Scheduling question...
 

Alright, so here's a question for "all y'all":

I'm trying to get a bead on if I can continue my lifestyle if I were to move on to a regional when hiring picks up at some point, essentially I have 2 weeks on 2 weeks off at my current job, and I commute to HNL or (depending on my mood) BKK/UTP during that time off (I realize any "regular" airline won't let me have 2 weeks on 2 off), but is it possible to (without waiting 10 years to get the seniority) be able to work on a schedule that would allow that to continue?

For example... would I be able to "front load" one bid period and "back load" the next one to have the time off to make my commute worthwhile... or is that going to be a 10 year wait on seniority?

Let's assume you could "front load"

You will get 10-12 days off per month to start, or 18-20 days on duty. You can only work 6 days in a row before having a 24 break. So to get 18 days packed together, you would need a minimum of 20 days. Figure a day before and a day after for commute nets you 8 days at home. If you only had 10 off duty days, you might get 6 days at home. Either way, that would be a grueling schedule (I would slit my wrists before the end of the month).

Dont forget 30 in 7.

So how likely is it to front load like you want as a new guy? About the same as hitting the powerball.

Grueling Schedules don't bother me that much... I did some extra flying last few months and had a stint of flying 35 days straight (with an average of 15 flights a day).

One thing I'm not clear on is how a "reserve" schedule works, am I still required to have the 24 off in 7 or can I just do straight reserve for 18-20 days?

Furthermore (when I have the seniority to "hold" it), 6 days off at the end + 6 days off at the beginning = 12 days off in a row... right?

You're flying your butt off. 2 on and 2 off with Yute?

Still have to have the 7th day off on reserve too. Even if you don't fly one of those days. You learn to love your 3 days off after commute, don't get greedy haha.

No. That's why it's called the regionals. Welcome aboard or not. In fact... you'd probably hate life making a one hour commute depending on which hub you're based. Coast to coast is not even effective since most of the time you only have 2 or 3 days off so once you get there you say hi to mom, gf, wife, dog and 30 hours later you're in the back of a 757 or a Fedex plane with the fish to start your 6 days of duty on the other side. People actually do this most of the time because of a spouse.

Well, it wouldn't be any better as far as arranging your schedule at a major either.

We work for the same company and when I was based in ORD I would work 6on 1off the last 3 weeks in a row to end a month and started the next month with the same. If I drop a day I would end up with 16-18 days off in a row. It did mean almost 6 weeks in a row at a crash pad.:eek:

not to pick a fight, but my company doesnt fly to ORD.

At my company (a "bottom feeder") swapping trips like the OP is suggesting is out of the question.

There are people who commute, but IMHO commuting SUCKS (and I have lived in some pretty crappy bases, and it still beat commuting). The thought of commuting to Hawaii makes my head spin. Seats are few and far between. My advice (worth every penny you paid for it) is either live in base or ar least commute from a hub to another hub. You are in the travel business, better get used to moving.

It should get worse when the new duty time rules hit the street next year.

PSA wont let you move any days around at all so no for here.

My company you get 10 days off per month on reserve. Technically you are allowed to move the days off, but only if reserve coverage is good...which it never is so effectively you are stuck with 5 on 3 off 6 on 2 off etc for the month. If you get super lucky you can move maybe 1 day off a month, but thats it. Even when you hold a line it is pretty much impossible to load you schedule up to the point where you will have more than 6 days off in a row. So at best you would spend 3 or more weeks at the crashpad and then get 12 or so days off and most lines aren't built with many days off on the front side of the month, so really you would only get closer to 8 or 10 days off in a row.

Most of the time your trips will start early and end late so you always have to commute in the day before your trip and commute out the day after your trip so days at home will be more like 6 to 8 a month.

There's nothing about 6 days in a row in the FAR's, just that in 7 consecutive days there had to be a 24 hour free from duty period in there.

See above. The FAR's only reference a 24 hour period. However, a CBA may be more restrictive and make make reference to a "calendar day" free from duty in a 7 day period.

A few months ago in the month to month transition I was scheduled for NINE consecutive days of duty. A 4 day, 1 day, then a 4 day, with a 24 hour gap between the 1st 4 day and the day trip. They way crew planning modified the line, it only got to within 1 hour of a 30/7 issue. This most recent one had 7 consecutive days scheduled with 25 hours free from duty between the first and second trip.

Some airlines will schedule 7-8-9 days of consecutive reserve with the contingency that they will have to give you 24 hours free somewhere, but it's not the norm.

Okay, if we want to get THAT technical we can, but the OP was trying to get an idea how flexible scheduling is.

Yes, if one had a six day trip followed by a stand up, six day, stand up, and a four day with 24 hours before and after the stand ups, then yes, one could do 20 calender duty days in a row.

Spool down turbo, wasn't trying to be "that technical" about it.

People often confuse 24 hours free from duty with a "day off". Especially when there in NO provision in a CBA that distinguish the two.

And for the OP, I wouldn't count on scheduling being that flexible at all. Especially if you get hired at a smaller company, or the domicile you get is small and doesn't have much flying to trade/drop for.

Let alone the typical regional type schedule where you may have 1 day off but at a minimum need 2 to prevent 30/7 issued. Notice I said typical, I KNOW there are some super inefficient places out there that scatter 1 day off between a 12-14 hour 4 days (as an example) regularly.

You are right a lot of people do forget that 24 hours off doesn't mean a calender day (unless something more restrictive IE a CBA covers that). I remember a few years ago where I was on the road for 3 straight weeks cause I would get a few 25 hour overnights. I don't even now why I dragged my overnight bag around with me at the end cause all of the clothes were dirty since the hotels didn't have a laundry mat.