Originally Posted by marcal

I loved international flying for all the positives but the cumulative effect on me personally was that I was sick all the time. I would get a head cold that would turn into a sinus infection that would last two weeks. I almost had surgery it was so ridiculous.

I don’t know if it was the dry air but I am convinced that it was the cumulative effects of circadian disruption/disjointed sleep(interrupted sleep) that did it. I did exclusively international for seven years and after about two years had these effects.

If you are based on the 330 in NYC, you’re losing two solid sleeps, 4-5x per month. More if you GS. That’s what killed me. Flying through WOCL and breaking the normal sleep patterns that many times per month is for me, a recipe for being sick. A lot.

It is astonishingly different post international flying doing zero red eyes. If I get a sniffle it’s gone in a day. Domestic is way harder work, no doubt but I don’t feel anywhere near as run down in terms of cumulative fatigue.

I loved the aircraft, crews, destinations, etc but it aged me and made it drastically harder to recover from sickness. YMMV. I will never fly an air airplane again that does exclusively international.

1x international or red eye here or there is fine, it was the cumulative effects of it all the time that were hard.

Originally Posted by Nantonaku

That sounds fun for 1 day not 3. Then you have the 2 day zombie hangover after trying to catch up on sleep once you get home.

Originally Posted by marcal

I loved international flying for all the positives but the cumulative effect on me personally was that I was sick all the time. I would get a head cold that would turn into a sinus infection that would last two weeks. I almost had surgery it was so ridiculous.

I don’t know if it was the dry air but I am convinced that it was the cumulative effects of circadian disruption/disjointed sleep(interrupted sleep) that did it. I did exclusively international for seven years and after about two years had these effects.

If you are based on the 330 in NYC, you’re losing two solid sleeps, 4-5x per month. More if you GS. That’s what killed me. Flying through WOCL and breaking the normal sleep patterns that many times per month is for me, a recipe for being sick. A lot.

It is astonishingly different post international flying doing zero red eyes. If I get a sniffle it’s gone in a day. Domestic is way harder work, no doubt but I don’t feel anywhere near as run down in terms of cumulative fatigue.

I loved the aircraft, crews, destinations, etc but it aged me and made it drastically harder to recover from sickness. YMMV. I will never fly an air airplane again that does exclusively international.

1x international or red eye here or there is fine, it was the cumulative effects of it all the time that were hard.

Originally Posted by Funk

I really enjoyed flying the 73 here at Delta until a forgotten standing AE bid dropped me into WB flying. All the way through training I was slightly miffed at myself for leaving an airplane I enjoyed at a seniority level that worked great. Then, a three and half hour nap in a lie flat seat on the way to Buenos Aires, followed by mid morning empanadas with the other pilots at an outdoor cafe in the sunshine, a solid nap, workout, then a spectacular dinner with the other pilots before a long night’s sleep and the return trip, with, you guessed it, a three hour nap in the lid flat seat (it really works for me). The naps, relaxed pace on the layover, and spending a pittance in BA to eat like a king can be real habit forming. As others have noted, being able to sleep on the plane can be a critical factor in how people do or don’t enjoy international. Count me amongst those that heard the, “it’s a totally different airline” talk for years, then had the epiphany of, “Holy Crap! It is a TOTALLY different airline.” YMMV BWYWWWYB

Originally Posted by Trip7

Are you describing the typical 24 hr international layover? If 30+ hrs I agree those are a relaxed pace but even on the 73 these 24 hr Caribbean/All Inclusive layovers go by extremely fast.

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Originally Posted by rdb253

Ah yes panama man! Make sure to hit up Casco Viejo next time if it's not raining

Originally Posted by Nantonaku

That sounds fun for 1 day not 3. Then you have the 2 day zombie hangover after trying to catch up on sleep once you get home.

Originally Posted by Trip7

Thanks for the tip. Will do. When it stopped raining I hit up the Canal. I was debating whether the ride there in traffic late afternoon would be worth it but I'm glad I did. Surprised uBer was $3 for a 35 min drive

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Originally Posted by Whoopsmybad

That reminds me of more than one conversation I’ve had recently:
Other dude: What’s that
Me: It’s a 220
Other dude: That’s a big RJ
Me: Nope those are ours
Other dude: Seriously???

Originally Posted by boog123

Other dude was correct, it looks like a big RJ. Has the proper crew and pay rate tho.