Originally Posted by CBreezy

Way better than a AI summary

Originally Posted by 501D22G

The way I understood the conversation btw Meme & Fangs - they meant there is a pay/QOL balance somewhere in the middle between NBA and WBB, especially for commuters.
Meme compared NBB to NBA. Where it's an obvious trade of QOL for more money. Local NBBs have less QOL to lose and just want the pay boost with upgrade to NBA. If you are commuting, now it's a tougher call.

Fangs mentioned that the Pay vs QOL tradeoff is not as lopsided when you compared NBA to WBB, especially for commuters, because he was referring to Scoop, who suggested bidding/flying WBB trips with DH on both ends.

Example:

Do you want to commute from RJserviceTown, USA, to NYC NBA, to cover 3 airports? To make NBA $$$?

Or do you want to commute to NYC330B, with PM starts and AM finishes, or - even better - DDH both front-end & back-end? Basically only worrying about JFK, and with some schedule control to employ Gunfighter's WBB playbook in post #4036.

Anyway that's how I read it, flame away

Originally Posted by Gunfighter

There are a variety of ways to play WBB.

Hard time line - it's efficient (7hrs/day) goes junior, limited BT for GS
Commuter line - DH days, may need broken trips, more BT available for GS
LCA line - reserved for FOs who could be top half on the WBA list. Can get cutthroat when a pilot senior to you calls the junior FO to swap.

Min reserve - lots of couch time if you hold 4 day blocks on weekdays. GS as you see fit. Top 25% may get late month GS with banked PB.
GS early, late reserve - can't roll thunder, but an early month GS snags 20-30 hours above guarantee and wipes out a few res days. Bonus for strategy when moving X days to strand a 2-3 day unusable block. GS are junior early in the month because the seniors want banked PB days.
Max pay reserve - just say F it and bid one or two long blocks early. You will fly once or twice but also maximize opportunities for banked PB days, this is where 1,000 hour months are made Top 25% to do this reliability.
MinMax reserve - drop a few res days to minimize exposure, snag a GS to boost pay. Relative seniority determines where you set your GS window. May generate banked PB if senior enough to get late month GS.

Banked PB days are pay/credit when dropping a trip. Using one or two in a hard time month can put a line holder solidly above the GS trigger with plenty of block time available for that 20-45 hour GS. Getting 4 banked PB days is a setup to break 125 hours the next 4 months with regular line GS.

The downside of any of the res GS strategies is that you are now "on call" 30 days instead of 18.

Originally Posted by Whoopsmybad

Not throwing shade on your good info, but how many decades for a new hire to be a top 25% WBB?

Originally Posted by GutterGuard

It's almost a decade for a new hire to be the plug on WBB.

Originally Posted by Ripinpeace

How might that change if/when the entire 763 fleet gets replaced with all 787 + all 40 WB AB growth order.. seriously?

When the flood gates open for the 737-10 deliveries and NEO constraints open up + continued A220s we’ll likely see 1,000-1,500+ hiring numbers again annually. Delta hits another retirement wave in 2040 passing AA and UA. Even now retirements are strong, but slightly lag UA after 27’ and very much lag AA.

The wide-body fleet is around 145. It could very well be 210-220 when you consider replacements and growth going into and through the 2030’s. Could very well see WBB and NBA get down to ~3 years during such times give or take. Lot can happen in 10 years that changes “time to” NBA or WBB.

Originally Posted by FangsF15

Are you related to Trip? 😉

Talking about 2040 is a complete waste of time. 15 years is an eternity is this business. Even 10 years.

Translating some super big-picture eventual changes into specific seniority levels is putting the cart waaaaaaaaaay in front of the horse.

Originally Posted by ancman

I love when newcomers to our industry act as if black swan events and unexpected stagnation are only things that occurred in the past, and that anyone who suggests otherwise is old and jaded.

Pretty much the only guarantee between now and 2040 is that there will be another down cycle in this always-cyclical industry.

Originally Posted by ancman

I love when newcomers to our industry act as if black swan events and unexpected stagnation are only things that occurred in the past, and that anyone who suggests otherwise is old and jaded.

Pretty much the only guarantee between now and 2040 is that there will be another down cycle in this always-cyclical industry.

Originally Posted by Ripinpeace

It’s also a guarantee 7,100 old guys will be outta here too by 2040! 67 is a dead case