So, you don't want 18 off in a row? How about 35? Easily can be done if you can hold that. The deal is there are different planes at Delta. Big and small. The big ones have different schedules. You can fly turns to the islands from ATL (1 day trips), 3 day trips to Europe (worth 20 hours), or 4 day domestics. You can also do 12 day trips, or even 13. It's called variety. And that's just on the 757/767 INTL. Most of the domestic planes (DC9, Md88, 737, 320) do from 1 to 5 day trips, and people enjoy that too. Variety, something you should look up sometime.
Have you ever done a 12 or 15 hour flight? First of all, the most I have done is just over 12 hours, and that was a trip from SEA to PEK (Beijing) that I did last year. It had 2 Captains and 2 FOs, and there was a lie flat bunk room with bunk beds. It was climate controlled, and was nice. You get a menu prior to push showing you what you might be able to eat (3 or 4 meals, a choice of desserts, soup, salad, etc). After takeoff the 3rd pilot (on flights less than 12 hours) figures out the length of breaks, and then he usually goes back first, getting a nap or watching a movie for 3 or 4 hours. When in the cockpit, you eat and plot your way across the pond, often "talking" to centers on CPDLC---typing requests to them, and the plane even does automatic position reports. It's not very tough. By the time you arrive in your destination, you are fairly relaxed thanks to a few hour nap, and going to Asia you arrive late afternoon. After the ride to the hotel, the pilots usually all meet for dinner, and then you try to stay up a couple more hours, and then you usually sleep a full 8 or 9. You can acclimate fairly easily that way, as long as you stay over there. If you go back and forth to the mainland (we call them 6 pack trips----6 Pacific crossings), then it can be a bit tougher, but you get used to it. Europe is a bit different, since you arrive over there mid morning, so it can be tougher to get a short nap. But, the way home isn't as bad because you usually sleep for a full 3 hours in the rest seat, so you feel good by the time you land back in ATL.
It's actually quite nice overall. I seem to get a lot more bang for the buck, can get my flying over with, and I enjoy Asia a lot. The people are nice, and the operation is great. But, if I decide I want to see West Palm Beach or Seattle, I can always bid those trips too. That again is variety.
Bye Bye---General Lee