I sat in the jump of a United 737 the other day, great, great guys. The FO had been at Continental pre-9/11, no furlough and was holding a good line with the days off he wanted, no desire to upgrade. He was looking at moving over to the 787, but was afraid his QOL would go down.

9/11 was nearly 14 years ago! 14! I thought the movement was much, much better than the right seat of a 737. Granted he makes a good living, but 14+ years in the right seat? In a 737, it had a glass cockpit, but holy cow that airplane looked like it was over 40 years old! It was so loud! His hands were flying all over the cockpit flipping switches, dialing buttons, looking at charts, and he was the PF!! Paper kept spitting out of the printer, he was constantly pulling the throttles back as they moved around and he was working that yoke on the approach. I turn the wheel of my car a lot less when I'm on the racetrack.

Maybe I've become spoiled, but I prefer a more gentlemanly time in the air, a nice quiet flight deck, pleasant conversation and a cup of tea on my tray table.