Originally Posted by
NoJoy
Question on the travel. If you live near your base, then drive there, you are going to be gone for say 17 days in a row. But if they fly you to your base; its outside of the 17 days? Is this right? Does this cut into your time off? I am just trying to learn how the sched is working out for the pilots. 17 days on and the rest off-including travel to and from home. How does the sched usually work out?
Having been here around 18 months my experience is that as a junior guy you can't hold the 30 day lines (747) - they tend to be 1 17 day trip with the rest of the month off.
So that leaves 60 day lines. They are usually 3 trips in the 60 day period although I did get one that was 2 17 day trips in 60 days. For example my July Aug award has me off1 on 14 off 13 on 14 off 12 on 5 off 3.
You are correct that you normally have to travel on days off to get to base (sometimes 2 days to ANC). The JFK base tends to go senior because most trips start with a commercial on the first day from JFK so you can just commercial from home instead and not lose a day off.
So, yes, it generally, cuts into your time off as a junior guy (just as jumpseating to work does everywhere else - but at least here we have a ticket and don't have to worry about getting to work)
Hope this makes sense.
(And I think that this should have been on the other, original,Atlas thread!)