing your schedule. If you're a long distance commuter (like me), brace yourself for 4-5 roundtrip commutes per month.

 

[J32driver]

Upndownguy speaks the truth.

Under the old Flight Scheduling Manual, it was possible to build any schedule you would like. You could always get the days off you needed or wanted without having to use a sick call. It was the best system I've seen at any airline.

Now... under the new FSM, things look great. But the reality is you are going to be awarded a line of flying and you are for the most part locked into it. They have put up so many hoops, roadblocks, and barriers that the system is now practically rigid.

The company is in "take mode" right now. I'll let you figure out why they might be headed down that road.

As for me, I'll vote yes because of how this FSM was crammed down our throats with the pilot group kicking and fighting and being ignored.