717's to DELTA

[Diesel-9]

""
So it's 66 "Big Airplanes" at Mama Delto, I wouldn't look at that as a great plan of action. And at Southwest you will make the same top out as the A330 FO and never have to leave the country and your family. Might be ok if you are single, but once you get married and have a family, being that far away would have it's drawbacks.""For some it may, and being home 18-20 days a month or more with 5 weeks vacation is good for some also.

 

[General Lee]

""
So it's 66 "Big Airplanes" at Mama Delto, I wouldn't look at that as a great plan of action. And at Southwest you will make the same top out as the A330 FO and never have to leave the country and your family. Might be ok if you are single, but once you get married and have a family, being that far away would have it's drawbacks.""For some it may, and being home 18-20 days a month or more with 5 weeks vacation is good for some also.

Not really. With Face to Face talking on your Iphone, you could be in Dayton or Narita and it wouldn't matter. Now, getting home quick might, but things happen, regardless if you are near or far away. If you NEED to be nearby, then maybe 1 day turns from a hub might be a better choice for you. 12 day Asia trips are good if you want a large chunk of time off inbetween trips. Throw one of those on at the beginning of one month, and another at the end of the next, and you get 30 straight days off. But, you don't have to do those, and they actually go fairly senior to guys who only want one commute a month. It's called CHOICE. You can bid a category that only does Domestic and flies a max of 4 days at a time, or you can go INTL and fly longer trips. Nobody HAS TO FLY INTL if they don't want to.



Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[Scoot 11]

You could replace "delta" with ANY airline name there...

Specifically Southwest!

 

[canyonblue]

The pay used to be the main difference SWA pilots pointed out, but that is quickly changing.

Bye Bye---General Lee

"The Pay" never crossed my mind when I applied at Southwest. In fact it was far from the highest paid airline. My main motivation was that I wanted to work at Southwest. It is a great place to work and from talking to many other pilots at other airlines, they don't feel the same way about their current place of employment. Perhaps that is why "PAY" is such a big issue at those airlines, they have to make it worthwhile to actually show up for work.

 

[SplitBar]

Not really. With Face to Face talking on your Iphone, you could be in Dayton or Narita and it wouldn't matter. Now, getting home quick might, but things happen, regardless if you are near or far away. If you NEED to be nearby, then maybe 1 day turns from a hub might be a better choice for you. 12 day Asia trips are good if you want a large chunk of time off inbetween trips. Throw one of those on at the beginning of one month, and another at the end of the next, and you get 30 straight days off. But, you don't have to do those, and they actually go fairly senior to guys who only want one commute a month. It's called CHOICE. You can bid a category that only does Domestic and flies a max of 4 days at a time, or you can go INTL and fly longer trips. Nobody HAS TO FLY INTL if they don't want to.



Bye Bye---General Lee

Tell that to our most junior pilots who are on the 757/767 in NYC. They have to fly INTL and have no say in the matter.

 

[GogglesPisano]

Tell that to our most junior pilots who are on the 757/767 in NYC. They have to fly INTL and have no say in the matter.

I'm sure if you talk to them they'll tell you how much they hate those 48hr layovers in Paris and Amsterdam.:beer:

Very few people are on the 7ER in NYC involuntarily these days. This isn't 2007.

 

[General Lee]

Tell that to our most junior pilots who are on the 757/767 in NYC. They have to fly INTL and have no say in the matter.

So, the can't bid the 320, md88, or 737 in NYC? Sure they can. They can bid away and never fly INTL again if they want. You know that is true. If they are junior on it now, they bid it or had a chance to bid off.


Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[jonjuan]

So, the can't bid the 320, md88, or 737 in NYC? Sure they can. They can bid away and never fly INTL again if they want. You know that is true. If they are junior on it now, they bid it or had a chance to bid off.


Bye Bye---General Lee

What if they don't want to fly 4-5 legs a day domestically?

 

[Lear70]

I'm sure if you talk to them they'll tell you how much they hate those 48hr layovers in Paris and Amsterdam.:beer:

Very few people are on the 7ER in NYC involuntarily these days. This isn't 2007.

You could sign me up for those in a heartbeat.

Then again, that's why I bid 737 MCO, I do almost primarily long int'l layovers and like it. When the MCO 737 base closes next year I'll be deferring to ATL so I can keep flying the long Int'l layovers until we turn the lights out here.

Different strokes for different folks, but I like 1-2 legs a day 6-7 hours of flying a day then 18-24 hour layovers, preferably commutable on both sides, even if it's less time each month than the guys doing 4-5 legs a day domestically. More money would be nice, but I organized my financials to be just fine on guarantee.

Hopefully those trips will still exist on the SWA side, they will be unpopular, and I can trade for them.

 

[JohnQ]

If you are too junior and on reserve and keep getting Lagos, then you can bid the 737 and make sure you never see that place again.

General,

Don't knock LOS until you try it. Other than holidays (Thanksgiving) the trip is not a junior trip at all.

Let's see...it is a "four day" that doesn't sign in until 9 pm on day one, and finishes at 0530 on day four. It is worth nearly 25 hours, and you sleep halfway there in the condo (infinitely better than any crew rest seat in the cabin). Granted, Nigeria is a 4th world dump, but after the armed escort, you get to a pretty nice hotel around 5 pm. Meet by the tiki bar and the pool about 6:30, and enjoy a Star or Gulder or two. If it is buffet night, enjoy a world class buffet (food all imported from Europe) poolside with the calypso band for your entertainment. If it is not buffet night, enjoy a tasty kebob or pizza, or try the indoor buffet, Italian restaurant, or Irish pub inside.

Hit the rack about 11 pm or so. Wake up, work out in the very nice gym. Hang out by the pool after that (maybe ogle some European stews, it is hit or miss) and enjoy a late lunch. Take a nap, work on the computer, whatever, and pick up that evening. DAL gives you enough money as a credit to the hotel that you hardly spend any.

Then fly home over the mid-Atlantic--no tracks, hardly any traffic once west of Dakar, and if you aren't in the cockpit, you are once again snoozing in the condo.

Did I mention the trip was worth almost 25 hours? While I wouldn't want a steady diet of this (it's hardly Stuttgart, and no one is pretending that it is) doing one a month or per quarter is a fairly good deal.

That is, unless you are senior to me, then it sucks!