Reserve
The US term for a roster of on-call days rather than assigned trips: you fly whatever crew scheduling gives you, at short notice.
Definition
Reserve is the North American word for being on call: instead of holding a line of specific trips, your monthly roster is made up of days on which crew scheduling can assign you any legal flying, with a contractual call-out window of typically two to three hours. Reserve rosters carry a guaranteed minimum number of paid hours whether or not you fly them, and contracts specify how many days off a reserve month must contain. Europe and the Gulf call the individual days standby.
What it means for you
New hires at US majors spend their first one to four years on reserve, depending entirely on base, and it is the part of the job that breaks people: no plans, a bag permanently packed, and the trips nobody senior wanted. The guarantee means the pay floor is predictable even in a quiet month, but the premium flying that lifts senior salaries is out of reach until you hold a line.
In practice
Delta new hires spend one to three-plus years on reserve — A-days — with roughly 10–12 guaranteed days off, and United's 2026 contract improved reserve rest rules for a similar one-to-four-year stretch.
Go deeper
Related terms
4 terms- StandbyRoster & schedulingA rostered period in which you are not assigned a flight but must be available to be called for one, at the airport or at home.
- Line holderRoster & schedulingUS crew who hold a monthly roster of assigned trips rather than reserve days, and can trade, drop and pick up flying.
- SeniorityRoster & schedulingYour rank on the airline's crew list by date of hire, which at many carriers decides bidding, base, vacation and reserve.
- Home standbyRoster & schedulingStandby served away from the airport, usually at home, with a contractual call-out time to report — typically 90 minutes to two hours.