United reserve questions?

[sonic340]

Wondering if anyone can shed some light on the current reserve system at united for me. I've got a class date coming up and would really like an idea of what lies ahead since I can plan on being on reserve for a VERY long time.
-Do you have PBS which might allow for bidding
flexibility?
-Min days off for reserve?
-Long call/short call?
-utilization?
-call out times?
-any rough guess on how long on reserve given
their current hiring projections of 100 this year
and 300-400 next year?

Thanks for any info

 

[ualdriver]

It's been a while since I've been on reserve, but I'll give it a shot......

-Do you have PBS which might allow for bidding
flexibility?

yes

-Min days off for reserve?

12 days off. 11 days off 3 flex months per year- most likely June, July, August

-Long call/short call?

I'll leave that to the guys who are actually doing it. Guys seem to like it better than the old system. If you're on long call, apparently it is possible to sit reserve at home if you have a short commute.

-utilization?

Like a rented mule. Maybe an occasional extra day off here and there.

-call out times?

The unwritten rule is 4 hours from phone call to push

-any rough guess on how long on reserve given
their current hiring projections of 100 this year
and 300-400 next year?

We won't hire that many if Age 65 kicks in. I would imagine 737 F/O's would move up the quickest.

 

[level370]

Wondering if anyone can shed some light on the current reserve system at united for me. I've got a class date coming up and would really like an idea of what lies ahead since I can plan on being on reserve for a VERY long time.
-Do you have PBS which might allow for bidding
flexibility?
-Min days off for reserve?
-Long call/short call?
-utilization?
-call out times?
-any rough guess on how long on reserve given
their current hiring projections of 100 this year
and 300-400 next year?

Thanks for any info

First, welcome aboard!
Reserve is not that bad if you live in base. You can get more days off than a junior line (shhh...don't tell anybody). Reserve is "long call/short call" everyone starts out on long (13 hrs) and can be moved to short (4 hours) for 15 hours with 13 hours notice. Open trips are assigned 24 hours in advance. You can pick trips and a bunch of other stuff all done on your computer. I'd guess maybe six months or less at DCA, ORD, LAX; longer at the other cities. Yes on PBS and minimum of 12 days off.

 

[W8N4UAL]

Congrats on the job! I've had fun being back (recalled in Feb) and I've found that, like most places, the job is what you make it. It definitely beats life at the regionals.

-Do you have PBS which might allow for bidding
flexibility?
Theoretically. I've been the junior guy in base since I was recalled so I can't really say.

-Min days off for reserve?
12, they can drop to 11 for something like 3 months a year. I live just under three hours from ORD and find that I'm home a full 14 days a month on average. I normally earn 90-95 hours of pay credit.

-Long call/short call?
Beautiful. I've never been assigned short call, but I'm an aggressive pick up junkie.

-utilization?
Everytime I've wanted to fly I have. Because we need the $, I haven't just laid back to see what would happen. As a semi-commuter, I don't want to risk getting low credit 1 or 2 day trips when I can grab a 22-25 hour four day. The extra days off come from 6 day RSV stretches and I fly 28ish the first five days and scoot home at the end of day 5.

-call out times?
13 is a hard number for long call which is your default status. "reasonable" is how they term short call. The four hour figure has always been tossed around, but if they can find someone closer they will and you'll be labeled as something undesirable in the system for that reserve day. Not a big deal, but while on probation I'd just as soon be able to do what they assign and not have to explain to the duty manager that I live 195 miles from the airport and tried to sit short call at home.

-any rough guess on how long on reserve given
their current hiring projections of 100 this year
and 300-400 next year?
Someone else may have a better guess than I have for this one. With the number of bases and fleets, I'm planning to be on reserve for a very very long time. New hires will be going into the 737/320/767 and LAX/SFO/IAD/ORD are probably all up for grabs. All that to say I don't expect enough 320 F/Os to drop into ORD to get me off RSV. Especially since the bulk of advertised growth will be in IAD

Hope that's useful. Looks like you got some good info earlier. Again, welcome and I'm certainly glad you're starting soon!

W8N

 

[sonic340]

Thanks alot guys! Good info. At least reserve at ual is way better than my current regional gig, commuting 2 legs, leaving the day ahead of my first day of reserve because scheduling won't give me a later contact time, and sitting around the crashpad for 5 days when I could be at home.
One more thing, you say that IAD will be where most of the hiring is going to, any wild guess on when one might be able to hold ORD?

 

[stillflyn]

Thanks alot guys! Good info. At least reserve at ual is way better than my current regional gig, commuting 2 legs, leaving the day ahead of my first day of reserve because scheduling won't give me a later contact time, and sitting around the crashpad for 5 days when I could be at home.
One more thing, you say that IAD will be where most of the hiring is going to, any wild guess on when one might be able to hold ORD?

If you live in base and don't want to fly reserve is great! Last winter I was getting 17-20 days off a month. The downside to that is 70 hours of pay. If you can live on it thats great. Now as a jr. line holder, I'm flying 90-95 hours and only 12 days off a month. Some times I'm able to trade or drop to about 85 hrs and 14 days off a month with the help of a bidding program.

Good luck... United is still a good place to work.

Stillflyn

 

[ualdriver]

You will have zero difficulty getting to ORD as a narrowbody F/O.

 

[contrail67]

Got hired too...start in November. Live about 3 hours away...driving.....ORD. How often do they call you for short call on the first day and is there a "silo" system to see how close you are to getting called?...so I could just head out when I am in the top 10 or so?

 

[stillflyn]

Got hired too...start in November. Live about 3 hours away...driving.....ORD. How often do they call you for short call on the first day and is there a "silo" system to see how close you are to getting called?...so I could just head out when I am in the top 10 or so?

They still have the silo system.

 

[Sonny Crockett]

My two cents....

On the 767 or any other Intl fleet or Intl trip, you can pickup trips 48-44 hours out! That means on a 4 day block of reserve you see a nice 3 day London trip, go pick it up and you are off the first day! (assuming the London trip started on day two for three days)

Also with the exception of the 737 and A320 the company cannot flex below 12 days off on reserve.

Clear as mud?

--Just found out that the Unfilled 767 slots WILL NOT go to newhires so most of my info is mute.

Welcome aboard!

 

[Volasl]

Where are the new hires getting based? What equipment is being awarded Airbus or Boeing?

 

[pilotgolfer]

Where are the new hires getting based? What equipment is being awarded Airbus or Boeing?

The class that starts tomorrow has 11 guppys and 9 airbus. All the 737s are going to DCA and the Airbus assignments are DCA and ORD. This info was current as of this past Friday.

Scott

 

[2ndGenPSA]

most recent new-hires:
Time frame from offer to class date?
Thanks! Hoping to hear this Friday.

 

[Andy]

most recent new-hires:
Time frame from offer to class date?
Thanks! Hoping to hear this Friday.

The son of a coworker (I'm on mil lv) got notified last week for an April class. He's ex-active duty C130, currently Airtran and C130 Reserves.

 

[Volasl]

Mine was a bit over a month. PM me your email and i can give you more what to expect. I was at PSA also