Well ,poor wording on my part. it's not that it's "hard" as in it's difficult, but it's the busiest seat at the airline. Maybe that's a better way of putting it. My point was that it's a "harder, busier, more tasks etc" whatever you want to call it job than being a CA. Yes being a CA holds more responsibility but the day to day job of an F/O is more work. I spent a total of 13 years combined in the right seat of (sf-340,erj-145,320,737) and about 10 years as a CA on the 320. Being an F/O is more work period, especially at UAL. (My opinion only and you know what they say about those, lol )

Before the last bid we had a bunch of APC mids that were claiming there were "thousands" of pre-pandemic hire FOs that now that they could hold a line would be upgrading to CA and the post-pandemic hires had "missed the window" of upgrading to Captain and would have to wait 5 more year years to upgrade. Yet over half of the CA upgrades on the last bid were post-pandemic hires, and again on this bid there are many as well. But I never said "new hires" would get Captain. Just that they would likely keep going junior just as they are. Upgrading at 3 years at United is certainly "junior" from my perspective. Maybe not if you're a new hire, but to expect to get CA in year 1 has only happened for a very short period of time in my 30+ years here, although the same bid I got my CA upgrade in 1999 we had a pilot with 2 years and 8 months get guppy CA.

Agreed 100 percent. There's a lot of switch flipping in that seat, that's for sure...

I guess, I should have just asked “Do you find that surprising that DEN 320 is snapshotting a 13,800——-?”
….and “do you find others reactions to such seniority holding left seat bus (either as they predicted or with shock) suprising?”

you should really take up a few more hobbies

“regional flying” comment grinds my gears. If this flying wasn’t at mainline many of us wouldn’t be here at mother U. We fought/advocated for years to bring the flying back in house and now we complain about it.

My next trip has “regional flying” (DSM, RIC, CMH) on it. I will take my 7 year NBCA rate, 17% PRAP and profit sharing compared the lost decade of slave wages

yes! Well said.

Layovers are good, it’s the number of legs…

+1000

Filler

So much this 👆🏽. As I stroll through the skyway in DSM, I am in such a great mood, and more often than not the other people I encounter are as well. As you say this compensation package has a therapeutic way of me being able to deal with and reconcile the poor state of mental health (and financial) I was in in these types of places some 10-15 years ago. Theres a serendipity I think going to these places now with our mainline compensation……..as these places now no longer represent such misery in my mind.