I avoid Monday thru Friday planes at all costs. Too many monkey-fighting snakes.

 

They will tell you that you are clueless?

 

They show you the exit . You can’t go in making demands. Find a place with very flexible schedules and a good ability to drop / swap trips . Get in, learn the system and make it work to your advantage. Will you get everything you want 100% of the time ? Hell no , but more often than not you can get something you can live with.
You go in making demands, no matter how much they need you , they will pass you by and go to the next guy . You’ll be the butt of many jokes during the Human Resources lunch break .

 

Hey Cap, you should probably stay at your current gig. The truth about airline flying is it’s pretty demanding on your body and lifestyle. You are either waking up at 4am or flying until after midnight. When you are junior you work weekend (what you want) and all holidays. International is great if you can sleep on a plane. I personally didn’t sleep and it’s not fun trying to explore a new city exhausted. There is a reasons why most airline pilots come from the military or regionals, they are already used to it.

 

Weekends off are desirable. If you're willing to work weekends you could probably get some close approximation such as work Fri-Sun or Sat-Mon.

Probably need a major airline, not a regional, PBS, and some seniority. Sat - Sun trips would probably go junior, but Fri-Mon or Thu-Sun 4-days would be even more junior.

Probably need to be willing to do redeyes, depending on the airline. Once you're senior enough to hold day trips (aka locals, aka turns), you could probably work some combo of Sat + Sun every week plus Fri or Mon some weeks to get your credit high enough for the month.

Best bet would be a legacy with a lot of retirements, then just stay on the junior NB fleet (usually 737) and you should have enough seniority in couple years to achieve a close approximation of what you're looking for.

I used to do a Fri - Sat two-day at the regional that paid 18 hours so that was usually all I had to do for the month. But that was back in the turbo-prop days under 135 rules, and the two days were a real grinder, 8 legs both days, very early start and very late finish. So no poolside glamour at the layover hotel with hot flight attendants or any of that.

 

they could (would) say “congrats on all the hours. You’re still the plug. Enjoy commuting to reserve”

 

This isn't a hobby.