Originally Posted by
Sliceback
Your "fixed schedule" changes every month. Very senior in a seat, be it CA or FO/FB, can often fly the same trip, and/or work on the same days, on the w/b jets. But it takes a LONG time to reach that stability. Obviously you reach it quicker as FO but it still takes a long time, like 20 years.
Most trips run as planned, sometimes with delays, but you normally return to your base around the scheduled arrival time with occasional delays.
Trust me, our schedules are fixed by comparison. Unless you have very weak work rules that allow them to fly you into a day off. Or get stuck overnight in IROPS, which happens to me about once a decade.
If you make our kind of money in white collar, you're on call 24/7 365 and had better respond to texts and emails from bosses and customers at 2300 on your day "off".
It's actually worse today compared to when I did it... back then we had less access to work info on the internet, so if the boss needed something done after hours they would usually have to call you in, and also come in themselves to get the ball rolling. Today they can just fire off a text, launch you on a 30 hour urgent project over a holiday weekend, then roll over and go back to sleep. They're not shy about sending that text, to keep their bosses and customers happy.