Line and Reserve Pay

[redcell38]

Can someone explain to me how the Line and reserve pay work. I see that some companies offer for example 21 an hour for line and reserve 75 hours each. I assume that the first 75 are a sure thing and the second is what you might fly in addition to that.
If anyone one is actually flying for companies that offer this are they getting these amount of hours or even more?
thanks

I am number crunching .

[BobDDuck]

Most places (places like Scenic aside) you are paid per flight hour of time. At the beginning of the month when your schedule comes out there is a certain amount of flying assigned to you. This is your line gurentee (why can't I ever spell that word right?). Anyhow, if you have no flying then you are on reserve (or terminated and nobody told you about it). In most (if not all now) companies, if you are on reserve you are gurenteed a certain number of hours of credit for the month. Somewhere around 70 to 75. It doesn't matter if you fly 1 hour or you fly 65, you will still get paid for the gurentee. Now, if you go over that then you are paid for the hours in addition. Back to the hard line... I'll use my schedule for this month as an example. I am scheduled to fly 91 hours this month. In the first trip I just got off I over blocked (flew longer then the company had scheduled) on two legs and underblocked on the rest. However, because our contract says we will always be paid block or better (not everybody has this, but many do) I will get the block pay for the legs I underblocked and then I will get the actual pay for the legs I overblocked. This means that in theory at the end of the month I will have made more then my 91 hour credit. Hope this answers your question.

[wheelsup]

Originally Posted by redcell38

I am number crunching .

Don't number crunch and assume you'll make more.

I would assume these things (change if not applicable):

1) You will make guarantee ONLY
2) You won't get any per diem
3) You will get medical/dental insurance
4) You will contribute at least 10% pre-tax toward retirement
5) You are filing as a single (not married)

Doing so results in approximately 30% of my paycheck being taken out at this extremely low tax bracket of 1st year FO pay.

75 hrs/pay x $23.81/hr (1st year FO pay here)
Pre tax = $1785/month. Post tax & deductions = $1250/month. Comes in two paychecks of about $630.

If you can make your monthly obligations on around $1000/month, I'd say you'd be ok at most companies (most of the regionals, the smaller commuters you might be hurting a bit).

Now, that being said, I've had months I've brought in $2,000 post-tax when I work my butt off and credit over guarantee, but I never assumed I'd do it.

[Bandit_Driver]

In general a pilot is paid his pay rate x the number of hours he is guranteed, usually 70-80 hours per month. If you fly over those hours you are paid your base pay rate x the number of hours over guarantee.

For those on reserve it is usually a sweeter deal if you live in base. You barely fly and are paid your gurantee. Depending on your contract pilots on reserve can actually make more than guarantee and only actually fly a few hours.

Last year I flew 40 hours on reserve and was paid for nearly 96 hours due to the contract...sweet deal...

[Adam2006]

Do most companies have reserve with a "one-hour call-out" as oppose to the "ready-reserve" of sitting at the airport? thanks

[redcell38]

I think I see how this works.On reserve no fly -still get paid. On line must fly to get paid. If you fly more you make more.

Ok after my car note and my house note kids day care, a few credit card bills, Oh yeah food, cable bill. I am going to be broke. I might have to get real familiar with the Wendys .99 cents menu.
How do they expect you to survive on that.
I guess unless I sell my business and pay everything off I am going to have to re think part of this. Thanks for depressing me. 15k a year after taxes don't they realize the money and time you put into this.
I am still moving forward but man that kind of takes the shine off a little.

Will most of these companies allow you to get a second job while doing this?

What will you make your second year?

[Adam2006]

Well, some bills are your choice(cable, car payment). I would budget today, for tomorrow. If you only save $6,000 now, you can add $500 a month on to your f/o pay later. And on payscales, you can visit airlinepilotcentral.com You should also search the boards here, as you can find info on companies, flight schools, pay, and most everything else.

Sorry, Doug if I'm not suppose to advertise another website.

[wheelsup]

Originally Posted by redcell38

I think I see how this works.On reserve no fly -still get paid. On line must fly to get paid. If you fly more you make more.

Ok after my car note and my house note kids day care, a few credit card bills, Oh yeah food, cable bill. I am going to be broke. I might have to get real familiar with the Wendys .99 cents menu.
How do they expect you to survive on that.
I guess unless I sell my business and pay everything off I am going to have to re think part of this. Thanks for depressing me. 15k a year after taxes don't they realize the money and time you put into this.
I am still moving forward but man that kind of takes the shine off a little.

Will most of these companies allow you to get a second job while doing this?

What will you make your second year?

Stinks, huh? The best part is, unless you find a great CFI gig, you'll probably make about $15k/yr GROSS as a CFI. Once you get through that, you get the payraise to a regional FO.

Second year pay is around $30k-$38k depending on how much you wanna work and how short the company is on FO's. The shorter they are, the more overtime exists. This is for the jet FO's, turboprops typically pay about 30% less, but you will upgrade quite a bit faster.

If you live in base, I'd say you could easily get another job, or run your business. Here, on reserve, I flew about 60% of my "on-call" days, so I actually worked around 10-11 days/month. The 7-8 other days I was on a two-hour call-out, so I had to be able to jump up and leave at moments notice. I run a home-based web design business on the side, which I can work on from hotel rooms too. What do you do? If it's remotely successful I would advise against selling it off, unless you can't manage it away from home.

There are 3 kinds of reserve, they may go by different names but here are the categories:

1) RR - also known as "ready reserve", you sit at the airport for at least 8 (time varies by airline contract) hours. Then you go home if not needed.

2) Reserve - you are on a two-hour (length varies by airline contract) call-out for 15 hours per day (time varies by airline contract). You call in the night before to get reserve times, so 0900 - 2400. They can call you anytime in that period. You carry a company paid pager.

3) LC - Long Call - You call in two days prior to the reserve day, similar to the normal reserve, and they tell you if you have to work or not. This is the best kind of reserve, because you have almost 2 complete days to get ready for work, and you don't have to carry a pager. This is a line holder position, and generally goes semi-senior. You can end up with 20+ days off/month with this position, because LC reserves typically aren't used very often. Last month I bid for a line with 8 of these days and worked 2 of them.

There are other avenues other than a regional pilot you can take. Typically, small freight pilots work more days (but are home more, because they don't spend their time away from base) and make a bit more money, at least right off the bat. Fractionals have just started to "take-off" and become mainstream, starting pay at the better fracs is around $38-$40k. A fifth year CA at netjets makes around $90k (5th year FO's make around $50k), the best a fifth year regional pilot (if upgraded to CA) could make would be around $60k. However fractionals require a bit more time, most likely ex-135 or ex-121 guys end up there (requriements of 2500TT, 500+multi, some turbine etc.).

I would seriously sugget moving to the domicile you are based at. It makes the job (and the pay) palatable because you can do stuff on the side with all the time off. However, with a family you might want to rethink working as a pilot, at least a regional. Pay is low and QOL is pretty stinky.