Originally Posted by
2loud
That's great that long haul flying doesn't bother you too much and I mean it without any sarcasm. Some people (if any) can handle multiple time zone changes and eventually, it leads to accelerated aging. Regardless of how efficient the ACM is on your aircraft, breathing 17 hours of recycled air is not good for anyone. I flew long haul in my 20's and I was a zombie for days after a trip. Days off didn't much matter; it was more like days recuperating. Perhaps, you are different. To each his own, I guess.
I'll fly my entry level narrow body 737 until I retire. I'm fine with that. I lost my ego long ago so I'm happy with my lot in life. btw, I rarely fly more than 2 legs a day.
Go back and reread the first sentence of my second paragraph.
Nobody I've flown with (and I've been doing 4 pilot 15-18hr. trips for 12 years, as both MD11 F/O and 777 Capt.) "likes" flying those long legs. What they Like is all the time off it generates, because it is the most efficient way to fill up your month, more days off at home, to sail, I mean recover.
I waste very little time sitting around airports waiting on a late airplane, like I did on Domestic. The flip side is, I get very few landings, one a month, if that, and that's what we all like to do the most, right?
I feel pretty good after I come home from a trip, but only because we have a very nice rest facility on the 777, away from the cabin, where you can actually get some real sleep. It's dark, it's quiet, and it's horizontal.
When I was on the 767 ER going to Europe, trying to sleep in the cabin, with the bright lights on, next to a passenger who would hit my seat buttons instead of his, or snore, or poke me in the ribs with his elbow, and the F/A's would bump into me with the carts, and drop dishes, and make PA's, I too felt like crap for a day or two after every trip. I wasn't getting anywhere near the rest I get now.