igotgummed

I just left a WB B position for a NB A position......and I’ll say that there is absolutely nothing worse in this world than that phone call in the bunk when your break is over, after your 1:50 nap. Brutal. A close second is the wake up from the 3-4hr nap after you arrive, when it’s 10am body time after being awake all night and now it’s time for beer and dinner. Most of the bus rides suck. Security is a PITA. Language barrier is a pain.

I loved every minute of it right up until I didn’t. I, for one, can’t wait for my “rediscovering America” tour. But that’s just me.

YMMV.

Herkflyr

The key is "YMMV." I flew the 757 domestically (when we had separate categories) for five years and enjoyed it. I went to the ER to see how I might like international, but did it with a bit of hesitation, since many guys I flew with domestically told me "how tired I would be all the time."

Boy am I glad that I took the leap of faith. I really enjoyed the international scene. It also helped that my cousin had lived in Germany for many years and I met him on DUS layovers many times. Yes there are times when you are tired. I learned how to find my "niche" and it didn't bother me much at all. I also liked flying to S. America in our winter and Europe in the summer. But you know what I also "missed" from domestic flying? I went at least two years without eating crap from the food court in a domestic airport. Eating good quality food and wine, in a relaxed manner over the course of a couple of hours, usually with others from the crew, is good for the body and soul. Throw in some strategic sightseeing or hiking and it worked for me.

I acknowledge that it doesn't work for everyone, for all the reasons we know, and I like domestic flying as well. You know what doesn't work for me internationally? Being locked in my hotel room. And since I just read that the UK is now going to require crewmembers to be restricted to the hotel room, I think I'll stay domestic a bit longer!

TED74

I fly with a lot of captains who jumped from WB B to NB A. Almost none of them regret it, and my hunch is that almost none of the WB B folks who stayed put regret that decision either. The good news is there seem to be almost no surprises and the variables are what you expect. Despite all the math to try and justify one choice or another or forecast green slip adjustments in the hourly pay formula, it generally seems the jumpers to NB A find their pay bump (up) to be significant. What that’s worth (or not worth) in life/schedule/diet/sleep/vacation varies widely. Luckily, humans like to justify their historic decisions as having been the right ones, so buyer’s remorse is probably pretty rare.
I will say that anyone who thinks they know what the next couple of years in any category are actually going to look like is kidding themself. Good luck landing in a category sprinkled with lucky dust, however you might define that yourself.

TegridyFarms

If you just experienced this WB B —>NB A you might want to give it a little bit of time. I personally can’t do WB flying because I have a hard enough time sleeping one time zone away. Circa 2018-2019 the NB fleets... well there wasn’t even a point in bidding. You took off from A to B and then C never happened. Instead you found yourself with 11 hours in D. Deadheading to E on day 2. Flying to F and then G... then to H. When in reality H was your C and you were supposed to have 30 hours there. You get the 41FR code on your schedule, only to find out that there was so much credit in the trip you didn’t really make anything extra and had two 11 hour layovers.

The exception: last day reroutes usually worked out in my/our favor.

When Delta has the demand and the machine kicks in to keep it running on time and maximize crew usage things may return to those days. I hope they don’t, because quite honestly it was miserable. When demand was lower over the last few months... I had 1-2 legs a day and it was absolutely amazing. Hope you never get gummed by his optimizer.

XJ86

All you money chasing go getters chomping at the bit for some junior reserve schedule to slap on an extra stripe in NYC serving 3 airports of hell in a transcontinental commute...

My hats off to you and I owe you a beer!been there done that. Turned it down before covid.... ain't no amount of money delta can pay me to go back to that.

I'll stay a narrow body fo on the west coast kicking it on my weekends and holidays racking up the green slips and enjoying my ine and only life

OOfff

the important thing is that you feel your life is being spent better than others

TED74

I could certainly be an anomaly and I’m sure no two categories are created equal. But I’ve never had a reroute that wasn’t lucrative and/or that got me home early. I’m not saying they are acceptable, but I do encourage people to use DALPA resources to ensure all reroute pay due is actually paid for eligible reroutes. Beyond return time to base triggers, there’s a 14-hour uncovered-leg grievance settlement trigger that often results in pay that may or may not appear without a review by DALPA. Pilots don’t have access to the requisite data to determine such eligibility, so if you’re flying (or deadheading) a leg whose report time exceeds 14 hours from your notification of the reroute, dig a little deeper. If RR and some pay doesn’t show up after the rotation shows closed, consider filling a DALPA pilot report.

XJ86

no I feel my life is better serving my kids, being a parent, actually being there and around verses chasing a dollar. Im glad guys are going for it. And like I said my hats off to them. We all want the money but when you get to the point the side hustle pays more then the job... you see things quite differently. Which is why I reside it nope-not-enough-moneystan

Gooner

I believe the point is WWYBBWYW, so good for you.

DrunkIrishman

If you can’t manage the time zone thing to be able to sleep, then WB isn’t for you. I have a hard time understanding why people would choose 12 hr layovers as NB A when they could choose 24-48 hr layovers enjoying great cities and great food with WB B. Did I mention reroutes and deadheads in middle seats? 18 days off/mo on WB/NB is not equal. Most WB rotations start late and finish early making them commutable and give more time at home if you live in base.