Fair enough. Your company/seniority/base/situation is better than mine. I am glad somebody has it better than I.

What I can speak to is my company and my base. The line in my simulation would have gone to a very senior person because it was "commutable" (late first day show, early end on the last day) and had 23 hours of credit (lots of flying and no long sits). At my base, we have about 45 crews. Looking at this month's bid package, of those 45 lines (monthly schedules):

* 10-12 were four day "commutable" trips (like in the simulation). Very senior lines.
* 8-10 were four day trips with all oh-dark-thirty showtimes (good for non-commuters, only okay for commuters since they only spend one day in the crashpad).
* 8-10 were a mish-mash of day trips (horrible for commuters), two days, three days, and random strings
* 5 were "stand-ups" aka "high speeds". A stand up is the last flight in the evening and the first flight out in the morning with 3-6 hours at the hotel (unless a plane breaks and you need to do a repo flight, then you can be up all night). Each stand-up is ONE 12-14 hour duty period. They are about as bad for a commuter as day trips.
* 10 were reserve lines (pilot is on call with a 90 minute call out time). They were about equally split between oh-dark-thirty starts, 1000 starts, and stand-ups. Reserve lines are generally awarded to the most junior.

Of all the lines, only about 15 had at least three weekends off.


I am a lucky guy because I am so senior, I can bid on, and be awarded my choice of reserve lines! I don't care about flight time and my guarantee will pay my bills (no wife, no kids, no car payment, efficiency apartment in base), so I mostly bid stand-ups (I like working the back side of the clock) or a better reserve line. It works for me, but my situation is a rare one.

JCarlton, I am not saying don't become a pilot, I just want you to know what the real life is like. Flying planes is a blast, but working the job is hard.

Good luck,
JSH