SWA and Reserve

[canyonblue737]

JA = Junior Assignment. Basically it means if they contact you, on a trip or at home (ie. you answer the phone when they call) they can force you to fly an unscheduled trip on your day off because all other means of covering that trip (in this order: monthly open time, daily open time, reserve, extra fly, voluntary junior assignment) have all failed. in general it is a bummer when it happens but it isn't too common and in many cases you do have an option: don't answer the phone on your days off if you SWA or unlisted on the phone. also SWA has a policy that if they attempt to JA you but you don't answer the phone and leave a message, you can call them back to get the details of what they want you to do and you then have the choice to take it or deny it which is nice. for first year FOs all pay for MOT, DOT, EF, VJA or JA is at second year rates... nearly double the pay per trip. After the first year it is 1.5 x's your pay.)

 

[chase]

When all reserves are exhausted & there are still flights that must be filled with pilots....there are VJA pilots, "volunteered junior available"....these folks sign up for 1.5 pay for being called out.....when all of the VJA folks are used up (if any) then folks are "involuntarily" called out for 1.5 times the normal pay for uncovered trips....this is the last resort for obvious reasons, (1) costs the company more money (2) disrupts folks lives (3) makes pilots fly on off days when they weren't planning on it

Doesn't happen a lot but it does & is one of the risks of being in this business....if one wants a regular schedule that one can control 100%, then the airlne business isn't the life for that individual....it isn't used a lot but some folks find it abhorrent that it can occur at all.....things happen & folks still need to flown to places....JA is a part of every contract & how one takes that call is more a matter of attitude & circumstances than anything else. Hope that answers the question.

 

[Skeet Shooter]

Chase and CanyonBlue,

Man, I don't know what I'd do without you guys! Thanks for the answers - what you've said makes sense.

My follow-up question is: Do they JA guys based on seniority? After going through MOT, DOT, EF, and VJA do they start at the bottom of the seniority list of guys available?

Thanks. I start F/O class on Wednesday and am pumped to join the team! (and some day maybe understand the bidding/scheduling process)

 

[Skeet Shooter]

One more thing: MOT, DOT, and now VJA / JA make sense.

But what is extra fly and how does that work?

 

[canyonblue737]

Extra Fly is between DOT/Reserve and VJA. Basically you list the days of the month (when you are off) you would be interested in picking up a trip at 1.5 times the pay, YOUR CHOICE. So they call you on those days, tell you what they have to offer and you have the choice if you want to take it. If you list yourself VJA then if you answer the phone (you basically are telling them you will by listing yourself VJA, but you still could avoid if you want... poor form) you don't have a choice.

 

[canyonblue737]

Chase and CanyonBlue,

Man, I don't know what I'd do without you guys! Thanks for the answers - what you've said makes sense.

My follow-up question is: Do they JA guys based on seniority? After going through MOT, DOT, EF, and VJA do they start at the bottom of the seniority list of guys available?

Thanks. I start F/O class on Wednesday and am pumped to join the team! (and some day maybe understand the bidding/scheduling process)

That's correct. Typically the military guys take longer to come up to steam on the sometimes confusing bidding/scheduling processes but they also end up being the biggest experts because for the first time it seems you will have nearly unlimited flexibility in your schedule.

 

[chase]

Extra fly for 1st year folks is at 2nd year pay, around $78 an hour, so is DOT....other wise it pays normal pay to 2nd year & more folks....only VJA & JA pay a premium of 1.5. Just to clarify....

 

[canyonblue737]

yep chase is right, i didn't realize that myself as i am a newbie myself. makes sense as it makes VJA an attractive option compared to EF.

 

[flyingitalian]

Just so you know vja and ja are not attrative options in most cases for a first year pilot. In most cases EF DOT times second year pay will be more than 1.5 times first year pay. you have to do the math, but this is true in most cases.

 

[SWA GUY]

In actuallity you can give away reserve blocks. You can trade them for someone else's trip, or give them away once the reserve block has begun.

I could be wrong but I believe the above is true. (Disclaimer)