ZapBrannigan
If it ain’t a Boeing, I’m not going. No choice.
Colleyville
Geez we ought to have a meet and greet. Had no idea there were a lot of Texans here
Morbid curiosity. Upgrade times?
- Thread starter ZapBrannigan
- Start date
Geez we ought to have a meet and greet. Had no idea there were a lot of Texans here
Maximilian_Jenius
Super User
I'm in PHX. But I've always loved Colleyville.
I thought i was the only one who felt out of place in Texas, every election the people we vote for never seem to get elected.
roundout
VNAV monitor
can you bid for multi day trips? When I was young at brand X, there were always 4 day trips I could fly. If you proffer/aggressive reserve/whatever you call it, you can be on a reserve line, but not be beholden to sitting in reserve. Control your show times, not have to sweat getting that phone call at 301am, potentially allows you to commute in the day of instead of the night before, etc.. so part of it depends on your work rules and city pair.
I don’t know. I bypassed upgrade for about half a year for QOL reasons. Life’s never been the same. CA is an interesting challenge, but the commuting to being Junior again is a shell shock for sure.
ZapBrannigan
If it ain’t a Boeing, I’m not going. No choice.
No, unfortunately this company doesn’t have long call, doesn’t have aggressive pick up, and even if assigned a trip for the next day, still have to be in position for the beginning of your RAP just in case they change their minds. Our reserve pay rules are good, but reserve QOL rules are not great.
roundout
VNAV monitor
Yeah I don’t know, dude. I might hold off until I could at least hold a line. If you have a line, you can at least swap and drop (I assume? Certainly there isn’t a major where you can’t swap and drop).
bimmerphile
Sidestick Wiggler
now that is some hot garbage and would certainly tilt my decision matrix into punting on submitting yourself to that mess for a while longer
arkflyr
Well-Known Member
Well not exactly, he can swap or try to give away to another pilot but dropping off whole trips into open time doesn’t happen here.
The reserve rules here are good for pay since it is a daily min pay, but otherwise they aren’t great. My biggest peeve was that I’d be assigned a trip with say a late afternoon showtime but I’d still be in the hook for my RAP which started at 11:00. Funny part was that screwed the company a bunch when I would time out from being on call for six hours prior to my report time for the trip.
In my case back then I lived three hours from my base and with a two hour callout I would have to drive close early in case they decided to move me up to an earlier trip. Really frustrating.
SlumTodd_Millionaire
Most Hated Member
I try to give situations like this what I call “the death bed test.”
How likely is it that when you’re on your death bed, you‘ll look back at your life and say “damn, I really wish I had given up that last two years of time with my son before he finished school so I could sit in the captain’s seat instead”? I sincerely doubt it.
I suspect it’s far more likely that you’d be on your death bed regretting giving up that family time just for the ego boost of the fourth stripe.
How likely is it that when you’re on your death bed, you‘ll look back at your life and say “damn, I really wish I had given up that last two years of time with my son before he finished school so I could sit in the captain’s seat instead”? I sincerely doubt it.
I suspect it’s far more likely that you’d be on your death bed regretting giving up that family time just for the ego boost of the fourth stripe.
ZapBrannigan
If it ain’t a Boeing, I’m not going. No choice.
Really good point
Baronman
Well-Known Member
1/2 a year huh.
CoffeeIcePapers
Well-Hung Member
Is it possible to upgrade, scratch the itch for a month or two, and bid back down in a vacancy?
ZapBrannigan
If it ain’t a Boeing, I’m not going. No choice.
Yes, there's only a 3 month seat lock if you bid back to FO. Probably not a great idea to go through all that and a jeopardy training event (we still do PCs) for just a few months though.
Kingairer
'Tiger Team' Member
How far in advance do you typically get your short call assignment? How many "how soon can you be at the airport" type calls do yall get?
roundout
VNAV monitor
Yikes, that’s worse than Eagle.
roundout
VNAV monitor
yeah. when the music is going strong, 6 months can bring a lot of changes, like being senior enough to be off reserve, which was my main goal in waiting.
ZapBrannigan
If it ain’t a Boeing, I’m not going. No choice.
At the end of the day, that’s the gamble. I’ve been doing this for a long time and been caught without a seat when the music stops way more than once. If we pass this time, we run the risk of another round of stagnation. The playful gods of aviation misfortune often do things like that. Problem this time, is that I’m almost 50.
roundout
VNAV monitor
If things go to crap tomorrow, would you rather be slogging out a commute to reserve or enjoying driving in and sitting in the right seat? At my place, the senior FOs who were locals were making as much money as the commuter reserve captains but with 3-5 more days off per month.
I get the being bored part. you’ll get bored as a CA, too, after you figure out the job.
ClearedForOption
Psychiatric Help 5¢
Just put in for the upgrade.
I've read this whole thread and even listened to your 'segment' on the 121.5 podcast a few weeks ago. I think you are still trying to talk yourself out of something that is important to you. You've also talked about jumping from one pasture to another in your career and the regrets that came with that.
Sit down with your family and tell them exactly that - "This is important to me. It's something that I've worked towards my whole adult life. And in the past, through circumstances both in and out of my control I haven't been able to do it. The benefits of this are (X) The sacrifices are (Y). I know that the sacrifices are going to suck compared to our current (QOL picture). I'm asking that you support me in this because its important to me because of (your reasons, both personal, professional, emotional, and etc.) and there are financial reasons why this is the time for this."
The "economy" will then either force you out of the seat or the growth will continue and your QOL will improve drastically. Commuting will always suck. You have a plan B if it's undoable, a downgrade, and the stuff that comes with that.
Talk to your family and just do it...
alaskadrifter
Landing gear operator
Two years is a blip on the radar, I say upgrade when you’re an empty nester. I don’t think you’ll regret the extra time with your kid.
