Yes, but you get to fly with the best Captain

 

Yes.
I'm a junior FO on it. It was funny the other day...Had a senior m88 FO on the Jumpseat, and after a short taxi with a flurry of activity he said "Dang, do I really work that hard in that seat?!" I replied yes, you've just become somewhat numb to it.

 

Someone who lives in the local area and is junior anyway. Flying the same crappy schedule, might as well make some extra cash.

 

Got it. And I'm legitimately trying to understand this, not just throwin stones and wanting to argue, or complaining about being junior. I actually have had a great schedule this summer.

I understand we have some sort of contractual minimum and I understand that the company loses more money if the 747 doesn't go vs the M88. I'm just trying to figure out how the 747 is at contractual mins during the summer months when they have several days with 6 required and 30 available (which should only get better after the summer is over). While on the 320 in NYC, for example, they have a dozen days in August already where they have either zero or one reserve person available at all and not a single day with coverage. Where are the contractual mins for that and other fleets? I know we are hiring a lot for this last AE and that's great, but where was the hiring to cover the contractual requirements for the summer that has already passed, or the summer of 2015 or 2014? Shouldn't the contractual minimums for reserve cover all bases and all fleets? The answer I usually hear is "well they are junior bases." Ok..., so we can't manage that or have a requirement for that as well? And if the company isn't meeting the contract requirements for these "junior" fleets and bases; does ALPA lodge a complaint or do we just manage it with maxing out the reserves and having guys fly their 6th+ green slip for the month instead of actually hiring more people? Again I'm not trying to start an argument, just legitimately trying to figure out why we have a system where we get the contract honoured on one end ("meet the contractual minimums"), while on the other end they, and we, don't seem to care or back up the contractual obligations ("it's a junior fleet").

 

Yes ALPA cares. Delta is paying 717 FOs 5.something hours each for going below contractural mins this spring for a few days.

 

Excellent. I remember quickly glancing over that a few months back but didn't delve into it too deep as a non-717 pilot. Again, I'm not trying to throw stones at anybody or ALPA, just trying to understand how and why we come up with a reserve manning formula that appears to be all over the place depending on what plane you are on.

 

It takes a certain kind of person. If you live locally the equation changes. But for the commuters NYC on a narrowbody is extremely challenging.

Hotels are expensive, even for NB captains. Crash pads are nasty. If you're 40-something you don't need snoring roommates, nasty dirty kitchens and couches, and people going in and out at all hours disturbing your sleep. Since you are junior, you will occasionally have 0600 EWR sign-ins from your Kew Gardens crash pad. Enjoy competing for the 1 shower at 0345 and the ridiculously expensive cab ride or mind numbingly painful mass transit to get to sign-in.

You are going to be junior for your 2 year seat lock, hope you don't like weekends off and vacation when your kids are out of school. Commuting to reserve is miserable at any airline or seat position. NYC adds congestion and WX to what would already suck if you were commuting to PHX. If you get a line it won't be commutable, see the previous paragraph for the fun that will entail. Since you will be flying into LGA quite often, just plan on missing your commute home every now and then since you are going to be late. 40 open seats on your backup the night prior somehow turns into 30 seats oversold in a matter or 12 hours. What just happened? Oh great another night in the pad.

Some guys bet on the come thinking that they'd be able to slide to ATL in a couple months. Nope, ATL is still plenty senior and you're going to eat 2 full years in NYC as a junior captain. Here's your encore kick in the junk. From your freshly minted captain's chair look to your right. That guy might be making more money than you while working less, with all the seniority he could ever desire. Such is the nature of NYC 88/717, I'll pass.

If I was 28 and single, sign me up. Hell, if I was 45 and single...

 

I'm still surprised of the 13.4k pilots that there aren't those local to NYC that can just drive in to all 3 airports with a 3 hr callout?

What makes the right seat of the MD88 more busy than say the right seat of a 717/737/320?

 

Are you asking seriously or more rhetorically?

I know the checklists are longer on the 88, there are more items that could "bite" you if you miss them on the checklist, and the a/c packs just don't cut it IMHO.

 

That comes from when the MD88 was used on shuttle operations and that's all you flew was shuttle. DCA, BOS and LGA use to turn that aircraft in 15 to 20 mintues. You would bounce back and forth all day 12 hours plus and get 5 hours of flight time. And yes it was the busiest seat in the company.