mattp1803

Very nice! I'm glad to see the pilots and the union have a strong voice in the company. I've been proud of NetJets and how they keep on getting better contracts, and higher pay. I'm proud, and I don't even work for the company. I definitely hope to one day be apart of it though!

snakeplt

I play piano in the local HO'house...

Learflyer

Take it easy, guys. It IS just time off. you do have to leave for 7 days to get that 7 off don't forget. Some of that time off will be spent recuperating if you had a tough tour. Maybe a day or two of honey do's. maybe a couple of days to yourself, and all of a sudden it's your 7th day off, and now you've got to pack!

mcartier713

... for those of you who have had both 7/7 schedules and traditional "airline" schedules (and those who haven't too, i guess), what are the good/bad differences between the two?

I would think that 7 days off in a row all the time might get a little boring... and that you'd miss some things you wouldn't miss with a more typical 5/2, 4/3 schedule.

CA1900

With the airline schedules, I was in my own bed a couple more nights. I typically did 3-day trips, so working 15 days a month would have me in hotels on 10 nights, versus around 12-13 on the 7/7 schedule. I was a commuter, though (not by choice), so that often took me away from home more nights than at NJA, but that's part of the price of not living at your base. (Obviously, with the new basing rules, that doesn't happen for many of us at NJA.)

I thought the 7 day trips would kill me, but actually, it usually goes by much quicker than even a 4-day trip at my last job. I credit a lot of that to the better working environment (quiet FBOs versus noisy airline terminals), and dramatically better hotels, in general, than my penny-pinching airline ever used. There's also a lot more variety in destinations, which helps keep it interesting. Even a couple years into it now, I almost always go to at least one airport each week that I've never seen. I saw Bermuda for the first time last week; that was a good time!

I really do like the large blocks of days off, though; you can actually go do something, even if it's not a vacation week. (And if it is a vacation, it wipes out one week, and you still have your regular "off" weeks on either side of it. 3 weeks off in a row is great!)


Get an XBOX. I don't find it boring at all, but that's me.

Another option at NJA, if you don't much care when you fly, is the 15-day flexible schedule. The days off aren't defined, but you'll work a max of 5 days in a row, and have at least 3 off after any workdays. It's roughly the same number of workdays per month as the 7/7, but pays 10% more for the flexibility.

Geronimo4497

7 off is never boring! If it is, you need another hobby.

amaineiac

Agree with everything you said above. The other big difference about the flying is this. At the airlines, I was going from hub to outstation and back to the hub. I usually took some sort of delay getting back into the hub. These delays would compound, then add in the aircraft swaps. My nice 90 min turn would disappear. Rushing to get food or trying to make up time so you avoid the min rest issues was pretty common. Day after day, it just wears on you.

Not so here. You're provided crew food, there are considerably less aircraft swaps, and if things really get late, scheduling takes you off the trip and does something else with you.

By the end of day 4 at the airlines, I was toast. My seventh day here feels like day 2, if that, when I was at my last job. If you've never commuted, it's hard to explain how much additional stress that adds to your life. That stress is now gone. Instead of worrying if I was going to get on and make it to work or home, now my biggest concern is will I get a crappy seat. I'm no longer counting heads in the boarding area, or checking to see if there is another pilot going for the only jumpseat.

The schedule takes some getting use to, but my overall quality of life is light years ahead of where it was at the regionals.

mcartier713

which schedules lead better family/home lives? ... 7/7 is obviously a little more predictable, but you're home less.

Learflyer

When I was at Flops, on my go home day I was stuck in a middle seat from Seattle to Dulles! When I got to Dulles, the dang people mover thingy dingy broke down, and I missed my connecting flight! Pi$$ed to say the least. That's the kind of stuff I don't miss. Although, you're treated better at NJA.

dudemize

For me, I prefer the 7/7 far more than the typical airline schedule. I was at JetBlue and while the days off were about the same as NJA, it just seemed like I was never able to establish a routine at home. Don't get me wrong, I'm no fan of 7 day trips, but having 7 off is awesome. It really gives me tons of quality time with the family. My wife is a creature of habit and routine and she absolutely loves having long range planning ability again.

For example I already know I have Thanksgiving and Christmas off this year. I even got vacation in December so I have almost the whole month off. I can assure you if I was still at JB I would be working both of those holidays.

Another thing to consider is whether or not you are a commuter. Airline schedules can be very good if you live in base (I didn't at JB). Personally I'll take 7/7 with no commuting any day. I can tell you that being able to live anywhere you like (pretty much) is AWESOME! It's worth an extra night or two in a hotel for me.