? 5 days off in a row each month???
 

Could someone please reply if at your regional airline, it is possible to arrange a schedule to get 5 days off in a row each month? (I am ready to make up for this by flying my ass off/sit reserve the rest of the month.)

Before you start bashing & making fun, here's the reason I ask:
My family members take turns to care for relatives who require long term care. I do my share and pitch in each month—any less than 5 days in a row, I wouldn't be pulling my weight and causes serious disruption to other family members.
My assumptions about FO work schedule kept me from applying to airlines so far—yes, I know I kinda have a "unique snowflake" situation. Tempted by the current hiring environment, I feel I might as well explore the feasibility.

Feel free to burst my bubble (kindly) with something like...No, that would never work at regional X, you would only be able to consistently get X number of days off in a row each month.

Hopefully, there might be 1 or 2 affirmative replies on how this (5 days off in a row each month) could be achieved at your particular airline (bid? trade? what contract mechanism makes it possible?). Many thanks!

SkyWest - I'm able to get at least 5 days off or more in a row every month, consistently. This month, I started the month with 8 days off in a row, traded some trips around and ended up with 10 days off in a row in the middle of the month and 4 days in a row towards the end with a couple smaller breaks in the middle. Definitely possible as a line holder.

in a row...
 

in a row...spellcheck fail on my part :D

Thank you Zonda! Getting my hopes up.

How long you been with company?

I get that you said it had a lot to do with trades, but still curious.

? 5 days off in a roll each month???
 

At Endeavor I bid for 5 day trips and fly 3 of them a month with 7-10 day off stretches every month. Have had that schedule for 3 years or so now. New line holders at Endeavor can hold the same schedule if they bid for 5 day trips, they don't go senior.

If you want schedule flexibility there is only one choice at this point. PSA has by far and away the best schedule flexibility of any regional airline. 5 days off in a row is no problem. Want 2 separate stretches of 5 days off? No problem. Meet the SAP. It has flaws but is still an incredibly powerful QoL tool.

The only caveat would be that you must be off reserve to enjoy this benefit. Someone posts our reserve time in table form every month in the PSA info thread. Check that table for current times to see if it would be acceptable. I would expect those reserve times to come down a bit but I would use that table as a "worst case scenario".

While you are on reserve you should still be able to get your stretch of 5 off in a row but there would be significantly less choices as to when it would be available, and you may miss a month here and there.

I don't know the details of what you can and can't do but FMLA might be an option for you. I think you need to be with the company for a year before you can use it. I've only used it for paternity leave.

I will second that for SkyWest out trade/post/drop software is realy good and easy on the eyes.. But easy even in pbs to get 5+ days off in a row.

You won't have to sacrifice much if anything to get 5 days off in a row. Most places should afford you 5 days off in a row with trip trading.

Every regional I've ever worked at it's been fairly easy to hold one stretch of five in a row off a month once off reserve and have a bit of seniority. Of course you have to be realistic...you won't be able to do that AND hold wknds off for example.

I'm on a stretch of 10 off in a row and it's a crap schedule month with ground school etc. I usually plan on a stretch of 6-8 off every month...my mini monthly vacation. YMMV...

5 days off in a row each month?
 

I have been able to get 5+ days off a month since I started flying the line, minus the first two months when I was still learning how to bid. Just bid for 9 days off in a row and got it, just under a year with Endeavor.

The big thing to understand is that while it's attainable, it probably won't be attainable right away. Everything is based upon your seniority at a company. While on reserve it's realistically probably not going to happen until you are senior on reserve. Then once you become a line holder you'll now be one of the junior line holders... So that might make it tougher to hold 5 off in a row. The plus side to being a line holder though is that you tend to get more days off in total than as a reserve pilot. Once you obtain more seniority it gets easier. To that, you might want to look at regionals that are experiencing a lot of growth so you climb the seniority ladder faster. You might also have to accept that in the beginning, you might not be able to pull your weight as a care taker, the trade off is that down the line you can take a more active roll. Someone mentioned looking into FMLA, so that might be a good avenue.

Otherwise there are 135/fractional operators out there that work on a 7on/7off schedule. The entry barriers might be higher than getting into a regional at the better paying places, but the schedule would align with your responsibilities. Wheels Up comes to mind, I think Planesense has a 7/7 schedule (not sure).

That's a broad sweeping statement, and it's pretty much guaranteed to be wrong. It depends on equipment, base, and seniority as much as the airline.

I think most slightly senior airline pilots can get five days off in a row. I could get ten without any trouble, but the rest of the month would of course be sucky. At SKW, it might be hard at MSP and/or DTW because the trips tend to be lower credit which forces a lot of work days.

Don't mean to rain on your parade, but I could do that by month 3 off IOE at EDV.

"Best schedule flexibility at any regional airline"?? LOL How many regionals have you worked for thus far?

I don't think people fully understand how great the SAP is at PSA. I've flown with guys from Envoy, express jet, Comair, etc. and they all say the SAP is the best scheduling flexibility they've ever seen. Seniority plays a part, but not as much as other airlines. Equipment does not matter because we all fly the 200,700, and 900. ANYONE who is a round one line holder can use SAP. When I was hired 2 years ago I was a round one line holder 3 months after IOE. Hiring was pretty much none in 2016 so obviously reserve times are longer but now we're hiring 40-60 a month so reserve times will come down significantly. With the SAP I can have ANY day off I want. I had thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years off. EVERYONE who wanted Christmas off had it off. Seniority does not matter with SAP. I originally was awarded flying on Christmas but dropped it during the SAP. The company got desperate and offered 200% so I picked up a trip that started with one late flight out on Christmas. I'm a commuter and was still home on Christmas until 4pm. I usually drop down to 65 and consistently get 2 separate weeks off in a row each month. One month I had 15 days off in a row without using any vacation. A few months I've gone to Europe or somewhere in the carribean, came home, and still had a whole week before I had to work again. I flew with a captain a few days ago that used 2 weeks of vacation in December and had 28 days off. You can make your schedule whatever you want with the SAP. When I bid on my schedule each month I just click on each line in order just to get it over with because I don't give a duck what I get awarded. when the SAP comes around I just trade everything. I don't look at what line has most days off or the highest credit or weekends off or whatever. I can create my own schedule during the SAP. They say the company doesn't like the SAP. Well, I would need the flow to triple and 20k more a year for me to even think about voting it away.

I stand by my statement. No regional has anything that can come close to offering the flexibility, and QoL of the SAP.

Is it broad and sweeping? Yes, because it is that unique.

Yea? Could you have 10 in a row every month? Because I can. How about every single holiday off, no matter what. Birthdays? Anniversary? Mistress flying into town? Just plain don't feel like going to work on a particular day?

Can you get those off? Every single time, without fail?

I don't mean to rain on your parade(I do) but like I said in my other response, I stand by my original statement.

Best flexibility. Best QoL.

Keep "LOLing", I'll keep going to work when I want and not going to work when I don't want.

A lot of the Skywest guys really have a hard time acknowledging that another regional is better in any significant way then theirs. I'm relatively new to Skywest and If I were to do it again I'd come to PSA because I've since researched the **** out of SAP. This is from someone who has zero desire to work for American and couldn't give a $hit about the extra money.

My first month as a round 1 line holder, 17 consecutive days off including a major holiday. Yes, SAP is nice.

To add to my previous comment about seniority....seniority only matters until you're a round one line holder. With the amount of hiring PSA is doing now I would guess it would take 3 to 6 months after IOE to be a round one line holder even in the most senior bases. That's similar to my experience when I was hired 2 years ago.

Once you're a round one line holder seniority goes out the window. The SAP is basically a 24 hour giant free for all where anything goes. Seniority does not matter. Equipment does not matter. Weekends, birthdays, holidays do not matter. Maybe you got your December schedule and realized you forgot to use a week of vacation for the cruise you booked 6 months ago that's over Christmas AND New Years AND you're the most junior line holder AND the reserve grid is -40 on Christmas Day. Have no fear the SAP is here. Drop that whole week with ease. Like I said...seniority doesn't matter. Reserve grid doesn't matter. That's why the company offered 200% to pick up flying because EVERY line holder that wanted Christmas off took it off. The only thing using vacation does for you is pay you for your days off. I get my own 2 separate entire weeks of vacation every single month. Even the most junior line holder can drop the last half of one month and the first half of the next month and have 3-4 weeks off straight without using any vacation or calling out sick.

I'm at Skywest when I first started even on reserve I was able to get 5days off in a row. On reserve that was from trading reserve days with the company sometimes, other times it was just awarded that way.

Once you hold a line 5 days off in a row is not difficult to get at all. My best so far was 16 days off in a row this fall.

At PSA you can get 5 days off straight three times a month every single month no matter you're seniority whether it's during a major holiday or not. If you want 15 or 16 days off in row every month you can do it too. You don't have to get lucky. If that's what you want you can do it. You just have to devote some time to your computer/tablet/phone during the 24 hour SAP period each month and anyone can have these schedules. When I use one week of vacation I'll usually get 21 or 22 days off.

Sorry if it sounds like I'm beating a dead horse. Other airlines just don't fully understand the power of SAP. Live by the SAP die by the SAP.

OK Frick. We get it. SAP is awesome. No need to post the same thing over and over again.

Lol. Got it. It just irks me when people downplay our qol.

If you took what I posted as an attempt to downplay your QoL, I sincerely apologize. I can only post what I know about in an effort to help others make decisions.

I know nothing about SAP, but from your posts, it sounds like the cat's meow combined with sliced bread and peanut butter!! Good for you guys that it works so well. I may be new to the industry, but I know full well what it means to miss important days when it comes to family life.

Thanks for sharing the info.

No worries my fellow aviator.