Originally Posted by
JaxUAviator
Sorry if this is a bit off topic, but here goes:
So I'm curious...how's the schedule at Skywest for someone who lives in base? What is the length of most trips (how many days)? Are there a lot of day trips? How much flexibility do you have in your scheduling (i.e. how hard is it to drop trips on days you don't want to fly and pick up trips on your days off)? How long does one generally stay on reserve? How is the schedule for a typical reserve guy (again how easy or hard is it to drop/pick up reserve days)?
I know these are a lot of questions, but I'm trying to get a good feel for what the QOL is like in regards to the typical pilot's schedule.
Thanks!
Unfortunately the answer to those questions is completely different depending on domicile, equipment and even time of the year. A Brasilia FO on here might tell you that he was on reserve for one month before getting a guaranteed line and flies all locals. An RJ captain in SLC may tell you that he's sat reserve for 15 years.
Dropping trips is a bit domicile specific too. I personally have had almost no luck ever dropping trips and there isn't much open time in my domicile either. I've talked to people in other domiciles who are able to drop things easy and there are hundreds of trips on open time.
Trip length is domicile specific too but it seems like most places have a lot of 4 day pairings.