There have been questions recently about when a Reserve is to be placed back on the availability list on the same calendar day after having been released from a standby assignment (OSB), and when they are not.

Ultimately, it depends on how the Flight Attendant was initially assigned during the 1930 Reserve Assignment Process, as this determines their required availability for the following calendar day.

If, as a Reserve, you receive a Standby assignment for the following day as part of the Reserve Preferencing or clean-up processes (which are completed by 1930 HDT), you may not be returned to the availability list for the remainder of the calendar day following completion of that assignment. You should be shown as “Off Standby” (OSB) and then “released” (RLSD).

For example, Sarah was assigned 0500 Standby for tomorrow during the evening preferencing run. Sarah sits her 4-hour Standby shift the next day, receiving no flight assignment, and is done at 0900. When she calls to be released, Sarah should see the codes OSB and RLSD on her schedule for the remainder of the calendar day, and she is not required to be telephone available following her legal rest of 12 hours.

If, however, Sarah was assigned to “Ready Reserve” during the 1930 process, then is called later that night to be assigned to the 0500 Standby, she would not have to be released for the remainder of the calendar day after completing the Standby. Her schedule would only show the OSB code and she would be back on Ready Reserve availability following her 12-hour legal rest.

If you complete a Standby that was assigned during the 1930 process the evening prior and do not see the “RLSD” code in your schedule after the “OSB” has been applied, you should contact Crew Scheduling.

Please review the article posted on the Reserve page of our United MEC website, which provides more detail into this Contractual process.