Originally Posted by
NYC Pilot
I'd rather be an International wide body FO for the rest of my career at Delta with 17-18 days off every month than be a 737 CA flying 4 legs a day to the same places all the time at SWA. Anyone who thinks narrow body flying 4-5 legs a day is an easy job is kidding themselves. Just an opinion but I have done both and for me it would be Delta hands down due to the variety of flying. The same can be said for American or United. If I was in my early 30's, I'd get the hell out of SWA ASAP unless I was living in base and drove to work. Even then, it would be a hard pill to swallow because of the fact that I'd be flying a 737 forever. Not my cup of tea and just an opinion.
Also, SWA, as successful as it may be and there are no doubts about that, is still a low cost carrier. American, Delta and United are global airlines. Something to think about.
Trust me if it weren't for the fact I live near a Southwest only base (MCO) then this wouldn't even be a question, but I know me and I know I will choose weekends, holidays, and flexibility over widebody flying so when I look at the numbers for a decent mid level seniority on a widebody in ATL based on today's distribution I realize that time spent in a widebody will be short for me. But that's just me and knowing my schedule preferences so if the majority of my career will be spent in narrowbodies why not drive to work and enjoy the schedule flexibility that Southwest offers?
If I thought I could spend the majority of my career in a widebody commuting to a 3 day trip that was commutable on both ends, had one leg the first day, one leg the last day, and 30 hours off in Rome, etc then I would be all over that, but realistically speaking especially considering Delta is buying a lot of narrowbodies and loves the term "joint venture" that type of flying will make up a small part of my career so as nice as the "dream" of 9-12 days a month flying a 777 across the pond unfortunately that will just have to stay just that, a dream.