It's because of the size of the 330 vs the 717 that dictates the pay. We all know that the HAL inter island pilots are the hardest workers in the industry. You guys work harder than most regional guys. There is no way I could do that. If I got displaced to the 717, I'd quit. I'm not man enough to do 5-7 legs a day since I passed the age of 30.

Shhh... You'll blow our secret. We always just told you guys how hard ETOPS was to keep those super senior 717 Captains from bidding over to the 330 and knocking us all down the bid list. That worked until the 717 started doing overnights then everyone bailed anyway. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

Agreed though, ETOPS at least to the west coast is the easiest flying that I've ever done. Beats the heck out of doing 1-4 legs on the mainland, de-icing 1-3 times a day, deviating 100+ miles for a line of CBs, or seeing places like EWR, ORD, ATL or STL ever again. Now, crossing the tropical convergence zone can get dicey, and flying to Asia and dealing with ATC and customs there takes anal-retentive to a whole new level.