Howdy folks,

I'm heading to class next month and I'm curious on what the differences in flying/QOL are between the 2 big planes, specifically for the junior guys out of SFO. I live close to SFO, so the goal is WB out of the gate if a spot falls to me during selection.
Shiny object syndrome has me wanting to take an available 787 slot, even if it means bidding back to SFO a few months down the road. Your thoughts are much appreciated!

In SFO the 777 is a much larger and less senior base, so on first glance that would be your best bet and for the short term probably makes sense. However, the 787 is the growth WB for the airline and a lot of balls are still in the air regarding how things will change if/when Russian overflight comes back (I wouldn't worry about much changing there before you finish probation). Less than two years ago Manpower Planning said the 777 was going to be the workhorse in EWR with a smaller 787 base. Fast forward two years and the fleets are moving to meet in the middle with the EWR 777 continuing to shrink and the 787 base here growing and doing the more of the long haul flying (CPT/DEL/NRT/HND/TLV) we have left. The 777 has more domestic trips and the shorter Europe destinations. I don't know how that breaks down for trips in SFO, I'd imagine the 777 has more domestic trips than the 787, but don't know how they breakdown for Europe and Asia. LSS, I'd go SFO 777 if I was you, because it's much better right now, but don't be surprised if you're putting in for the 787 short course as soon as your freeze is up because MP seems to change drastically every few months.

I appreciate the info, that makes sense since the 787 slots in recent classes seem to be 2:1 EWR to SFO.
I also was under the impression the 777 might do more domestic, how do you think that would affect junior reserves on each airplane? I have no issue sitting at the bottom of the list on global reserve for either airplane while I'm on probation, I am curious however if the 777 guys/gals get called more because of the increased domestic role.

Also if I were to select an EWR spot, how soon could I realistically hope to get back to SFO? Thanks!

The only trips in open time are 2 day EWR trips. Thats what you will fly as a reserve for the most part. The G line for the 777 in sfo is one of the most jr in the company right now. It was junior to the guppy last couple months and almost as junior as the bus.

If you live close to base, 787 hands down. You’re going to be on reserve and the 787 only has 6-8 flights a day.

777 has a lot of domestic so reserve if going to be much more painful and used.

What’s reserve usage look these days out of SFO on the 787 FO side? Plan to go to landings?

777 has more domestic than the 787 out of most bases, so short call and FSB can be higher. FSB usually on 787 is if they have a Delhi or something long range they may have someone available

According to the most recent report from ALPA Scheduling, FSB is never used on the WB. Average utilization (flying) was about 40%. This is system wide, and it can vary base to base. Unfortunately I don’t think they publish these numbers by base.

Another great argument to abolish that program or at least ask for volunteers and pay up big time for such a convenience.