Originally Posted by
grumpydwarf
OP Quote: "Let’s see, work all month 5 on / 2 off for a max of 8 days off each month? Airlines guarantee 13+ days off each month. OAM is going to making you do LEAP standby on your days off (illegal) and then you can’t be unavailable."
I drank the same Koolaid. Of those 13+ days off per month, plan on spending your day off commuting home and a day off commuting back to work. Then there are the times where you are involuntarily extended and lets not forget the winter cancellations and you are stuck in your base. Those 13+ days quickly dwindle down to 4 days, but at least its not all the time. There is no consistency and your body pays the price for that. Many rotor transition guys figured this out pretty quick and bailed. If you live in base, that takes some of the pain away, but it's still pain. I'll take an underpaid government job any day over flying for a regional.
I'm not sure where in the thread you quoted that from, but I feel your assessment of the airlines is pretty off base and misleading. First, regionals are temporary...you say you'll take an underpaid government job any day over a regional, but would you take an underpaid government job over flying for a major? You're comparing the worst pay/schedules in an airline career to a government job where your pay and schedules won't get that much better over time...kind of apples and oranges. The majority of my 30+ year airline career, I will have had 15-19 days off (kind of my choice on how much I want to work). At my regional I got 11-14 days off, but did a lot of day trips and spent a lot of work nights in my own bed. At my major I commute to, I spend a lot of long overnights at home, some 24 hours, so I am "home" on a work day. You probably get more nights in your own bed in your job, but I'd venture to say airline guys get more time off, more awake time at home with their family, and overall have a much better schedule and QOL.
Second, since when does commuting take all day on an off day? Most places have commutable trips, available to most seniorities at least on one side of the pairing (if not both), so commuting occurs on a work day most of the time. And even if it is the next morning, you get home and still have most of the day at home. And in the rare event you get extended to a day off, you get paid...a lot. And depending on the company you work for, after being extended you then have to work less if you drop a trip or a reserve day for the same compensation since you likely just got 150-200% for the extended day.
Commuting to reserve at a regional (or most any airline) sucks. Don't get me wrong. And the airlines are a cyclical industry. But if the government doubled your pay tomorrow and begged me to come do that job, I still wouldn't do it. Guess I'm glad someone's willing to, though.