Originally Posted by RJSAviator76 (Post 2542928)

Geez... you sure you're not recruiting for these folks?

Emirates Group Careers | Pilots

I mean where can you possibly go wrong....

- all widebody fleet flying all over the world (why wait 25+ years before you can get to be a flying pilot???)
- good pay (why starve your first year???)
- housing paid by the company including your monthly utilities! Who does that??!
- heavily subsidized education (or a big fat scholarship) for your kids
- chauffered to/from work in a nice, new car with your own driver. You can finally retire your 81 Honda.
- full medical and Company-provided clinic nearby to where you live, all for your convenience.
- direct entry captain position available if you're highly experienced Boeing captain. And if you're an FO... why wait? You'll be a widebody captain at a truly prestigious airline by the time you'd be able to be on reserve on one as an FO in the US.
- eye-candy female flight attendants who are actually trained in First Class service, have strict standards as to how to look, dress, speak, behave, even how to put make-up on, the type of makeup, etc. (if you're into male flight attendants, you may consider staying in the US)
- Max retirement age for those flight attendants is 42.
- confirmed Business class upgradeable to First Class when you actually go on vacation.

So on and so forth... there are a few minor annoyances with this job, but isn't that the case everywhere? ;)

After all, it's about living like a rockstar, fly for a truly prestigious airline... why spend a lifetime banging around in clacked out MD88's, B-737's, A-320's and be a crusty old fart by the time you reach a widebody, actually get to fly it and see cool places? Why not now while you still can?

Originally Posted by Spicy McHaggis (Post 2543080)

Does pay the same. That and you really don't "not fly" unless you want to. I've been to the sims unintentionally for landings 2-3 times in about 7 years. A couple of times I went non current so I could play the game of getting trips dropped with pay while I wait for my bounces.

BTW, though it's not my style, the guys that are playing the game with landing currency average about an extra month's pay a year. Or at least a month's worth of flying bought while waiting for class.

Here's a post from the 2017 earnings thread. Now before I get flamed for posting such things I am a firm believer in giving people in this profession data points so they can make informed decisions as to where they might want to try to hang their hat. Looking at numbers on APC doesn't show what the job is like at the various airlines. You need numbers and anecdotes from different positions on a seniority list to help make an informed choice.

I'm not senior, nor junior. No scams, games, etc, but this is what you can do as a joe blow line holder on WB FO positions:



1) Airline employer: UAL, about ~60-65% overall company seniority

2) Seat: FO, about ~70% in my BES

3) Equipment: 777

4) Years of Service with company: 12 yr

5) How many days you worked: 116*

6) How many overnights you had: I had two day trips, the rest had overnights. Most were 4day trips with a few 2day domestic trips, a couple 3day international and one 7day extravaganza which I traded to on purpose.

7) How many hours you blocked: 802

8) How many hours did you credit: 1235

9) Expected gross income: ~$279,500

10) Extra Pay (DC, PS, etc.):

10a) DC: ~$43,000
10b) PS: ~$30,500
10c) Etc: ~$6,600 for PerDiem and ~$1,500 or so for what I assume
to be on time perf and what not.

Total, more or less: ~$360k


*The details:
- I live local to my base.

- I bid reserve for the Dec bid period that is included in the 2017 pay to get Xmas off and didn't work a single day that month.

- Some of my trips have very late shows and early finishes (9pm starts and 5am finishes). Those can be considered days off to some, myself included. Including those days as days on increases my days worked by about 13 days. That being said, if those are considered days worked, then anyone who commutes in a day before or home the day after a trip should include those commuting days as work.

- Most of my flying is long haul international. We are on break for about 40-45% of the total block of the trip. Watching movies or sleeping.

Originally Posted by NYC Pilot (Post 2543121)

I was only comparing a choice between UAL or SWA. SWA may be a great opportunity but UAL clearly offers more, that's all. It's only an opinion. I have many good friends at both and they are very happy.

Originally Posted by Albief15 (Post 2535630)

I've got a professional acquaintance that is a new hire at SWA. Soon will be able to drive 90 minutes to MCO.... He has a UAL interview pending.

Originally Posted by XHooker (Post 2543276)

... and the reality is, depending on his age, he's likely to spend much of his career at UAL on a NB, anyway.

Originally Posted by Andy (Post 2543441)

?? WB FO isn't that senior. It's going junior to NB CA.

Originally Posted by Andy (Post 2543441)

?? WB FO isn't that senior. It's going junior to NB CA.

Originally Posted by RSRVWINDSURFR (Post 2540867)

United's trip trading system is absolutely horrible. Little to no flexibility. I have lots of buddies at SWA who easily move their schedules around. FWIW