11atsomto

Will the individual see SYD as a Captain? That answer would depend the age of the individual. If they are say north of 40? 🤷🏾‍♂️ toss up, but less likely. Certainly not going to see it in DEN. But they sure as schit ain't going to see it at WN in either the right or left seat, and last time I checked narrow body upgrade is CONSIDERABLY less than upgrade at WN.....so I'm not sure I follow your "consideration logic".

Smooth at FL450

correct, sorta. Our new contract has requirements for a higher percent of commutable 4-day pairings that's already gone into effect with march pairings. Noon report day 1, noon release or earlier day 4, without flying a red eye...works for me.

also he said he lives in Denver so LCR doesn't matter so much. If he's 3rd or more on the callout list, he's essentially on long call anyway. I know guys who go camping when they are deep on the list.

e6bpilot

Mmmkay, Captain. Whatever you say.
There are many seasons in life, and when I was junior sitting reserve and working most of the month, my wife was at home juggling 3 teenagers' schedules and travel sports. I would have killed to have a training center gig for a few years. It's far from a 9-5. My buddies that do it all 100 percent love the flexibility they get with it.

VacancyBid

Barring some really crazy stuff ... it's hard to imagine either one being a wrong decision.

But United sure gives you SO MANY MORE OPTIONS

And if for whatever reason life throws you a curveball and you wanna be home every night for two years, you have that amazing option in Denver.

sourdough44

I'd make the jump, may not be right for you, but I'd do it.

RJSAviator76

The reason you don't follow my "consideration logic" is because you seem to think it's all about upgrade. Clearly it's not because there's a reason why thousands of United pilots are letting this go to new hires and people just getting off probation.

There are pluses and minuses to both airlines. If I want the ability to manipulate my schedule, then based on my conversations with your crews, Southwest is the clear winner. If I don't care what it takes but I gotta be in the left seat come hell or high water, then United is the clear winner. Personally, I don't care what I fly. I've been flying a variant of a 737 for over 20 years. To me, as much as I'd like to change planes, it's really about the balance between money and quality of life and ability to throttle my schedule up or down. Initially, it used to be about money, and I've consistently outearned my United counterparts by a healthy margin in the similar number of days worked - thanks to flexibility here. We have FO's here who consistently outearn captains. They know how to work the system, and if they live in base, they'd do it with relative ease regardless if we're in premium bonanza due to being short, or overstaffed with no premium being doled out.

Conversely, like you said, if you want WB flying, then Southwest isn't the airline for you. The questions you need to ask yourself is can you handle that kinda flying? Can you sleep on the plane? How well do you tolerate jet lag? Are you OK with consistent night flying? Let me ask you... how can a new hire avoid redeyes at United? Is it possible and how likely is it? They're not for everybody.

I won't even go into the numbers hired at various airlines, but this is kind of eye-opening:

https://www.fapa.aero/pilot-hiring-history

60av8tor

It's not that life at UA sucks - reserve this, contract that, each shop has pluses and minuses. It's that WB QOL is like smack - you can't quit.

This is very true - and it's great to have the opportunity to try it out. I was once a die-hard domestic guy thinking everything you mention would wreck me. It takes discipline to manage the rest cycles, diet, exercise, etc. But one trip, 2 legs, 8-11 days/month... with 1/2 of that time on break... The thought of going back to 2-3 legs a day, aircraft swaps, delayed inbound, airport sit, etc. That's why we have empty NB left seats - no suprise.

Bid against when NB and never received one ever until I realized I liked the efficiency of some of our redeye trips and started to pick them up.

RJSAviator76

Maybe for you. For those who can't sleep on the plane, or can't adjust to time zone changes, it's a living hell that takes years off their lives.


Great... you found your niche. But it's not necessarily the holy grail. For example, I'll take my AM shows and being done by 2 or 3pm. Get to the hotel, work out, grab a drink and have dinner, go for a walk, watch some TV and shut'er down until the morning. You couldn't pay me enough to do redeyes anymore. Others can't stand getting up in the morning, they gotta have their PM schedules. We have people calling in fatigued because they refuse to do the switch from PM to AM... yet it's a norm at United. Pluses and minuses.

luv757

There's only 1 constant in all of one's unhappy relationships.

60av8tor

You're right, not everyone's niche. It's just nice to have the option of doing both is all I'm saying. If you can make it work - obviously you can't; not everyone can - there are few better part time jobs.

News to me.