Morbid curiosity. Upgrade times?

[Cherokee_Cruiser]

I've commuted to reserve for a handful of years now, I never really got the guys that acted like sitting in the crashpad not getting used was the worst thing in the world. Get paid thousands of dollars a month so sit around and watch TV and movies all day and enjoy the weather outside sometimes? I'll take it versus actually working, even if it is away from home.

I did 2 months EWR to LAX, and had days where all 5 days reserve I wasn’t used. I felt like my life was wasted in the pad sitting around waiting. Felt like my family would have been much better off if I was home during that time. Getting called was a blessing, it got me out of the pad to go fly. To be fair, I had just upgraded after 11 years and I wanted to be called.
But hands down I’d rather fly 4 days then sit in a crash pad 4 days.

 

[Kingairer]

The grass is always greener… yadda yadda… today’s belle of the ball will be tomorrow’s worst place to work etc. SWA may look like it is behind the rest of the pack today but a few years from now it might not be the case. Bottom line you chose to work for a company with decent financials, a good product, and a positive outlook… but it has some warts like everywhere else. I wouldn’t sweat it for a minute… I mean you could still be at WM instead of WN and in my opinion that would be way worse.

Speaking of WM I just flew with one of your former coworkers… nice guy and a welcome change from all of the prior mil guys here.

SW was the belle from 2002 to 2012.

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

I will chill if you get poor Chloe to the groomers.

She's scheduled for Friday! Gawd!

I've commuted to reserve for a handful of years now, I never really got the guys that acted like sitting in the crashpad not getting used was the worst thing in the world. Get paid thousands of dollars a month so sit around and watch TV and movies all day and enjoy the weather outside sometimes? I'll take it versus actually working, even if it is away from home.

Only a pilot could bitch about sitting around and getting paid six figures to watch TV.

Sitting next to a man wearing boxers and a MAGA hat while watching FOX News wasn’t exactly my “living the dream” moment.

If I ever commute to reserve again I will either buy hotel rooms or get an apartment.

I had great crashpads where I looked forward to hanging out with the other people, and horrible crashpads that I avoided like the plague. But hotels are the best. And if you're making legacy bucks or even regional CA money, there's really no reason to be in a crashpad unless you're a cheap f***.

 

[Snuggle]

Reserve life can be amazing. Getting paid a lot of money to fly a couple of days a month, or hopefully none at all, is hard to beat.

 

[Snuggle]

To be fair, I had just upgraded after 11 years and I wanted to be called.
But hands down I’d rather fly 4 days then sit in a crash pad 4 days.

Well that’s just weird. Can’t say I ever wanted to be called on reserve. Even after I just upgraded, the idea was to sit reserve at home and not fly.

 

[skypilot6]

I took the first upgrade, and I'm a commuter, at the time I figured I would upgrade and just suck it up for a few months, because at the time that's all it took to get off reserve. Well enter Covid and I might get off reserve 2 years after upgrade. But I will say it has been great, sitting around the crash pad, catching up on sleep and not dealing with anyone unless I want to has been great.

I bought an Android TV powered Mini projector for the crash pad, its like my own private movie theatre. Crash Pad life is what you make of it.

 

[Roger Roger]

And if you're making legacy bucks or even regional CA money, there's really no reason to be in a crashpad unless you're a cheap f***.

I mean…you’ve met pilots right?

 

[guywhoflies]

Yup. I hated my Crashpad experience in ATL. Finish a long day of flying only to hang out with a bunch of random dudes who only wanted to talk about flying. Then you got to spend a whole night wondering if sleep apnea is contagious.

To me, nothing makes a trip go by slower than not working. Not working is cool when you’re somewhere you actually want to be. Atlanta was not that place.

This checks out. I'm overnighting in downtown Atlanta right now wishing I were nearly anywhere else.

 

[JordanD]

Reserve life can be amazing. Getting paid a lot of money to fly a couple of days a month, or hopefully none at all, is hard to beat.

Can be. Getting the dregs of open time and the genuinely awful trips that either nobody else wanted or were cobbled together last minute to keep the operation in tact kind of takes away from some of the fun, sometimes. My stress level since getting off reserve has gone WAY down knowing the phone isn’t going to jar me awake at 3am unless I tell it to.

 

[mikecweb]

That’s just called being called for your job, and despite all I hear about day flying at purple, there is no doubt a huge swath has to do those nightly departures out of MEM. The real question is, how much do those reserve 757 guys get called out? Are they flying this every single night?

I haven't bothered to check but why go through that to make less money unless you live in Memphis, which is a nonstarter. There is no problem making 300k as an FO here, the only motivation would be to fly with your favorite captain every day.
To each their own but throwing up that junior upgrade doesn't exactly paint a picture of what it's like.

 

[Autothrust Blue]

To each their own but throwing up that junior upgrade doesn't exactly paint a picture of what it's like.

Still no replacement for seniority, no matter how rosy other bits of the working arrangements may well be.

 

[Crockrocket94]

Reserve at home not getting called = very nice... /borat
Reserve at home being called = Sadface ..by wife,.... have fun eating dinner alone... again. or with the kids.

Reserve in pad NOT getting called = Sad pad, and now im eating pizza or spaghetti again.
Reserve in pad getting called, YAY, no more sad pad.

Reserve in hotel not getting called = DANG IT ANOTHER 70 DOLLARS!!!
Reserve in hotel getting called = Yay! Saved money! "Makes airplane noises"


Also - I think there's a large large difference from being 25 and in Crashpad, hanging with other 23-30 year olds, and being 45 in a pad, hanging around 50-65 year olds....

 

[Snuggle]

Can be. Getting the dregs of open time and the genuinely awful trips that either nobody else wanted or were cobbled together last minute to keep the operation in tact kind of takes away from some of the fun, sometimes. My stress level since getting off reserve has gone WAY down knowing the phone isn’t going to jar me awake at 3am unless I tell it to.

I really just aim to fly as little as possible. If I fly less than 200 hrs a year, I don’t mind occasionally flying some less desirable trips. A hotel is a hotel. My own bed beats them all.

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

Reserve at home not getting called = very nice... /borat
Reserve at home being called = Sadface ..by wife,.... have fun eating dinner alone... again. or with the kids.

Reserve in pad NOT getting called = Sad pad, and now im eating pizza or spaghetti again.
Reserve in pad getting called, YAY, no more sad pad.

Reserve in hotel not getting called = DANG IT ANOTHER 70 DOLLARS!!!
Reserve in hotel getting called = Yay! Saved money! "Makes airplane noises"


Also - I think there's a large large difference from being 25 and in Crashpad, hanging with other 23-30 year olds, and being 45 in a pad, hanging around 50-65 year olds....

Again. If you’re 45 and working at a career carrier and staying in crashpads, you’re doing it wrong. The Marriott exists for a reason.

 

[bLizZuE]

Oh. Legacy airline.

though I do wonder what pad you were in where it was that way.

EWR Country Inn and Suites.

“Hey Quagmire, isn’t there an O in country?”

“…no.”

 

[ShortField]

Anybody try the boat crash pad idea? Seems like it could be cool. Or awful. Either way it doesn’t involve other people in my business, which is required.

 

[L-16B]

Flying every single day on reserve is not my idea of fun.

That’s how it is at AA at least on narrowbody.

 

[ERfly]

I haven't bothered to check but why go through that to make less money unless you live in Memphis, which is a nonstarter. There is no problem making 300k as an FO here, the only motivation would be to fly with your favorite captain every day.
To each their own but throwing up that junior upgrade doesn't exactly paint a picture of what it's like.

I could not agree more!

There is something to be said for the senior FO lifestyle and I had it (somewhat) in a very recent previous life. I'm perfectly content with doing it again until I have the seniority to have a decent QOL in the left seat. There's probably a reason why those junior upgrades go so junior.

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

That’s how it is at AA at least on narrowbody.

Good god. Fix that! I bid reserve as a senior FO at the Tran because I could sit at home for 60+ days without flying. It was exquisite.

 

[Screaming_Emu]

I could not agree more!

There is something to be said for the senior FO lifestyle and I had it (somewhat) in a very recent previous life. I'm perfectly content with doing it again until I have the seniority to have a decent QOL in the left seat. There's probably a reason why those junior upgrades go so junior.

I'm really happy to work for a company where seniority doesn't really mean a whole lot. Certainly takes the sting out of being at the lower end of the totem pole.