Long haul flights

DE727UPS said:
Most of the time they make it so you have to operate to either asia or europe. Sometimes, however, they are forced to deadhead you over. Sometimes it's a company deadhead and sometimes a commercial ticket. As a senior F/O, I have only bid trips with commercial deadheads, except for once, when I sat on a UPS MD11, which actually was a great ride.

Once I upgrade in April, I won't be doing anymore overseas flights. It's too complicated and too much of a pain in the butt. Not that I could hold one anyhow. I'll be happy doing hot PHX....I think.

Capt DE...sounds good! What are the trips to PHX like? Get here early morning leave and dusk? Any long layovers on PHX trips? I see like 2-3 757,767's parked over there on the daily...cool!

-Matthew
 
Go for an airline that has some international presence, Max. Trust me, I'm on year eleven of flying domestic as an airline pilot and I'm more than ready to pull out my hair, run down the terminal stark naked and order a sandwich... Just to get my heart rate above 60 bpm.
 
IAD-NRT-SIN was my longest trip. Not fun. Ah, well, what can you do? I've also done a IAD-LAX-AKL-ZQN.
 
Doug Taylor said:
Go for an airline that has some international presence, Max. Trust me, I'm on year eleven of flying domestic as an airline pilot and I'm more than ready to pull out my hair, run down the terminal stark naked and order a sandwich... Just to get my heart rate above 60 bpm.

Ehhhhh...I'm not totally ruling out the possibility should I ever make it to an airline. Just at this point in time I can't fathom being a international pilot. Like the industry itself this could all change overnight who knows.

-Matthew
 
"I can't fathom being a international pilot"

I don't know. I'm unique in that I can do both and that's probably pretty rare, all in all. Not sure how it works at other airlines.

The worst thing, to me, is all the non-radar stuff you have to do and HF communications. I swear, last week we were trying to talk to Manila radio on HF and I couldn't understand a word. People were stepping on each other like it was 122.8, which it really is. When it gets to the point that long range ATC can be done through ACARS messages with position reports and clearances, it will be a lot better gig. We have the technology now, I think, it's just a cost thing.

I bid the easiest of the PacRims aiming for day flying and one leggers. If you worked over and back and did three leggers while intra theater...you'd get worn out fast.

All I can say is when I'm over there I wish I was here and when I'm here I wish I was someplace where it's above freezing.
 
Maximillian_Jenius said:
Ehhhhh...I'm not totally ruling out the possibility should I ever make it to an airline. Just at this point in time I can't fathom being a international pilot. Like the industry itself this could all change overnight who knows.

If it becomes an option, you can be sure I'll be jumping all over it like white on rice.

There are some pretty sweet lines to be held if you fly internationally.

Of course, the line I'll get will likely be from Ombapamawa to IAD, with a layover in East Macadoriana.

Oh, and some of my coworkers will be getting on the longest commercial flight. They're going to be taking Singapore's NYC to SIN run. Wow. That's a L-O-N-G flight.
 
DE727UPS said:
The worst thing, to me, is all the non-radar stuff you have to do and HF communications. I swear, last week we were trying to talk to Manila radio on HF and I couldn't understand a word. People were stepping on each other like it was 122.8, which it really is. When it gets to the point that long range ATC can be done through ACARS messages with position reports and clearances, it will be a lot better gig. We have the technology now, I think, it's just a cost thing.

Manila Radio is notoriously bad. At least you were able to talk to them! Half the time heading in that area we never reached them so we just kept going until we got in range of a VHF/UHF freq. In terms of being able to understand the controllers, I found no place worse than Medan Radio over near Thailand. I could never understand a thing they said.

Longest flight: KAD-ICT 13.4 hrs

Longest revenue flight in the past year: 1.5

I can't wait to grow up and fly real routes again...
 
Here's a three-day international trip:

Day 1: ATL-MAD (1845 to 0905)
Day 2: Nap, tapas, sangria, paella (if you're a good napper)
Day 3: MAD-ATL (1110-1510)
18hrs, 20 mins of pay

Here's a three day domestic:
Day 1: ATL-IAD-ATL-CMH
Day 2: CMH-ATL-SDF-ATL-BWI
Day 3: BWI-ATL-DTW-ATL
17 hours, 7 minutes of pay.

Whatever floats your boat. Personally I'm going to the ER whenever my seniority will allow a semi-decent schedule.
 
Yeah. I don't blame you based on that. I guess for me, it's a choice between GEG-DSM-GEG day trips six times a month, plus a three day filler trip. Or doing a PacRim where I'm gone for 12 days in a row.
 
DE, by any chance, have you visited my home country Taiwan - RCTP yet ? just wondering.

The longest international flight I have ever seated on was LAX to RCTP 12 hours. The second longest was DTW - NRT - TPE about 14.5 or so
 
Doug Taylor said:
Here's a three-day international trip:

Day 1: ATL-MAD (1845 to 0905)
Day 2: Nap, tapas, sangria, paella (if you're a good napper)
Day 3: MAD-ATL (1110-1510)
18hrs, 20 mins of pay

Here's a three day domestic:
Day 1: ATL-IAD-ATL-CMH
Day 2: CMH-ATL-SDF-ATL-BWI
Day 3: BWI-ATL-DTW-ATL
17 hours, 7 minutes of pay.

Whatever floats your boat. Personally I'm going to the ER whenever my seniority will allow a semi-decent schedule.


You talking about the 767? If so, cant you also be put on the 757 or can you bid only for the 767 on international routes?
 
Same category. But there's a domestic and an international category.
 
"by any chance, have you visited my home country Taiwan"

Oh yeah. Taipei is my favorite layover in the Pac. We stay at the Grand Hyatt next to the 101 building. I love the food court in the basement of the 101 building. I just get sushi and sandwiches from the market but enjoy trying to figure out what the locals are eating. Not brave enough to try it without someone showing me how.
 
I,ve had quiet a few too but the most exhausting one (At least from my parents' prespective) is the following:
Tehran (THR) to Dubai (DXB) Emirates Airlines A330
Dubai (DXB) to Frankfurt (FRA) Emirates airlines A330
Frankfurt (FRA) to Newark (EWR) Continental B767
Newark (EWR) to Los Angeles (LAX) Continental DC10

I loved the trip, especialy flying all those varity of aircratfs and loved it, Persian Pilot I wanna the same thing you did next time I visit Iran. I am going to book Emirates from JFK to Dubai then connecting to Tehran.
 
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