Typical Schedule for an RJ pilot
 

I was wondering if any of the regional pilots on here could provide an example of what a typical schedule looks like at any given time. I'm curious as to how many cities you visit in a day, how many hours do you work at a time, etc.

It varies greatly depending on seniority, the company you work for, the airline your company supports (IE which "express" you fly under), the type of trips you desire (multi-day vs standup vs day trips), and where you are based from. There's no simple "equation" that creates a typical trip.

For your reference, I pulled up some old flight pairings/schedules that I flew when I was working at Atlantic Coast Airlines (Flying as United Express). They might give you a bit of insight as to what a typical work week might look like.

Here at ExpressJet we have 1, 2, 3 or 4 day trips. Usually you will have anywhere from 1 to 5 legs each day. We do very little point to point flying (just a few places out of LAX and Mexico) so you will typically fly out from the hub to an outstation and then back to where you started or continue on to a different hub (like fly Houston to Nashville then to Newark). Some days you will fly very close to 8 hours with a 12 or 13 hour duty day but then usually the next day is shorter to compensate. About the only time you will have 5 legs back to back is on a 2 day trip. Here is an example of a typical 4 day trip.

Day 1
IAH-BNA
BNA-EWR
EWR-SYR
SYR-CLE
CLE-BUF
7h41m flight time 11h54m duty time

Day 2
BUF-EWR
EWR-SAV
3h55m flight time 5h55m duty time

Day 3
SAV-IAH
IAH-STL
4h30m flight time 6h41m duty time

Day 4
STL-EWR
EWR-CVG
CVG-IAH
7h35m flight time 10h58m duty time

Obviously there are many variables when it comes to schedules but I hope this answers your question at least somewhat.

This might be a typical 2 day trip:

I6192C 01/01/02 BSE REPT: 1545 REPORT- 01/01/02 LOCAL Times
Tu 01 7520 IAD-BDL 1645 1802 0117 030
Tu 01 7175 BDL-IAD 1832 1953 0121 052
Tu 01 7735 IAD-GSP 2045 2215 0130 0408 0000 0408 0408 0645 GSP 1535
D-END: 2230 (NR 0900) REPORT 1405 HYATT REGENCY GREENVILLE (864)235-1234
We 02 7734 GSP-IAD 1450 1620 0130 0130 0000 0130 0130 0230
D-END: 1635 --------------------------------------
TOTALS BLOCK 0538 DHD 0000 CREDIT HRS. 0538 T.A.F.B. 2450

This might be a typical 4 day:

I6116 01/11/02 BSE REPT: 0630 REPORT- 01/11/02 LOCAL Times
1 11 7572 IAD-BHM 0730 0820 0150 040
1 11 7416 BHM-IAD 0900 1200 0200 050
1 11 7738 IAD-BTV 1250 1420 0130 0520 0000 0520 0520 0805 BTV 1515
D-END: 1435 (NR 0900) REPORT 0550 SHERATON BTV (802)865-6620
2 12 7765 BTV-IAD 0635 0810 0135 104
2 12 7394 IAD-DAY 0914 1029 0115 031
2 12 7395 DAY-IAD 1100 1215 0115 040
2 12 7252 IAD-MHT 1255 1420 0125 0530 0000 0530 0530 0845 MHT 1525
D-END: 1435 (NR 0900) REPORT 0600 THE WAYFARER INN (603)622-3766
3 13 7653 MHT-IAD 0645 0820 0135 050
3 13 7634 IAD-PVD 0910 1025 0115 030
3 13 7635 PVD-IAD 1055 1215 0120 040
3 13 7636 IAD-PVD 1255 1415 0120 0530 0000 0530 0530 0830 PVD 1535
D-END: 1430 (NR 0900) REPORT 0605 COMFORT INN (401)732-0470
4 14 7633 PVD-IAD 0650 0820 0130 045
4 14 7621 IAD-SDF 0905 1027 0122 030
4 14 7222 SDF-IAD 1057 1218 0121 0413 0000 0413 0413 0628
D-END: 1233 --------------------------------------
TOTALS BLOCK 2033 DHD 0000 CREDIT HRS. 2033 T.A.F.B. 7803

Here's another 4 day:

I6212 01/27/02 BSE REPT: 1610 REPORT- 01/27/02 LOCAL Times
1 27 7743 IAD-IND 1710 1855 0145 050
1 27 7590 IND-ORD 1945 1947 0102 118
1 27 7890 ORD-CRW 2105 2332 0127 0414 0000 0414 0414 0737 CRW 1243
D-END: 2347 (NR 0900) REPORT 1230 RAMADA (304)744-4641
2 28 7803 CRW-ORD 1315 1348 0133 056
2 28 7301 ORD-MEM 1444 1624 0140 030
2 28 7300 MEM-ORD 1654 1838 0144 057
2 28 7178 ORD-BNA 1935 2100 0125 0622 0000 0622 0622 0945 BNA 1540
D-END: 2115 (NR 0900) REPORT 1255 DOUBLETREE GUEST SUITES (615)889-8889
3 29 7172 BNA-IAD 1340 1605 0125 040
3 29 7520 IAD-BDL 1645 1802 0117 030
3 29 7175 BDL-IAD 1832 1953 0121 057
3 29 7272 IAD-LGA 2050 2200 0110 0513 0000 0513 0513 0820 LGA 1600
D-END: 2215 (NR 0900) REPORT 1415 WYNDHAM GARDEN LGA AIRPOR (718)426-1500
4 30 7233 LGA-IAD 1500 1614 0114 036
4 30 7245 IAD-CHS 1650 1815 0125 034
4 30 7207 CHS-IAD 1849 2015 0126 0405 0000 0405 0405 0615
D-END: 2030 --------------------------------------
TOTALS BLOCK 1954 DHD 0000 CREDIT HRS. 1954 T.A.F.B. 7620

Here's a 3 day:

I6036 02/04/02 BSE REPT: 0815 REPORT- 02/04/02 LOCAL Times
1 04 7682 IAD-LGA 0915 1030 0115 030
1 04 7693 LGA-IAD 1100 1215 0115 040
1 04 7252 IAD-MHT 1255 1420 0125 0355 0000 0355 0355 0620 MHT 1525
D-END: 1435 (NR 0900) REPORT 0600 THE WAYFARER INN (603)622-3766
2 05 7653 MHT-IAD 0645 0820 0135 050
2 05 7634 IAD-PVD 0910 1025 0115 030
2 05 7635 PVD-IAD 1055 1215 0120 050
2 05 7636 IAD-PVD 1305 1425 0120 0530 0000 0530 0530 0840 PVD 1520
D-END: 1440 (NR 0900) REPORT 0600 COMFORT INN (401)732-0470
3 06 7633 PVD-IAD 0645 0820 0135 040
3 06 7645 IAD-DTW 0900 1040 0140 030
3 06 7600 DTW-IAD 1110 1222 0112 0427 0000 0427 0427 0637
D-END: 1237 --------------------------------------
TOTALS BLOCK 1352 DHD 0000 CREDIT HRS. 1352 T.A.F.B. 5222

And since you probably can only make out some of the jumbled mess that airline pairings look like, here's a magic decoder ring that you can download. I created it for my family members, so they could figure out what it all meant when they looked at my schedule:

http://www.crosswindlanding.com/temp...AC_Decoder.doc
(You might have to right click and then "save target as" for this to load correctly. MS Word file.)

One last one... A typical day trip. Lines consisting of all day trips probably have 3 or 4 days like this in a row, then 2-4 days off, depending on how much block time there is:

I6007 05/29/01 BSE REPT: 1330 REPORT- 05/29/01 LOCAL Times
Tue 29 7692 IAD-LGA 1430 1540 0110 050
Tue 29 7693 LGA-IAD 1630 1755 0125 125
Tue 29 7694 IAD-LGA 1920 2035 0115 055
Tue 29 7695 LGA-IAD 2130 2244 0114 0504 0000 0504 0504 0929
D-END: 2259 --------------------------------------
TOTALS BLOCK 0504 DHD 0000 CREDIT HRS. 0504 T.A.F.B. 929

FlyerJosh, nice decoder!

Sioux39....GO UND! I'm a '98 grad...loved every minute there! Like the others said, there really isn't a typical schedule. Too many variables like base, seniority, and what your priorities are when bidding. There's usually something for everyone though, whether we want it or not! :)

You might want to remove the hotel listings next time.

If it will make you feel better I can... but it should be noted that the hotels listed on the schedules are the hotels that my company used in 2001/2002. Anybody who works for the airlines knows that crew hotels change just about as much as flight schedules. Since the airline is now defunct, it really doesn't make much difference either way...

Besides, anybody that wants to know where airline crews stay just need to go to the hotel and watch what vans pick them up.

Everything in aviation has to be encoded. I bet they are doing this so that it is easier for them to replace everyone with computers some day! :)

I notice that flight hours may equal around 5.5, but duty time might be 7.5. When it comes to being paid for a trip, are you paid for the 7.5, or the 5.5?

Most airlines I know of pay only flight time (or something less like "average block" if you are at Mesa). Per diem is paid from the time you start a trip till you finish it or what is called "time away from base" this is usually abreviated TAFB. So the difference between your duty time and your flight time is the time you are making that cool buck and a half (or whatever your per diem rate is). Thats why you will hear airline pilots ***** about "sits" and schedule "efficiency" because it sucks to be at work but technically off the clock.

To answer your question specifically: you would get paid your flight pay for 5.5 hours and per diem for 7.5 hours. That means for 2 of those hours, you were making just per diem.

The company I work for has trip rigs....which basically is a ratio of block time to duty time. If you don't block much per day but have a relatively long duty day in comparison to what you fly your pay for the day is more than block. It all depends on the language in the contract. Also some companies pay per leg, per day, per trip, scheduled vs. actual, whichever is greater...again it's all dependent upon contract language.

While we're on the subject, I don't know if others do it but I hear Skywest pays you more credit hours even if you flew less. How could this be possible? On the other hand MESA is supposed to be the worst as far as pay, what is the difference?

You're probably referring to "block or better".

Let's say you do this trip (as posted on here):

I've highlighted the "block time" for each leg, essentially what you'd get paid to do the flight if everything ran on time.

Now, let's say you did the first leg and it took you 1:05, so you went under "block" by :05. For the better companies, you'd get paid 1:05 plus what my company calls schedule differential (SD time), which would be :05, so your total pay for that leg equals 1:10. Which was block time.

Now, let's say you had some delays for the next two legs, and it took you 1:35 and 1:25 for the second and third legs. You'd now be + 0:10 for the second leg and + 0:10 for the third leg, so you "made" an extra 20 minutes.

The forth leg went real quick, and it took you 0:59 to do it, so you'd have an SD time of 0:15, to bring the credit for the leg back to what it was blocked for, 1:14.

In short, you can't ever get paid LESS for doing flights, even if it took you less time to do it.

However, some companies handle this block or better in different ways. Some pay block or better based on the entire day, ie for the day you:

flew "under block" 20 minutes (5 mins on first leg, 15 mins on last)
flew "over block" 20 minutes (10 mins on second and third leg)

So by underblocking 20 and overblocking 20, it would be a wash and you'd just get paid your credit for the day (5:04).

At AWAC, we are paid on a leg-by-leg basis, so even if we underblocked by 20 mins the first and last leg, we overblocked the second and third leg, so we'd be up 20 mins on the day or a pay of 5:24 for that day.

Figuring leg-by-leg gives me an extra 3-5 hrs per paycheck of SD time that would most likely be washed out if it was considered on a day-to-day basis.

Another cool thing about "block or better" is several days ago, for a 2:05 blocked flight, we sat on the ramp during a thunderstorm for over 2 hours. We ended up block 4:15 for that flight. If you worked at some of these bottom feeders, your pay would still be 2:05 (essentially credit time), your pay wouldn't increase based on the fact that you sat in that airplane with pax on the ramp (or in a hold, or whatever) for more time than it was blocked for. Having block or better, I estimate I make an extra 10-15 hours per paycheck. This is SIGNIFICANT.

Another thing to consider is duty rigs. Viewing the schedule again:

Here I've highlighted the ground time, essentially the time spent on the ground not working or making any money. It can vary here from 25 minutes to over 4 hours. This is "unpaid time" for the most part. Yeah, it sucks. It's the reason why the pay per hour is higher than your burger flipping job.

The 0929 is your total duty time. The total duty time is the time spent from when you are first scheduled to appear at the airport to when you are scheduled off on your last leg, plus 0:15. You are scheduled to check in at 1330, and scheduled to finish the last leg at 2244 + 0:15, so that would be 2259 when you are scheduled to go off duty. 2259 - 1330 = 9:29 of "duty time". (note: the duty is figured off of actual values, so if you got home later your duty would be longer, but for sake of simplicity I just used the above trip at face value)

Air Wisconsin has a 2:1 duty rig, which means you are paid 1 hour of flight pay for every 2 hours of duty. 9:29/2 = 4:44 of duty pay. In the case above your "credit" for the day was 5:24 on the awac contract assuming you overblocked 20 mins (Note: this isn't an awac trip though, I'm just referencing it) so you'd get paid your credit of 5:24.

If you had a different trip that happened to credit, say, 4:00 hrs for the same duty time you'd get paid 4:44 for that day. This comes in handy because it basically forces the company to put together efficient schedules otherwise they have to pay you half your 'hourly' wage just to sit around and do nothing. It's not so much a money maker, just more of a way to make it so that you aren't sitting around doing nothing not making any money.

AWAC also has a trip rig, where as you divide your "time away from base" by 4 to come up with that. A typical trip will have you away from home 80 hours for a 4-day trip, so no matter how crappy the days are, you'd be paid 20 hours of pay for that 4-day trip (80/4 = 20). Prior to concessions, which were needed to keep our "costs" in line with companies such as mesa that are now doing the flying we used to do, it used to be 3.5, so an 80-hour 4-day would have credited a min of 22:51. Doesn't seem significant, but that would worth an extra two days off a month...

Companies that only pay 'credit time' should be avoided, IMO. I make CONSIDERABLY more than a mesa pilot, (which isn't much :)!!) even if the payscales were equal (which they aren't).

If my flights are canceled for ANY reason, I get full pay. Mesa? Those trips are removed from your schedule and you aren't paid. That's just the tip of the iceburg. Remember, there is a reason upgrade at mesa is so short!

Fosters, a couple questions about you: how long have u been at AWAC and what seat do you fly? What is your domicile and about how many credit hours do you get per month?? Thanks.

I'm not fosters, but I am at AWAC, so a little info about me:

CL65 FO, based in PHL, with the company just under 9 months. Only sat one month of reserve, and try like hell to bid commutable lines - I don't care about working weekends. I have had typically 12 days off per month, pick up no opentime, try to swap for better trips in opentime as much as possible and have averaged line awards of 82-85 and have credited 85-95. Because I commute I value time at home more than pay, so I try to drop turns & days & even some short parings to have more days off.

I know a couple ORF guys that average 95+ hours credit per month...living in domicile & working the system is quite lucrative.

Day in the Life of a Regional
 

If you want to read a little more about what a typical Regional pilot does beyond just the alpha-numerics associated with the print out schedule, here is a link to Jetcareers.com. Might find it interesting and informative.

http://www.jetcareers.com/content/view/37/60/

Hope this is of help.
Jess

I'm an fo, been here about 1 year. I bid about halfway up the FO list in domicile (not PHL based...).

As boilerup said, you can pretty much get anything you want (sans reserve) if you live in base. Right now, if you bid for commutability, your lines WILL suck. In fact, if you are low on the todem poll your lines will suck no matter if you are a commuter or live in base, but things get better with time.

He was on reserve 1 month (according to his post). The people that were hired just 1-2 months after him are STILL ON RESERVE. This shows you how important timing is. He was hired in the middle of a great hiring spree (I was hired at the beginning of it, it started around this time last year, and I sat 4 months on reserve, but did enjoy a nice 5-week long paid vacation prior to OE...).

Don't expect what happened to him or I. Seriously :).

As for what I get for a line, I have bills to pay so I bid for lines that are 90+ hours (unless I need specific days off) with a TAFB of at least 300 hrs, which gives me $450 in per diem per month and around 13-14 days off per month and a credit of around 95-100 hours at the end of the month. I live in base, so this allows me to do this. If I was a commuter my lines would credit significantly less. For instance, last month I had 16 days off and credited 90 hours. It was a good line.

On second year pay, excluding per diem, I expect to gross around $3100-$3300/month. Per diem would be another ~$450 (tax free) or so per month, but I'm finding I'm starting to spend it a bit more on trips now that I'm on second year pay :).

I'm in the Air Force with about 2000 hours and might be getting out in a year. I live in Atlanta and one option is to work for ExpressJet since it's based out of there.

Lots of good information in this post! Even though this thread is several years old, I was just wondering if this is still accurate for ExpressJet??

Also, when it comes to bidding on a schedule, what are your choices when you first get hired as a FO? My goal would be to fly as much as possible and build up hours fast, and then hopefully work my way to the majors since I already have 2000 hours.

Lastly, do you ever get weekends off in the Regionals as a new guy?

Don't plan on weekends off at any airline as a "new guy."

You will be on reserve for a while when you first start, so you can not control how much you fly. Once you hold a schedule, you can load up and fly as much as the regs allow. Forget about weekends off for a while, but as a consolation, weekend trips are a little easier with respect to dealing with delays and such. Do not commute to a different base to hold a schedule faster. You will be sorry.

This thread was dead for almost 10 years. Some one had too much time on their hands.

If it is relevant to the info he needs, why start a new one?

Well to answer his question, expressjet is a sinking ship, you'd be foolish to go there now a days. One of those companies that was doing well for a while and just it seemed overnight crapped the bed.

Darn it FlyerJosh, there you go bringing back the good memories from Blue Ridge!

Why is ExpressJet a sinking ship? I live in Atlanta, so rather than move I could stay there. That's why I'd go there.

Are you sure you want to fly RJs? How about a nice Q400?

Day one:

1. PDX EUG 1230 1307 0:37
2. EUG PDX 1340 1418 0:38
3. PDX SEA 1635 1722 0:47
4. SEA PUW 1750 1851 1:01
5. PUW SEA 1920 2028 1:08
6. SEA BZN 2110 2350 1:40
Flight: 5:51 Duty: 11:35

Day 2:

1. BZN SEA 1430 1527 1:57
2. SEA PDX 1600 1644 0:44
(FOUR HOUR SIT)
3. PDX SEA 2100 2147 0:47
4. SEA YLW 2310 0010+1 1:00
Flight: 4:28 Duty: 11:55

Day 3:

1. YLW SEA 1505 1603 0:58
GMOV SEA SEA 1617 1618
2. SEA EUG 1730 1828 0:58
3. EUG SEA 1905 2009 1:04
4. SEA BIL 2055 2357 2:02
Flight: 5:02 Duty: 8:52

Day 4:

1. BIL SEA 1140 1300 2:20
2. SEA YVR 1350 1438 0:48
3. YVR SEA 1515 1604 0:49
4. SEA PSC 1640 1729 0:49
5. PSC SEA 1805 1856 0:51
6. SEA PDX 1930 2014 0:44
Flight: 6:21 Duty: 10:34

Total: Block 21:42, Duty 42:56, Time away from base: 80:59

Wow 20 legs in a four day trip. I should not complain then that I do 8 legs in a 3 day for 18 hours.