320 vs. 737 for NH's
 

Hey all,

AIA if this has been answered.

As a NH about to start class, I'd like to have some input from the pilot group about the current QOL differences being on the Bus vs the 73. I live in base and have a regional airline background.

Cheers.

The bus is a better airplane. The 737 is a bigger fleet with more diverse flying. The flying on the Bus will prob change a little once the 321’s show up but those trips will probably be senior.

Can’t really go wrong with either airplane, as they say in BI, its all ice cream.

Narrowbody in base trumps any other new hire possibility by far.

How old are you? Depending on the class, you may need significant seniority to have a choice between the two.

737 is the growth fleet. More movement and more choice.

I've been on the bus since I got hired, I love the airplane but the flying gets repetitive. We dont really get any of the Caribbean and have 4 or 5 destinations in Mexico and some Canada. I definitely envy the the 73 guys and gals with their quick movement and variety of flying but seems like being stuck in that flight deck for over 3 hours is cruel and unusual punishment (I'm a commuter and I'm in there often on southwest). With that said, I am thinking about making the jump over to the guppy for both the huge jump in seniority and the overnights. Embrace the suck but spend 30 hours in Aruba seems worth it. Hope that helps

C'mon over.

The guppy isn't bad if you're one of the flying pilots. The jumpseat(s) (don't get me started on the 2nd one behind the captain) are horrible.

I took the 73 out of BI and I'm glad I did. Aruba, Cancun, Florida and central/south America destinations this time of year make putting up with the Guppy-isms worth it. Insanely fast movement on seniority. Some of my F/Os spent a month on reserve and have been lineholders ever since.

Lots to hate about the stretched Guppies, but you can't argue the destinations and seniority.

I’m relatively tall and relatively new but enjoy the 73 quite a bit. It’s a lot of fun to fly and easy to land. I like having a force feedback yoke as opposed to the airbus stick. I guess I understand the hate for the 73 but don’t feel the same way. Getting in and out of the control seat requires some unpleasant body contortion but once sitting, it’s not uncomfortable. It’s not that much louder than an RJ flight deck and it is more roomy so that was a step up for me, though as others have said that second jumpseat is certainly one of Dante’s circles of hell.

The Airbus is more comfortable but there are so many other advantages to the 73 here (seniority, leg length, fleet size, overnights) that it’s worth considering. Note there are a lot of west coast redeyes on the 73. I have seen the bus do some but it seems the majority of them are on tbe 73.

Depends on the base, most bases I have almost equal bus/guppy seniority.
Neos/XLR’s are going to change the trip mix considerably and grow the fleet over the next few years as well. Everyone keeps tossing around “growth fleet” but they’re both growth fleets at the end of the day. Percentage growth is probably the biggest QOL driver and I haven’t run the math but since we have far fewer buses to begin with the percent growth is a lot higher than it looks based on the order numbers.

I‘ve never felt a burning desire to spend more time in Florida/the Caribbean, but everyone has their own preferences and that’s kind of the beauty of working at an airline with a bunch of fleets. It’s nice flying fifi but my 73 friends all basically say that the plane kinda sucks but it doesn’t suck badly enough to really affect their day to day QOL.

fifi is the better plane no question.

The XLRs are still a thing of the future. And just read the latest CRU. 320 Ca is fully staffed for next year. Guppy not so much.

you also have just a larger set of trips. Higher volume helps immensely with trip trading.

The problem with talking about seniority is that it’s different in different sections of the list. Towards the top of the list, I’m more senior on the bus. Guys towards the middle might have a significantly different result. At the bottom they’re all about the same with the same movement on both fleets. Really can’t go wrong on either plane, progression-wise.