Q's for XJET newhires

[dojetdriver]

I'm taking a survey;

Are there entire reserve lines that are long call status?

Can you be on long call and then converted to short call? In other words, you have a 12 call out, can they suddenly tell call and tell you you now have two hours to show? Or, if you are on long call can they tell you you have short call reserve starting 12 hours from now?

If there are long call reserve lines, how ling before you could hold one if desired?

How long before you could hold a hard line?

Thanks for the info guys

 

[wahoo250]

5 months for a relief line. long call is long call unless you request otherwise. they can not change it. however, you fly the most on long call, so if you dont want to be used that much dont bid it. Long call lines tend to be more desireable (so Far) for reserves. In other words you would think it would help a commuter out, but i think because you get called more it doesnt really help. I dont bid it so maybe someone else can help more with that. but thats what ive seen. regular call line Ive worked 5 days so far since jan 1st. I live in base so its pretty cool. If I commuted I would hate it though.

 

[Meiguy]

Long call lines go pretty senior. At least they did this past month. Right now there is a minimum of 10% of reserve lines for long call which in EWR comes to 5 or 6 of them. So there isn't a whole lot of them so I would say you would probably hold one the month before you would be able to hold a relief line. They do get the most flying but alot of guys at least ten percent want to fly to get out of the crashpad. If I remember correctly they can't just call you up and say here's a two hour callout assignment. They can call you before your block of reserve days begin and say they need you on short call for that block of days. But then would go back to long call on the next block of reserve days. However on the fo side of things they aren't short of short call guys so I don't see that happening.

 

[FlyChicaga]

I'm on long call reserve right now. So far it's been working out real well. I'm on long call/will-fly, which means we are the first ones out. So far this month I've flown 50 hours. Two more four-days and I'll be well over guarantee.

They can convert your long-call line to short-call, but they must give you over 12 hours notice to do so. They can only do this twice a month.

I'm holding long-call this month and a relief line next month, so I'd probably say that you can hold a long-call right before a line, or if you want one as a senior lineholder. I live in Chicago and commute to Newark, so sitting reserve at home is fairly difficult. But, if you are proactive the day before you start reserve, you can usually end up making your long-call replicate a regular line.

Now if I was CLE-based, I'd be right here sitting reserve at home. 5 hour drive if absolutely needed, and plenty of commuting options. I'm considering bidding to CLE, and might bid long-call at some point again. But you just need to remember you are the ones first called.

At XJT it goes:
Long-call/Will-fly
Long-call/No Preference
Short-call/Will-fly
Short-call/No Preference

Hope this helps!

By the way, everyone in my class got lines at the same time. Except for my sim partner in CLE who got a line a month before everyone else. So don't pick a base based on holding a line...

 

[COEX-FO]

I'm on long call reserve right now. So far it's been working out real well. I'm on long call/will-fly, which means we are the first ones out. So far this month I've flown 50 hours. Two more four-days and I'll be well over guarantee.

.

FlyChicago,

I'm curious, how much time did you get for each trip? Right at the 12 hours or did you get a day's notice. I'm thinking of bidding long call if I can pull off the commute from ATL to EWR.

Thanks

 

[dojetdriver]

Thanks for he straight answers guys. If anybody has any more, keep'em coming. I don't expect reserve to be a picknick, I'm just curious what it will be like.

Another question though. If you are on reserve, can they move your days around? I looked in the contract and couldn't find any language that delt specifically with this issue. If they can move your days around, do you have notice in a final bid award or can they move them around at any time during the month?

 

[wahoo250]

They can but they most likely wont because we are staffed very well in the fo category. I hav'nt had it happen to me but im guessing that if your the last guy available for an overnight on your last day...guess what. but we have like 20 extra reserves at all bases which is quite high. the likelyhood of 40 flights needing reserves is a long shot. Put it this way, I know 4 people from my class that had to go retake their checkride because they didnt get 100 hours in 120 days since their checkride. As of now your days off are pretty safe. You however, can request to change a day off that you previously were scheduled for. but there is a window that you have to do it in.

 

[Meiguy]

Coex-Fo

Something to think about as I've thought about that exact situation since I commute from ATL and could have held long call this past month. In most circumstances the 12 long call would work nicely. But you have a grey period right around 8 or 9 oclock where if they call for a 8or 9 am show and your not at the airport ready to board a plane to Newark it could be trouble. As the night gets later options for flights to Newark decreases considerably not to mention you would have to jumpseat on DL or Airtran. And with those early shows it would be hard to commute in on the first flight. It may work if your ready for the call during those times but it seems like a bit stressful. The long call works great for those guys that are a 2-5 hour drive away that fly in but can also drive when push comes to shove. By the time you get where you can hold the long call you'll only be a month a way from a relief line anyway so whats one more month right....

Good luck if you give it a shot when the time comes.

 

[COEX-FO]

Coex-Fo

Something to think about as I've thought about that exact situation since I commute from ATL and could have held long call this past month. In most circumstances the 12 long call would work nicely. But you have a grey period right around 8 or 9 oclock where if they call for a 8or 9 am show and your not at the airport ready to board a plane to Newark it could be trouble..

Yes, I have considerd all this already! I have been commuting out of ATL for 5 years (to IAH) which is why I asked the question for someone holding long call. I'm going back to IAH in May so it's only for a short time. Might just bid short call and not worry about it.

I have been on reserve twice here as an FO but now as a CA the situtation is different. We are short Captains not FO's.

See you on the commute

 

[FlyChicaga]

FlyChicago,

I'm curious, how much time did you get for each trip? Right at the 12 hours or did you get a day's notice. I'm thinking of bidding long call if I can pull off the commute from ATL to EWR.

Thanks

I'll usually check CCS when I get up the day before my first day. They usually will call for a trip about 18-14 hours before I'd say. At the 18-hour mark is when the trip is "locked", meaning it can't be picked up by a lineholder.

When we get CASS, it will make the "sitting long call at home" thing easier for many because of UPS and FedEx I imagine. I know for me, if I was IAH based I could get on a UPS RFD-IAH flight at 3:00am to make an early show time if we had CASS. This was just brought to my attention. I imagine the same could be done to EWR with a stop in IND or MEM.

Like I said, you can do it if you are proactive. That just means you can't be out on your boat fishing 12 miles off the Florida coast without a computer to check CCS. You'd need to be around the house taking care of chores and what not, checking the computer every hour or so the day before and during your reserve days...