Originally Posted by
arouth
Hi,
Military 707 pilot at 17 years (staying in til 20 years) that is researching & hoping to get hired by Delta since I'm already in the Atlanta area.
I've read through a few threads on the typical schedule for a Delta pilot and it seems 3 or 4 day trips are the norm. However I've also read about "narrow body" or 717s having shorter trips. From what I've researched that you get paid less for a schedule like that, but if I already have a military retirement then I'd personally rather focus on quality of life over maxing out the pay scale.
My question is can you (once you get a bit of seniority) bid on shorter 2 day trips or short haul out and backs to be home more? Rather than having half the month off can you work more days but do shorter trips like that instead?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
There really isn't such a thing as a typical schedule...and if there were it could change significantly between now and when you get hired. It could also change a lot throughout your career.
Living locally will be great should you stay near Atlanta. QOL will quickly exceed your military quality of life. But remember, you'll be behind thousands of pilots senior to you. If you want what lots of others want, you'll have last dibs.
So, can you bid on shorter trips to be more? Yes, if you can hold a line. But you probably won't get many of them for some time. You also won't necessarily hold a line (you'll initially be on reserves, most likely), and won't have a ton of control over the trips you're assigned.
In a few years, we will have recently hired 7,000 pilots. As you listen to anecdotes from your buddies or acquaintances here, just know their experience on the relative front of the hiring wave may not necessarily match what yours will be. We will have a ton of retirements accelerating soon and that will help, but accurately forecasting quality of life or your schedule control/characteristics several years out (not to mention through the end of your career) is nearly impossible.