So after years of saying I would never do it I am considering 121. I'd love to hear from anyone who said they would never go 121 and then did. Are you happy with the decision?
I was once considering avoiding 121 (very glad I didn't do that), and probably could have gone to a 121 carrier sooner had I been more aggressive about building night time during my aerial survey days, but then I did go 121 in late 2016. So far I am extremely happy with the decision to go to a 121 and by far my biggest regret in life is not doing it sooner.
I've been ignoring that side of the biz for a while so I'd like to know what the schedules are like. And the typical duty day.
This might vary quite a bit between companies, but this is based on what I've experienced so far. Looking back at this month so far I've had duty days as short as 4 hours and as long as 12 hours; and in the past I've had 14 hour duty days, mostly while on reserve or when there are bad delays (which is often as I'm based in EWR). 4 legs in one days seems to be most common, but it can be anything from 2-5 or occasionally 1 or 6.
Others have mentioned 2 or 3 days off between trips, which might be the most common. I usually try to get as many days off in a row as possible, so I have often gotten it so there's only 1 day between trips, or even no days but enough time that you get the 30 hours' rest part 117 requires in the last 168 hours and then have like a week or more off at once at some point in the month. Of course that all depends on what your airline's bidding system allows and what your seniority can hold. For March I got it so I have only 1 day off between trips for the first part of the month but have the whole last fortnight of the month off.
At most airlines the contract will call for a minimum number of days off per month, usually 11 or 12.
At first you will be on reserve, which at my airline is usually 6 days on, 2 days off.
I'm talking with a couple of regionals at the moment on both side of the country. Considering a commute, a bad idea?
Hard to say whether commuting is a bad idea, as it seems a lot of people don't mind it but others say to avoid it at all costs. I only did it for a month or so before I moved to New Jersey specifically so I wouldn't have to, so I don't have much experience with it. But it seems like it would be a massive pain and make your time off seem much shorter, especially since at first you will probably only have 2 days off at a time while on reserve. So I would recommend living in base you have the opportunity to. But then it might be worth commuting to a regional with significantly better pay, etc. The conventional wisdom is you should never choose a regional based on bases, since they can close at any time and probably will sooner or later. However if they have a base in your home town now, if it closes you will hopefully have accumulated some seniority by then, so if you're stuck commuting at least you might be able to hold a more easily commutable schedule.
Best of luck with your transition to 121. I am glad I did go to a 121 carrier, and frankly it is the best job I've had even though I work at a not-exactly-stellar regional, so I think you are probably making the right decision. As we all know pilots love to complain and I think this is where a lot of the negative perception of 121 comes from.
