Mox Nix

Not seniority-based, it's more specific to the aircraft you're assigned to... meaning tail #, not type. You're normally tied to one specific tail, and you coordinate your scheduled OFF days among the other pilot(s) assigned to that airplane. Some planes are crewed with 3 pilots, some are crewed with just 2. That depends on the contract that the company has with the aircraft owner. Jet Linx doesn't have their own fleet, they do aircraft management for airplane owners.

OR, you might be designated as a floater, which means you move between aircraft, which might also mean traveling to different bases to fill staffing gaps.

Important to do apples-to-apples comparisons. Gama/Wheels Up, and many other companies that do rotational schedules, also allow you to live wherever you want and they airline you to/from work to begin and end your rotation. So when you're "on", they own you... and if you're not flying you're on hotel or airport standby. Granted, the benefit with that arrangement is that when you're "off", you're actually OFF.

Jet Linx will have you live in-base (unless they hire/assign you to be a floater.) 8 hard days off doesn't mean you're "working" the other 22 days per month. When I was with Jet Linx, I was flying (or on layover away from home) an average of about 10-12 days per month. Some months were busier than others, and they pay an override if you fly more than 16 days per month. (the 16 day count includes layovers away from home)

So, if you're not flying, and it's not a hard OFF day, you're on standby. At home. They can only call you from 0800-1700L for same-day trips. After 1700L they can only call as late as 2000L to notify you for next-day trips. In my two years with Jet Linx, I only got called for pop-up trips about once a month (or less) on average.

On many of those standby days, you don't get called or used at all. So at 1701L, crack open a beer and enjoy the rest of the evening. I'll concede that this sort of arrangement does make it hard to make personal plans, since you don't know for sure whether you'll be on a trip or not on certain days.

And the flying varies. Again, 8 days off a month doesn't mean you're GONE for 20-22 days. And the contrast here with the rotational "fly-you-to-your-airplane" companies is that you're not spending all your "ON" days away from home. You might fly several out-and-back type days where you still come home each evening. You might go out for just an overnight, or you might be out on the road for 3-4 days or more. It varies.

Jet Linx's 8 days off was also an improvement over the 5 days per month they had when I first started there. So the company leadership recognizes the need to keep improving QOL for the pilot group. Could they do better? Maybe... if they keep having turnover and hiring problems, they might have to.

So I'm not necessarily trying to be a cheerleader for Jet Linx, I'm just trying to correct some misperceptions about the schedule and what "only 8 days off" means. Every company is different. QOL might mean different things to different people. Overall I was pretty satisfied with Jet Linx, and I thought I was treated pretty well there. Good company culture and safety culture. I left on good terms in July to start another position that fits me for this stage of life. But I would also consider working for them again if the right opportunity presented itself (aircraft type and location).