Typical layover times
 

Hey folks,

What is the typical layover time on any given night of a trip (i.e., how many hours you have between the end of one duty day and start of the next). I've know all about sometimes having the minimum 8 hours, but I also once talked to an ExpressJet pilot who said he had a 20 hour layover in LGA during his trip. What's typical, and how does it vary between bad comapnies (Mesa, etc.) and good companies (SkyWest, etc.)?

Thanks guys.

It can vary quite a bit. Im with ExpressJet and I have had a 8 hour overnight in Little Rock on the same trip I had a 36 hour overnight in Mexico City. Typically you will see a min rest overnight on the last night of the trip because at the end of your trip you are released to your domicile rest and the company is off the hook for ensuring you get adequate rest. I have never seen any "standups" or "high speed" overnights here at ExpressJet but from what I hear they are common practice at Mesa, Mesaba and others.

Anywhere from 3 to 30+ hours. Usually about 10-14.

It doesn't have much to do with the company, it has more to do with the flying schedules they are assigned by their codeshares. A good company will usually not do super-short standups, and if they have a trip rig they may try to avoid super-long overnights due to crew cost.

What about the midnight departures from LAX to Mexico? From what I saw in the schedules, they arrive at the four destinations around 5am. What do the crews do after arriving?

When those were going they were flown more like red eyes. You would leave LAX at around midnight-1am stop at some place in Mexico and continue on to Houston. I don't think those are still going and I never had the chance to do one but talking to folks who have done em thats how it went. We used to do a fair number of red eyes but I haven't seen many in the schedule lately. When they were around, those LAX trips were very popular.

Since when are redeye flights popluar, especially that kind of schedule. Not surprised that they continue on to Houston though considering what layovers at those Mexican villages must be like. Why were those flights discontinued?

Have you done them at Express? Some like them, some don't. If ya don't like it, just trade it for something else. If you want 24 hrs in LA, then bid it. I like it, get up early, go hang out at Manhattan/Santa Monica beach, stare at the women in bikinis. Go back to the hotel, take a nap, then fly the red eye back. Done by 9 am with some soft time too boot. The other half can be crappy. But I wouldn't say that AEX, LCH, LBB, MLU, MGM, LFT, ISP, ORF, or many others are that great either.

I would say that about half the Mexican layovers are not that bad. When they put you up on the beach (PVR, IXT, VER, and SJD I think), its great. Beer is cheap, people are friendly, titty bars are awesome.

They don't discontinue them, they are seasonal. And a money maker.

As someone else said, some people like em, some dont. I liked having a red eye at the end of a trip because then I am released around 7am, go home, sleep till 10-11am and its like having a whole extra day off with some soft pay. If you commute they're great too because the flights are timed to arrive in order to connect to the first bank out of the hub so you can usually get on the first or second flight to where ever home is.

And, yeah, those Mexican villages like Cabo San Lucas, Zihuantanejo, and Puerto Vallarta are ROUGH! Especially when they put us up in an all-inclusive (including booze) on the beach. Stay away from those...far far away... Unless you are one of those losers who are scared to leave your hotel room in Mexico, there is fun to be had at pretty much any place we overnight in Mexico. The one place that is kinda hairy right now is Oaxaca but thats a short overnight anyway.