Originally Posted by BeatNavy

I’ve flown both and have run the math on your dilemma, because it’s mine as well. The 190 is a loud, cramped POS. Make no mistake about it. And if as a bus FO you pick up one premium trip (or even straight pay trip) and work about the same number of days as you would on reserve making 75 hours (with 13/14 off), I put my credit on the bus around 90-95 hours. A premium trip would make that higher. Using 4 year pay (plug numbers from the last bid) 90x$151=13,741 75x$195=14,625. Bump it up to 100 hrs and you’re higher as a 320FO. But if you picked up a premium trip on days off as a 190CA you could do better. What’s it worth to fly with your favorite captain every day? Do you need TPIC to try to go to a legacy/FDX? Do you want weekends and holidays? Vacation? You prob won’t get them as the plug CA. But as a 50% FO you will get a lot.


Read the equipment freeze portion of the CBA. If it’s a new aircraft, you can bid it even within your 2 years. But it’s only a “new aircraft” for first 6 months of revenue service. So with a 1 year annual bid cycle, assuming no supplementals, that could be difficult to time.