Schedules are bid in trimesters. Four months of 52 day is 13 days/mo and 76 is 19 days/mo. More popular remains the 7/7 at 15.2 days/mo, as one week of vacation is 21 consecutive days off and one knows his/her schedule for a year in advance.

And if you really want to blow your mind, you can compare the 7/7 schedule with the CC60. They pay the same, but you work fewer days on the CC60 (180/year vs. 182.5/year). Of course, with the CC60 you don’t know exactly which days you work more than a month out. To each her own…

NetJets has 3 four month bid periods per year and the 52 is 52 days per 4 month period. There are 60 day, 72 day and 76 days per period also. The 52 day for a pilot with 10 years of seniority (to get to 4 vacation weeks) could have as little as 116 work days in a year after vacation and PTOs are all used.

116 days is my kind of work year! Appreciate you taking the time to explain to us 121 plebs. :)

Basically a part time job… hmm that’s pretty great. And just how senior does it go on the FO side?

On the FO side I believe it went quite junior. I think the Latitude in particular, everyone that wanted it got it. Of course the drawback is a smaller paycheck.

If you are working at NJA, even on the 52 day schedule, you won't feel very part time. You will work hard most of those days and be glad you have many days away. Unfortunately, it pays the least of all the schedules, but at least close to 7&7, and totally worth the difference in pay with so many more days off in comparison. That said, seniority at the airlines can bring less days, but more efficiency and pay per day to work less and get the same pay as a crummy lines that work many more days.

Yeah, I work fewer days than the 52 at my airline, but I'm also living in base to make it happen. I worry that if we move into a situation where I'm commuting, I'll be wanting to string together longer stretches of time at work, and at that point why not just fly a 7/7 and be done with it? It's intriguing to have the option to work 116 days for the year and still live essentially anywhere.

The other thing about the CC52, average number of days is 13/month. They can schedule up to 15 but they have to make up for it in the following months. Also, you can opt in for long tour option (max 8) days. That gives you 3% back. i.e. CC52 is 5% less pay than the 7/7. If you opt in for long tour you get 3% back. Then, if you live in a green base, select 6 day tour max. I did this out of PDK and never had an 8 day tour but got the 3% anyway. I absolutely loved the 52! Pick a busy fleet (CL350) and you'll do fine with FDP. Also works well for Guard and Reserve folks.

Interesting conversation. I left NJA and went to a legacy. I miss many things about NJA. Some things at NJA are better than the airlines, and I’ve found some aspects of the airline experience to be somewhat disappointing.

As far as scheduling goes, I’m away from base less at my airline vs. NJA (even the less work schedules like the 52 & 60 day). When I’m on overnights I have time and ability to do stuff, this was rare at NJA in the recent years.

Commuting to an airline destroys most of what I said above. Does a long-term airline commuter have a better QOL than a NJA pilot? I’m not so sure.

NJA kicked butt regarding vacation, medical insurance, and the FBO experience usually beats almost any airport terminal. FAs are in general a over-dramatic liability.

Airline pilots seem to, on average, have a bit more self worth and respect than the average 135 pilot…but unfortunately ALPA seems about as dysfunctional as NJASAP.

Hindsight being 20/20, if someone had to commute to an airline job…even a major or legacy…I think NJA might be a better option. The commuters I see go to great lengths to commute, they spend large amounts of money, have much more stress and reduced QOL. In most cases it simply isn’t worth it and the NJA scheme of home basing is a better option.