If I had the same pay and benefits flying a Citation I wouldn’t have left that job. Being on medical leave with my current benefits has done nothing but reinforce my decision to come back to 121 in 2015. It’s the long game after all, and I’m way past Big Shiny Jet Syndrome.

I'm with you on this. I'd even give up some money to avoid the circadian stupidity. I can handle it better than most, but it still wears on your health and QOL.

But man the guppy is rough, I might actually prefer an ATR or E175.

The ATR had a spacious flight deck and excellent jumpseat. Back in the day the cargo area made for a good place to stretch out your legs!

Our last trip coming home to the USA from Milan to ATL reminded me that I wouldn’t be a good fit for long haul flying. Maybe it’s just my age starting to show, but man I felt beat up.

Oh, I agree with you wholeheartedly and have been saying for a while that I think we should go smaller before going bigger.

Long as it’s 100% flown by Swapa pilots, I don’t care what we do.

No way, our ATRs didn't have apus and the prop brake was permanently inop. MIA/DFW/SJU sucked.

The FO chair didn't go as far back as the captain because of CB panel. It had eyebrow windows to do circling approaches and was sunny and hot.

Guppy is no paradise but it blows cold air and with vortex generators on the nose and a decent headset it's way quieter.

What kind of QOL could a WN new hire FO expect in MCO? How many days could you expect to be called when sitting reserve? And what kind of trips are available for holding a line? Are day trips an option and if so how long could it take to get them?

At first you’ll either be stuck with weekend reserve or a weekend hard line… Thursday/Friday starts. Minimum days off is 15 even for the worst reserve lines. Most of our trips are 3 days long and split to AM or PM. At the very bottom of the seniority list you will probably see more 4 days. As far as reserve, right now it’s not super flexible but we have a reserve swapping tool that will be implemented soon from our new contract that will make it a lot more flexible to work the days you want (to a degree). I like to bid reserve during the slower months and can usually get 3-5 days unused so end up at home 18-20 days. During the busier months, you’ll get used 100% on reserve but you will be able to credit 130-150 without picking anything up as the reserve rules are pretty lucrative. There is a reserve proffering tool as well and the way our reserve system works it’s more like having an unscheduled hard line than how other places do reserve. We do have pure turn lines but they are very senior and you won’t sniff them for a long time. The senior gamers bid them to give their turns away and pick up premium all month.

Like anywhere, while you are junior you won’t get the best schedule. Once you get about 80% in any base, you can get a pretty solid workable schedule. Also, how much time you are willing to spend bidding and learning the game matters too. Hope this helps. It’s a great place to work and if you live in and are committed to being in MCO it’s the best choice by far in my opinion.

Thanks for the info! With my young and growing family right now, being home as much as I can, especially at night is my goal. Year 2 FO at my lcc and I'm living in a FL base and don't get called on reserve much at all and can hold aine with only day trips.

On one hand I'm satisfied with my qol and especially the amount of time I get with my family, as well as what I fly, but do wonder if /at what point I should make a switch. Not complaining, but it would be nice to make a little more. I'd rather not ever commute and wouldn't want to live in any of the hubs for the legacies and don't care for UA for political reasons, even with MCO as a base.

So I figure if I ever go somewhere else it's gonna be WN.

In MCO to hold a turn line it'll be at least 7 years as of right now. Maybe more. I don't bid the weekend turn lines so maybe they are more junior but I someone else would have to chime in. That being said with lots of schedule work and trading you can turn trips into 2 days and turns. It can be done.