Overlap, and how it can work for you

[swreservepilot]

"Overlap" is the term used to refer to the mashing together of lines at the end of one month and the beginning of the next. It's usually ugly. There is a lot of open time to cover at the beginning of every month, so the junior will usually find themselves on reserve for more than four days in a row. On the good side, you still can't work 7 days in a row. On the bad side, skeds has no problem with a 4-day block, one day off, and another 4-day block. 

On the other hand, it makes it that much sweeter when you beat the system. The first and best way to do it, especially if you're a long-haul commuter, is to do your best to have the last couple day or days of the month free. Once the reserve days are on your board, TTGA will open up. Go hunting in the domicile you live closest to, looking for any trips that start on the last day of the month that you'd like to do and are legal for. If you get a 4-day that starts on the last day of the month, congratulations. You've just done a few cool things: assured yourself of real lineholder pay for that pairing; gotten access to ELITT (although there isn't usually a lot to trade at the end of the month) and probably saved yourself three days of standing reserve. Your pay goes up. You get the benefits of not being on reserve, like premium and move-up. And if your next month started off with a 4-day reserve block, you can probably give away that single reserve day if you wish. Plus, if you're a commuter and you picked up the trip in your home base or a closer base, you've saved yourself a commute or at least made it easier. Well done!

Another way to make overlap work is to force illegalities. This is trickier, but if you need a particular day off, you can attempt to figure out what they will drop. Realize that they don't often do what makes sense, though, and you have limited recourse. If you have a 6-day block, you can designate one night as Non-Remain Overnight (5.I.2.l). This has to be done no later than 0900CT on the 24th. Note that all calls to Crew Scheduling are recorded--use this to your advantage!

Continue reading with Part 7: Scheduling Tactics