Kingairer
'Tiger Team' Member
What does being senior at JSX look like?
SWA vs UAL... FIGHT
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To the SJS crowd, there’s only one thing worth living, and ultimately dying, for.
Roger Roger
Bottom of the list
But do you remember to put your tie back on when you step out?
Cherokee_Cruiser
Bronteroc
Arguably your job is different because y’all are usually 7-14 days away at a time, so a pickup comes at a steep price.
But a domestic carrier where the longest trip is 4 days, and our model is 1, 2, 3, and 4-day trips, it is way easier to swap/pickup AND still be home.
Screaming_Emu
Joe Conventional
To the SJS crowd, there’s only one thing worth living, and ultimately dying, for.
Being able to tell other people they’re a pilot. I’m convinced they don’t even enjoy the work that much.
sp238882
Hey-ooooo
My first airline interview the CP asked me where I wanted to end up in my career. I told him flying the biggest plane, for the most amount of money, the least amount of time possible...... In hindsight..... I'm amazed I got that job.
Roger Roger
Bottom of the list
meanwhile I’m just sad that SFO FO won’t qualify for that VRBO program. I would be ecstatic to work half a line at AS and make up the difference doing hoodrat • with my friends in learjets.
///AMG
Well-Known Member
I presume neither of us are in any danger of being senior enough to get a VRBO award, unless it turns out to be a bad deal, but I agree.....summertime half schedule seems like it would be pretty popular here
Roger Roger
Bottom of the list
My other idea is just stack back to back JFK ironmans until I hit 70 hours and then take the rest of the month off
///AMG
Well-Known Member
Somehow I was able to get a couple 20+ credit 3 days this month (one was 22:30, other one way overblocked into 21 ish territory). They are definitely working trips, much more than the one and back transcons I've gotten used to, but it is an efficient use of time, short of doing all short backs. Then again, I have no idea what SFO trips are looking like.
Roger Roger
Bottom of the list
Me neither lol, all that’s left by my seniority is JFK and IAD shortbacks and the BOS SEA MCO 4 day.
Roger Roger
Bottom of the list
Which I should clarify, I’m not really complaining about. That I can hold any line is just nuts, and it’s insane how much better the schedule and the amount of control you get as even the most Junior line holder vs being on reserve, which I assume I’ll be back on after the summer at best case, so I’m enjoying it while it lasts.
BEEF SUPREME
Well-Known Member
My experience is very outdated as it's almost a completely different company now. 5+ years ago it mainly meant being able to pick your exact working days. What happened inside of those days was up to the company and seniority didn't matter. But then again the flying was pretty much all the same. Default was an 8/6 schedule starting on different days of the week, some 7/7, and a few random schedules thrown in. If you didn't earn yourself a bad reputation you also gained some "street cred" with scheduling if you needed favors or wanted to get assigned some of the more interesting one-off trips that popped up occasionally to break the repetition. The really cool stuff usually got management pilots or LCAs though. Overall "street cred" meant they'd leave you mostly alone. I remember being on the phone with an mx controller that I was on a first name basis with to refuse an aircraft. After the first bit of pushback I just told him "come on man, you know I'm not a princess and will fly pretty much anything, if even I'm turning this one down, trust me, it's bad", and that was the end of it. The Chief Pilot would also stay out of your hair and not micromanage because he knew you had things under control. That was not a universal experience by all pilots BTW.
What it really meant in day to day life was being super proficient in the Jungle Jet and the operation. Back then they only operated in and out of BUR, SNA, LAS, OAK, CCR, BFI, and PHX. 3-4 legs a day, you knew the plane like the back of your hand and could fly to each of the destinations blindfolded. You were intimately familiar with all the tribal knowledge and all the threats. When I became one of those scary 1500hr Captains that everyone likes to bash, the limited scale of operations made it a manageable transition. The daily flying stuff was so automatic you could focus on the Captain stuff, and mentoring the 500hr FOs or 66+ yr old RACs that hadn't sat right seat or flown anything without autothrottles or VNAV for the last 20 years. IMO it was the best environment to learn flying jets. A forgiving airplane, generally good weather for most of the year, and the ability to learn without ever leaving your little sandbox that you quickly became very familiar with. I don't think I'll ever be as proficient in an airplane as I was during my time there. Maybe now that we're doing all the former Maddog flying in the 757 I'll get back to that level, only being super junior instead.
Sculprit
Well-Known Member
Cherokee_Cruiser
Bronteroc
Why doesn’t that qualify?
Nailed it.
It's generational. In the 90's we'd brag about how little we worked. Today, people brag about how MUCH they work.
