Originally Posted by
Trip7
I sense alittle bit of animosity here against GSs.
Not at all, I'm extremely senior in my seat, live an hour from base and have no kids, I have no problems jumping on an advantageous GS. I have my August schedule set up nicely for a GS opportunity and I'll likely pass on a few before taking the best GS for me. I just know lots of pilots don't partake as many just don't have the time available and/or can't deal with the uncertainty of the reserve GS game (family situation). Some just don't want to work that much and would prefer the days they do work, pay them more. Also, it comes back to the fact that GS's can (and likely will) dry up at any time on your fleet. Counting on them for those high earnings, it's a great plan.
That said, I much prefer an airline that is staffed properly. You mentioned flexibility, nothing provides more flexibility than having proper staffing. If that drives down the number of GS's handed out, I'm OK with that.
Originally Posted by
Trip7
I agree 100% if you prefer pay per day worked than you do total dollars the 350 is better, but that type of flying overwhelmingly is favored by a commuter. Sure an in base pilot would also have more days off, but several of those days off will be recovering from "international fog". For some the health benefits of upgrading and living in base is worth it even flying a couple extra days.
They also favor many non-commuters, especially if you can sit SC at home...that's A LOT of time spent at home. I don't disagree that international has its downsides wrt to sleep, it's actually something I've voiced on here before. However, so do domestic trips that flip-flop between am/pm flying. Domestic multi-leg, 7+ block hour days are extremely detrimental to ones health as well, especially when you end up on the opposite coast. I found recovering from a long, international leg is not much different than recovering from a transcon redeye.
Originally Posted by
Trip7
Moreover, with domestic fully recovered and Intl still far from it, the "Earnings Power" of a pilot strongly favors domestic A. Even senior 717As are doing 350k+.
Oh I don't disagree with you there. I just don't automatically dismiss people that say they'll make more in the right seat than the left...mainly because I view "earnings" through the lens of pay/day worked. Relying on GS or working 15+ days/month for that, isn't great either.