4 days off is just an initial scheduling req for the company. I think most people waive it to get what they want.

DTZ and the red/green rules let you do stuff like drop everything and sit on the X/Y list. I know guys who are flexible and routinely credit triple digits while keeping normal number of days off.

The point is you can earn more than at a legacy here if you want to hustle. Or, you can chill out and fly one trip a month. Or, do both depending on what you have going on. And because of the grid rules, open time tends to have more and better trips. It also forces the company to keep the airline adequately staffed with reserve coverage.

If a friend calls you up and wants to go camping, or you're invited to a wedding last minute, you can just drop a conflicting trip and and pick up something on other days. You don't have to rely on the ambiguity of a trade. This flexibility is gold to me.

There is no reason we can't have industry leading work rules AND pay with the new JCBA except for our willingness to fight for it. Attracting pilots is an operational limfac and could be a competitive adv for the new JetBlue.