Schedule Q’s
 

I have been looking at NetJets vs the airlines, currently a regional FO but having to commute. NetJets has a base nearby but I’m wondering what a realistic schedule could look like. What is the likelihood/timeframe of being able to hold a schedule flying midweek 3 or 4 day trips? I’ve read about the bidding system and the different schedules, would something like this even be possible?

You leave on day 1 and return home day 7. You wont see your home between day 1 and day 7 unless u live in PBI or TEB.

You won't see any 3 or 4 day trips. You are more likely to be scheduled for 6 or 7 day tours. On the 72 day schedule, if I bid "weekends off," I can probably expect 2 or 3 weekends off per month.

Preferential bidding at Netjets is just letting them know your preferences and then they might give you what you asked for or they may not. I do not believe seniority does anything for getting what you request like it does at the airlines and there is no real requirement for scheduling to grant your preferences. 7&7 is the most common schedule and available to almost anyone except those in training for a new airplane and those in a new fleet with less than 10 airplanes. Long tours are more efficient for the company so that is the vast majority of what is available and assigned. Technically, there is a small percentage of pilots that can use seniority to hold the short tour option (5 day max tours). It is hard to get and mostly not wanted since we get a lot of money in Flight Duty Pay and short tours pay very little of that because of how the program is structured.

I think one of the hardest transitions for airline folks considering NetJets is getting their arms around the schedules. 7-7 is the default schedule and many (like me) prefer it. But even some folks who have been here a while sometimes agitated for the idea of "biddable" airline style lines with 3, 4, or 5 day tours. Although they occasionally happen under the quirks of the CC schedules or during a "seam" period (REAM in my parlance) they are woefully inefficient because the company can't amortize the airline expense over such a short tour. The advent of flight duty pay has almost eliminated the desire for short tours because of the way FDP is constructed. But if the FDP threshold drops to zero, I would expect those people to resume the calls for short tours.

But to answer your question, no. I don't think that biddable 3 or 4 day trips on a routine basis will EVER happen at NJ. The company isn't that stupid....:rolleyes:

They fly you to the airplane on Day 1 and home on the last day so a 3 day trip would involve 2 days on a airline and 1 day flying (maybe a little flying 1 and 3) so there is no way they are going to allow that. It would not be profitable. Same with 4 days.

What about LAS?

Pretty much the same. You may have a jet for you to fly at LAS, you may not. You could fly the jet home on your last day, or end up airlining home from New York.

There’s always a chance you could get an overnight at your base. In 15 years I’ve had 2 at mine, but I’m not in a big city. I’ve had quite a few LAS overnights through years and I’m East Coast based. That number would probably be higher for a West Coast pilot.

The shortest scheduled tour is 5 days. And you need to be pretty senior to get those, unless you luck out and get it in your preferences.