Here may be a question less asked… How can I make the most of a reserve schedule my first year in an airline to make the most money?
Let me start by describing myself and my situation first. I am one of those guys that is fully willing to put his nose to the grindstone and work as many hours, taking those legs nobody wants, in order to make his paycheck bigger. At the time of this posting I am currently 26 and just finished my first month of school with ATP, and let me say, I’m having an absolute blast. I’ve done quite a lot in the way of jobs. I babysat at the age of 14 till I got a job as a server at 16, then into factory and warehouse work at 18 until the last few years where I opened my own lawncare and landscaping business, which went well enough, it just wasn’t my “dream job”. I am someone who grew up in a household with very little money and was never sure I would actually be able to afford to go to flight school. But now that it’s happening with the help of a very substantial loan through Sallie Mae, I can say with certainty that this is what I want to do, and my first month has went very well both in the school side and the flying side of things.
Which brings me to the original question for the thread… My flight school loan through Sallie Mae is very large at nearly $150k and even with a personal credit score around the 720 range and my wife as a cosigner with a credit score of over 800, my interest rate is through the roof at 16.5%!!! The obvious solution is refinance as soon as possible after completing school so I don’t pay so much interest, but with a wife and child and plans to have 1 more after completing the program, my plan is to save what I can to get me through the rest of my hours before I can get into an airline (planning on Endeavor) and then work, work, work to pay off the loan. My wife has a college degree and a great career as a nurse and makes a fairly decent living, but ideally, we want to pay my loan off and then let her go part time or be a SAHM.
SO, upon being hired at an airline and being placed on a reserve schedule, how do I guarantee I can work the most hours? Is there any way I can guarantee myself to be flying and logging hours on days that I am not called to fly on reserve via bidding on flights every day of my reserve? Can I only bid to work overtime on scheduled days off? Ect. We will have many challenges to deal with that come with me being at work as much as possible, especially with me being pretty much guaranteed having to commute to base being there are no bases close enough by where I live that are not senior bases, and we are already established and cannot uproot our family to move right now. But we have talked thoroughly about what will need to be done in order for me to make as much as possible to put us on a good, debt free financial path.
Apologies for the long read, and I greatly appreciate any tips and advice! -Loren
That is a good question and the answer will vary from one airline to the next. At my airline, you can try to pick flying on your reserve days from the trips that a re not assigned to anybody yet. That does go in seniority order though, so you might get the trip you want, you might not. It also depends on if trips are available or not. Sometimes there are trips, sometimes there are not.
I always tried to fly as much as possible on reserve, sometimes I could fly extra and make more, but a lot of months I could not. Also keep in mind that there FAA rules that govern how much you can fly in a certain day, week month and year. Sometimes those rules affect your ability to fly on days off.
In other words, I would plan on making the minimum guarantee, usually around 75 hours of pay per month, and anything beyond that is extra.
Appreciate the info! I know currently, endeavor allows pilots to pickup unscheduled flights at 150% according to airlinepilotcentral. We are hoping i might be able to pick up extra days. If I can get lucky enough to get close to the maximum allowed flight hours each month, that would go a long way towards taking care of that loan. Luckily for us, we are already debt free, outside of my loan and our house payment.
First off, congrats on completing your first month of ATP! I am sure the overall feeling is quite different. Things going well, though?
There are pros and cons to working reserve. I can’t speak on other airlines, but at Piedmont, we cannot freely pick up trips on a reserve schedule; however, we could request or submit trades with line holders for a trip, if they would want a few days of reserve. There are other options like “first out” or “last out,” that would designate who would get called first - there are obviously external conditions that could influence this list like days available, duty periods, etc.
When I first got hired at Piedmont, I was concerned about reserve, how to make it work, would I need a crash pad, was I able to pick up trips? I was fortunate, I only did REL (relief lines, buildup of reserve and flying) shortly after becoming a line holder. As a reservist, you’re guaranteed a min, you mentioned Endeavor - Endeavor has a minimum guarantee pay of 75 hours per month, whether you fly that much or sit reserve. I’m unsure of how Endeavor’s reserve schedules go, some airlines will have “ready reserve” or RAS (as we call it) where there will be pilots in the crew room during a period that they could be called to fly, mostly used as emergency crew(s).
I too had a high interest rate with a Sallie Mae loan; since then, refinancing it, cutting that interest down in more than half - I talk about that, here:
By the way, AirlinePilotCentral may contain outdated information, so maybe you could connect with an Endeavor cadet or representative through your training center - if a former graduate swings by or a recruiter comes by. Use it as much as you would trust Wiki, you should always back up the information found there.
Thank you for the info!! As for how schools going, its fantastic. I love flying and even though its been a ton of work, I have enjoyed every minute of it. I have found some good friends in my classmates, my instructor is awesome, as are all the other instructors. And if I have a question anyone and everyone is quick to help me out. Balancing school and studying with being a family man has been challenging, but we are making it work. Passed my PAR earlier this week with an 85%, studied and ai believe corrected the question I got wrong, and am chugging away on the next steps. I have no complaints!
An 85% is a good score, obviously not a 100% (as we always strive for), but that’s a great grade. I wrote up a FAQ about the blueprint of the AKT and how you can prepare. I hope your instructor(s) when you were done told you to get out the ACS and start finding those ACS codes and highlighting, writing notes, and even trying to recall the question/answer, as the DPE is required to touch base on any knowledge exam question you’ve missed.
Glad to hear things are going well at your location. I know things may seem like a challenge, but always remember, there’s always a benefit for what you’re doing - two things; your own dream, and for your family!
As Chris and Brady already mentioned, reserve rules vary based on airline-specific contracts so you will figure out what works for you at your airline in pretty short order. Living in base and pretty close to the airport will be your biggest advantage to making the most of your schedule. Under my airline contract, you can trade reserve for trips with others but not with the company (yet), and can pick up whatever extra flying you want as long as you remain FAR- and contractually-legal. The biggest advantage comes from being able to pick up extra flying from company on your days off on short notice. Those trips will often pay 1.5-2x the usual daily RIG and you can cover your expenses a lot more efficiently that way.
First off, congrats on starting and good luck with the program moving forward! Keep working hard and I’m sure you’ll do fine.
At Envoy our reserve schedules are similar to what the others have mentioned, but there are opportunities to proffer (bid for) flying you might want for your next reserve day. Essentially flying on the following day is locked so line holders can’t pick it up or trade for it. This gives people on reserve the opportunity to bid for flying they might want. This comes in handy if you are a commuter and you’d rather do a trip vs sitting at the airport or hotel all day. So noon the day prior you submit your proffer choices and they are awarded in seniority order (most senior to least senior). But keep in mind a lot of new hires will be eager to fly. I rarely, if ever, got anything I proferred for.
Something else to keep in mind. As a reserve pilot you will be guaranteed a minimum guarantee pay per month. Ours is 75 hours a month. So unless you managed to fly more than that 75 hours, flying more or less won’t affect your paycheck. The only way to increase your credit and pay for the month would be to pick up OT on your days off. I found this a little annoying to do at times because you have to find 30 hour rest periods that don’t interfere with your reserve days. Things become a lot easier when you are a line holder for picking up additional flying for more pay
Reserve rules will differ with each airline, but the concept is usually the same. I would plan on the 75 hour min guarantee and then try your best to pick up OT on your days off.