A friend of mine, E175 SEA FO, 1.5 years with the company and home every night.

What company?

SkyWest. However I'm on a different plane, different base, same hire date and I spend a few nights away from home.

50% on the FO side in SLC is right at two years seniority though. And unfortunately I'm no where near retirement and neither are the 120+ pilots senior to me here in SLC.

Looking at the PBS transparency stuff and DTW FO awards there are pilots right at the bottom holding mostly standups. Technically not home every night, but nearly every day.

Every domicile is going to be different though. In theory the pairings are built according to desires of those based there. In a place like SLC which has few commuters there are a lot of shorter trips. Domiciles like MSP prefer longer trips..

When I was based at another domicile years ago the most senior trips were the commutable four days. The most junior were the locals.

I have a friend at Republic who is a 2 year FO based at CMH bidding and getting all day trips.

Allegiant
Filler...

Good point. In SLC standups go suuuuper senior, just like in SFO. LAX standups go pretty senior. And then in some bases there are hardly any locals at all.

But in any event I would not advise the OP that he/she will be able to be home every night...you'd have to be really lucky in terms of base and aircraft in order to be able to fly nothing but locals, at any regional.

Silver is day trips only. The down side is you have to live at one of their Florida bases...

I do. My time away from based is ridiculous. My QOL since November has been fantastic. I bet you would be hard pressed to find an FO that makes more money per flight hour than I do.

I do it mainly to avoid four day trips. Do I get annoyed with it sometimes always needing a phone near me? Sure. But I keep think about nasty four day trips and hotels and airport food and keep bidding that reserve line.

10-20 guys senior to me also bids reserve.

I'm new here and I appreciate all of the information. I would just like to clarify a couple of things. First, my current profession keeps me away from home sometimes 4-8 months out of the year. So, I feel like I am always away. The shortest trips are usually 3 weeks long. I have my PPL and I'm looking for a career change and since I have always wanted to fly I figure there is no better time than now to dedicate to becoming a professional pilot. The reason for the career change is to be home more with my wife and three kids. I understand that being a pilot means being away from home but, I want to be home more than what I am now. I kind of anticipate being away the first few years if I were to become a professional pilot but, I am referring to the entire career in general.

As for the clarification, lets just assume I am not commuting for any of these examples and I live near base. I understand that being a brand new FO at a regional means you get what you get as far as trips and it is based on seniority. What about when you upgrade to Captain in lets say year 4 or 5 (sooner if possible). Are you still going to be away from home 200+ days out of the year? Being away from home is not an issue, especially if it is only 2-3 nights a week instead of the 21 days minimum I am accustomed to now. Now, lets say year 7-8 I was lucky enough to flow to the Major airlines and it just so happens to be in the same base I am at and I am now a FO at a major? Year 8-10 in my new career, how much can I expect to be away and the same for when I upgrade? The pilots out there with the most common schedules, are you really gone 200+ days a year or as you progress through your career, you get more say on when and where you go and for how long. Thank for your help in clarifying and any helpful tips would be much appreciated. I'm just trying to manage my expectations and make the best decisions possible when it comes to my family and career.

W.