Originally Posted by
F15Cricket
Objective and well said.
My schedule for Alaska has been to work for 15 days a month but only not be in my own bed for about 7 nights a month. As a military retiree, QOL was way more important to me than pay check, and living in ANC has been great for that.
Pay isn't bad, but that is okay--there is way more to life than money.
Having been stationed in the UK for 6 years, plus several TDYs to foreign lands, I have absolutely no desire to fly a big jet international. It would mean more days gone with less flying. But if you want that, for now, Alaska is not the place for you.
Mike, I would suggest you might not know how international flying works at some airlines. With DH's and other issues you normally work less then domestic schedules. I often bid a 12 day trip with DH's at both ends and a 2 day US layover in the middle where I go home. Total time worked comes out to 9 days and 6 days not in my bed.
I once said I would not fly international because of what you state as did most of my friends. Once they went over to the dark side all that went out the window. There is a reason international F/O often goes senior to domestic CA while paying less money.
The beauty of working for some airlines is you have the ability to do both. Get burned out on domestic and you can switch to international or the opposite. It's like making a complete job change. I think I would have gone crazy a long time ago in this job without that ability.
There is nothing like enjoying a rooftop dinner in Rome under a full moon drinking a toast to those poor SOB's in Jackson MS on a 10 hour layover!