Originally Posted by
TankerDriver
In regards to the 7/7, 15 day or 18 day options for your schedule, what are your opinions on the best QOL schedule. I'm currently a full timer in the Air National Guard after coming off Active Duty about a year ago and after being deployed 200-240 days a year, it's nice to be home for a change. I've toyed with the idea of going to the airlines, but my motivation for a 121 career has pretty much gone down the tubes for various reasons. The money as a full timer in the guard is pretty good, so I would be taking about a $25,000-30,000 pay cut to do the guard part time with starting pay at NJ, which I'm not *too* concerned with. What I am concerned with is the 7/7 schedule. I just don't think that's a great schedule for family life, but I could be wrong. With the guard, I'd also be looking at the weekend drill once a month, flying 3-4 times a month and an alert day here and there, so my 14 days "off" from NJ would turn into about 8 days off. Any other guard guys doing the NJ thing?
TankerDriver,
How the new 18-day fixed and 15-day flex schedules look on paper and how they will actually settle out will be two different things. The 7&7 is the only schedule that remains from the old contract. How many days you'll actually work on these new ones will depend on scheduling efficiency. You'd definitely have to be very flexible in order to work the new 15-day. The 18-day might prove to be a good schedule for those who are senior enough to get their preferences, but even if you don't, you'd know your scheduled work days by the 15th of the month prior. This one would have some long tours though, with 7's being common and the possibility of one 8-day per 4-month bid period.
I'm married with three kids and I tried to make the old 18-day reserve schedule work out, but my wife got tired of having to reschedule everything she tried to plan ahead, like medical appointments and such. I took the pay cut and went back on the 7&7 and things have been much better for us. I know my schedule won't change more than once per year unless I want it too. I guess it depends on how you prioritize the importance of tour length, schedule predictability and pay. Every family has different priorities. PM me if you have specific questions.
-NTFB