I’m not going to lie, life on Reserve is making me lazy. Although I have been doing much more hiking, paddling, cycling. Pretty much everything BUT flying. #lifeisgood
Oct 1-6: Vacation
Oct 7: HNL-KOA-HNL-ITO-HNL
Oct 8-11: OFF
Oct 12: HNL-LIH-HNL-OGG-HNL-OGG-HNL
Oct 13: HNL-OGG-HNL-ITO-HNL-ITO-HNL
Oct 14: HNL-ITO-HNL
Oct 15: Resv No Call
Oct 16: Resv No Call
Oct 17: Mx Check Flight *Premium Pay
Oct 18: Resv No Call
Oct 19: Resv No Call
Oct 20: Resv No Call
Oct 21: Resv No Call
Oct 22-25: OFF
Oct 26: HNL-ITO-HNL-KOA-LIH-HNL
Oct 27: HNL-OGG-HNL-OGG-LIH-OGG-HNL
Oct 28: HNL-KOA-LIH-HNL-ITO-HNL-LIH-HNL
Oct 29-30: OFF
Oct 31: Resv No Call
It’s called “proper staffing”. Reserves are supposed to be extras to be used “just in case” (mx issues, cancellations, sick calls, etc), NOT to cover scheduled flying the airline simply doesn’t have pilots to cover. If Reserve pilots are flying 70+hrs/flying every day (or the equivalent of a line) that means the airline is short on pilots and should be hiring. We (like most airlines) have staffing clauses in our contract. We were short, the pilots complained, the union pushed for enforcement and voila! Adam has LOTS of days off!
7 legs?!?!? In one day?! Holy cow haha I mean I know it’s island hopping, but dang. I had no idea Hawaiian did that. Sweet schedule - you really are “livin the dream.”
Yea wasn’t happy when I got that one but really couldn’t complain too much in light of the rest of the month. Contractually the most we can do is 9 but 6 is the norm. Actually sounds worse than it is. Our LONGEST flight is HNL-ITO which is about 30min, shortest is HNL-LIH at 20 so not too terrible.
We do get above 10K but not by much and we’re not there long enough to absorb all that nasty radiation.
Interisland we have no overnights. No 2 days, no 3 days, ONLY day trips. Min guarantee is 4:10. We have am and pm schedules. I’m an am guy and usually home for lunch.
I loved Hawaii when I was stationed out there and single. Took my wife out there this past June (her first time and my first time back since 2005) and was shocked how much things had changed. Even Kailua and Kaneohe were a pain to drive around, so much more crowded than I rembered. I always dreamed of moving back to that side of the island one day but the cost of living in Hawaii has been a turn off but I love the idea of only day trips. Would make family life so much better! I currently do pretty much only day trips in a C550 while I work towards my 1500. Thanks for the update, Adam!
It means that Adam was on reserve, if the company called him. he would have to fly, but on that particular day, he did not get called and did not have to fly.
I know im a little late on this thread but Adam, when you reach the airlines you can build seniority on 2 different types of schedules? Line and Reserve? I know seniority is key however i noticed on this post you mention Life on Reserve is good and then in your December 2018 schedule you say you bid for a line and regretted it and went back to reserve. So im wondering if you have the option to build seniority on Reserve and/or a Line and what are the pros and cons of building seniority on either.
When you start at an airline you simply build seniority. There is no Reserve vs Line seniority. Now at the vast majority of airlines Reserve is traditionally very junior because you’re subject to the needs of the company. Reserve pilots generally get stuck flying the trips no one wants because if someone senior wanted the trip they would have bid for it or picked it up. Hawaiian Interisland is a very unique operation. First off we have no overnights and we only fly to 5 airports so there really are no “bad” trips. The other reason Reserves get called is weather or maintenance issues. This is Hawaii so the weather is seldom an issue and we have spare planes so neither is maintenance. Finally we have a 2hr call out which means you have 2hrs to get to the airport. Well I live in Oahu and there is literally nowhere you can go on this rock that’s more than 2hrs from the airport. What that means is on Reserve days I can do whatever I like as long as I have my phone (I even have a nice waterproof phone case so I can even paddle). If I get a call I just head to the airport. We have showers and I always have a uniform in my locker so it’s easy. It’s for all those reasons that here Reserve actually goes pretty senior.
You see that’s probably the biggest misunderstanding when people talk about seniority, that you never get what you want. It’s only if what you want is the same as what everyone else wants. When I was hired at Xjt EWR was the junior base and no one wanted it. Well I from NY and I did so I got exactly what I wanted. Same for trips to Mexico. No EWR pilots wanted to fly to Mexico. I LOVE Mexico and got there every week.
Bottomline seniority allows you to have more choices relative to everyone else. There is NEVER a con to being senior.
