Whatever it is we call what we do, it’s very close to red-eye flying. Maybe we can call it “red-eye adjacent” or something. Getting up at 2 am for a 4 am show is as painful as any red-eye flying I’ve done in the past - same with getting up at midnight body clock time for a 5 am show time on an East coast overnight.

We also have plenty of 2 am-ish scheduled arrivals. And when those run late, we can easily be saying hello to the AM crews as we walk out of the airport. At MDW the other night, the hotel shuttle van was packed with passengers and crew - standing room only - leaving the airport at 3 am.