Originally Posted by
BMEP100
The conversation about open time lead me to this.
In the IAH B756 base- the long haul Europe and SA trips drop into open time and are being flown by reserves nearly every day.
Either MUC, LHR, GRU, SCL and sometimes several in a day are now showing up in open time. It's like there is some kind of flu bug on the 767-300.
Before the last contract- the 767 long haul flying was considered the cream and went very senior and was rarely seen in open time. That included 767-200, which paid WB.
I am guessing that people's motivation to put up with all nighters, foreign language, customs, and long range nave has been dampened by the fact that the 767-3 pays the same as the 757-3.
I think there are 2 reasons for this. One, the trips in open time (on the F/O side) are almost the bunkie/relief pilot trips. Those always take first break which can be a bear to get some decent rest.
Two, as said earlier, most of the flying is a 4 day, relatively un-productive trip (i.e. 4 days at 20-22'ish hours of pay). The saving grace is the fact that the South America trips always leave late and get in early (sans Lima and Bogota which leave in the afternoon).
All in all, I really enjoy the trips and the destinations so I'm content. The London's used to be a 3 day/20 hour trip which went pretty senior. They changed over the winter to a 4 day/20'ish hour trip due to stronger headwinds and longer flight times (ref: FAR 117), but I'm hoping they go back to 3 day/20 hour for the summer.