I went from 15% M11F to 90% A11C 4 years ago. Went from DDH international to commuting on us. So lost about 4 days a month. If you are on reserve and do not get used much, you make just a little more than as an FO. If you flew a lot of C/O as FO you will not see much of a pay raise.
I never worked thanksgiving or Christmas until I upgraded. Work everyone since. I had decent VTO but you do not get your Sched until the wed before the next bid month. I was displaced to M11C last June. Really sucked. # 65 VTO a lot of commutes and night hub turns.
So if you are after money and getting holidays off bid the left seat of the 777. If you want to make the decisions and do not mind having a Crashpad and car and quality of life is not as important, go for it!
As you probably know there is a huge difference between being senior in a seat and junior. Between scheduling, types of trips, pay, carry over, bidding vacation and being able to knock out trips verses VTO and only getting vacation week off.
I could go on but only you know what your situation is.
Living in MEM or domicile helps a ton as you can sit reserve and hang out if they are not using you much.
Originally Posted by
Patches
I know - everyone's situation is different. Got it.
For those that gave up some relatively good seniority in the right seat to take that 85%+ WB Capt seat........any regrets or lessons learned worth passing along?
Obviously weighing all the typical issues:
Pros: money (monthly & retirement), making the calls vs living with Capt Waffle, ?
Cons: commuting into a crash pad, sitting reserve, gone for the holidays, lack of schedule flexibility