Sat. or Sun. starts?

[NJA bound]

In the Ultra and Hoping to be able to hold a 7 & 7 this time around, trying to make a last minute bid decision. I'd rather have Sat. starts and be home on Fri and have the full weekend off, but if getting home at an earlier hour is easier on Sat than it is on Fri than I'm more interested in that. Which day normally has a lighter workload, Fri or Sat?

Thanks

 

[xpdriver]

it all depends on, well ,what ever the scheduler wants to do...Really, it could be a light day and you will fly 6 legs.Or the other way around.I am on sunday starts and it has been a mix of early and late arrivals.

 

[DO-82 driver]

You're trying to predict the actions of an insane person (scheduler). They have no clue of what they are doing and, since they have total control of you, you will have no idea of what you're doing until you are walking through your front door.

Thet really are that incompetent.............

You'll find out and be ready to collect the OT....Thye're giving it away like candy!!!!!

 

[Diesel]

i'm currently on the saturday start and I'm kind of wishing i had chosen the sunday start. I usually get home so late friday that it's not like i have a whole weekend. Airlining home friday sucks everything is full and a pain in the arse.

on sunday starts the airlines are empty and coming home saturday they are empty but you lose a whole weekend. PM me for more info.

 

[Gator1999]

I find that Sunday starts are great if you don't want to deal with traffic. I was living in FLL and driving to PBI. Traffic during the week sucks but on the weekend it's a breeze...just something else to consider.

 

[NJA bound]

Thanks for all of the help.

 

[Fozzy]

As coming form the 17 days schedule I did not know what to expect. I wanted the Thurs (14) start, but that did not happen. I got my #2 choice (Sun). This was something my buddy's in the Ultra told me to take. They love that start day because of Sat being a slower day. They so far have been right. Most days I am home by 3pm.
Side note, two of those guys were able to get line 14 (thurs) and are bidding back to Sunday starts. We all have very young kids with spouses that are part time or stay at home. So the weekend thing is not horrible. You still get weekends off, they are just split. And if you need a whole weekend.......well you know.
As for day one, you are usually gone by 10am. Personally, I want a 5am show day one. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

[NJA bound]

Thanks Fozzy

 

[RNObased]

i'm currently on the saturday start and I'm kind of wishing i had chosen the sunday start. I usually get home so late friday that it's not like i have a whole weekend. Airlining home friday sucks everything is full and a pain in the arse.

on sunday starts the airlines are empty and coming home saturday they are empty but you lose a whole weekend. PM me for more info.

Exactly.......... Getting anywhere on a friday afternoon is mess. Be prepared for middle seats and crazy people. Heck that is if they can get you home. Go with the Sunday start...

 

[netjetwife]

We're also a Sunday start family for the same reasons Fozzy noted. When doing the airport run I don't have to worry about a conflict with the school run or traffic. Good luck! I hope things work out well for your family, too.

 

[Just Peachy]

sched......

One of the things I was sorely dissapointed in the new contract ...just 3 days of starts. Was believing we would be getting starts every day of the week and apparently, talking with others they belived the same thing.

Ah well, its a give and take in the contract world.

 

[netjetwife]

My husband was one of those who thought that starts every day would be a good thing for efficiency. It might have been a case of "how can they not agree to something that makes so much sense". So expectations arose that weren't met in the end. It seems to me that other good ideas the pilots come up with are too difficult for the company to implement. It's been said before that NJA is a Mom and Pop company that grew quickly and still needs to shed its less sophisticated methods of running the business. It sounds like Santulli might have figured that out now.

 

[DO-82 driver]

About 6 years ago we did have, I believe, 5 start days...at least in the Ultra fleet. and we only had about 550 guys and only a handful of Gateways.....

 

[Guitar Guy]

I'm on Saturday starts in the U-boat fleet. Although the early-morning first-day drive is a piece of cake (because there's usually little traffic here at 5 or 6 AM), the last day is usually a big downer. I've only once returned before 6 or 7 PM on a Friday. Part of that may be my domicile but it's really sad that scheduling can't seem to get us home at a decent hour on Fridays. And I've already gotten one after-midnight/unrealistically-scheduled payout because of their practices or lack thereof this year as well as several hours of OT pay on those last days.

 

[netjetwife]

I'd also advise anyone who is choosing their start day to look at the schedule it gives you for the whole year and use that info to help you decide. Is being home on the holiday the priority or is flying for the extra pay and celebrating another time more important to you? My husband tells me that he'll have Christmas off for the next few years due to the line he has. That's good news for our family because I can use all the help I can get at that time.

 

[Fozzy]

NJW,
That line 3 is pretty good when you get over the Sunday part. I am very happy with the Sunday (3) start. I think I have Christmas off for the next 5 years or something crazy like that. It is making it hard for me to justify bidding another fleet. And I am in the Uboat.:erm:

Regardless, it beats the hell out of the 17 day hell I was on for 3+ years.

 

[netjetwife]

My husband moved to those very same cramped quarters in order to upgrade to Captain. It's taking awhile because his 1108 duties are keeping him too busy to finish training, but he does look forward to joining y'all on the line.