last bid had 737 and 756 going to new hires in iah

Check which will be an easier commute between Lax , SFO and EWR. I’d bet probably lax. Ewr is not fun to commute to because of covering LGA as well

That’s interesting. I had a pilot and an FA as parents and what I got from it was that I never wanted to work for a 9-5 in a cube. Couldn’t wait to get started flying even though my dad tried to talk me out of it for a while to make sure it wasn’t a phase. Everyone is different. Now I try to remind myself that I never thought twice about it when I was a kid when I start guilt tripping myself about trading my time from family for $… . That’s every job, isn’t it? Even if u have a home office. And I’m senior enough that it’s in my control. Just grateful my better half totally “gets it” and we are a team.

you have a better frame of reference because as a business owner you are in the “real world”

all of my (small forays) into business, while rewarding… just remind me of how lucky I am at my day job!

most of my friends have businesses, and they also have sweet toys, but boy do they have to work harder. I have a lot of respect for that and also for our collective good fortune to have these jobs.

Then you are clueless about the regional model and the limitations of the RLA.

The regionals are subcontractors, they own nothing. They get their marching orders from the it major partners. The name of the game is controlling costs. Get to expensive and the flying is shifted to a cheaper operator.

The only leverage any 121 pilot group has is the power of the strike. When was the last strike? No administration will allow a strike on their watch… no leverage

spoken like a true idiot.

This....I did the contracting gig when I was furloughed. Fighting the Beltway traffic everyday got old quick. Fortunately, I was recalled by the time the contractor I was working for lost the contract.

Cougs-

I just wanted to say congrats on you and your family getting to a place where money is secondary and QOL is primary, it seems to be a rarity, even amongst "successful" people. I'm retired AD as well and understand the desire to maximize time at home with the family, especially if thats been a rarity in the past. I'm lucky (sorta, or maybe I planned it that way) in that I took off the last three years after retiring from AD and spent it with my family. My batteries are re-charged and I'm actually ready to go back to work now. Matter of fact, I'm looking forward to it (just got hired by a legacy). I'd recommend a planned dinner, just you and your wife to have a serious talk about your combined future and what each wants, be painfully honest with each other. Out of this decide which path (for you) will be better for your entire family and then walk that path, united. If your wife isn't onboard and supportive, any path forward will be painful. Staying home and taking care of the kids is F'ing tough and I'd much rather go to work, after experiencing this for the last three years. I'd say staying home with kids is even harder than working. Maybe your wife needs some temporary additional help, while you re-establish your career and gain seniority. Either way, if you guys made it through your AD years, I'm confident you'll figure out the next step as well. I realize I don't have Airline experience/advice to give, but just wanted to give a voice of support (I hope it came across that way). I'm gonna steal a line from another member of the forum in finishing: "Remember, in the end, being an Airline Pilot is just another job (a pretty good one though The most important things to focus on are our Families, our Health and daily Happiness." Good luck in your decision.

What's the average sick call rate?
Also, if you call out for a 4 day, do they pull you from the entire trip automatically?

Sick call is automated, unless it’s after 1100 the day prior, in which case you have to call scheduling. Not sure what you mean by sick call rate.