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Night flying

Old 03-03-2017, 05:59 PM
  #21  
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Originally Posted by FTFF View Post
I was a regional guy flying commutable 4 on 3 off trips before coming here. Night flying sucks whatever way you look at it, but it can be tolerable. Since "night flying" is a blanket term, here is what it actually is, at least at Mother Brown.

Night sort is a big percentage of our domestic flying. You probably call them highspeeds, standups, or momma trips at the regionals... Show up for a van pickup at the hotel around 8pm, fly a quick leg to SDF, sleep for a couple of hours (4 is over exaggerating reality), fly back to outstation (gateway in Brownspeak), get to the hotel around 6am and you are done until 8pm. Few, if any, get 8 hrs of sleep straight at the hotel. Seems most get 4-6 then take another nap before showtime. Those are the clean trips. Often you'll find multiple legs on one end, both, or some E-W or W-E long legs just to make the night brutal. And if you are late inbound your break in sdf can vanish at the blink of an eye nor does UPS bother to take care of you and let you sleep longer when they know your outbound flight is delayed. Typical schedule is week on week off with a commercial DH on at least one side. Damage: disruption of normal sleep pattern, reduction in quality sleep hours, circadian disruption.

AM turns: Show up in SDF around 2-3am, fly to outstation, sleep and hour (or two if you are really lucky; some trips have no sleep opportunity) then head back to SDF. Done by 11am. Rinse and repeat for next 3 nights. Lines of turns are typically 3/4 weeks of 4 on 3 off. To emphasize, you normally get a week off out of a 4 week pay period. No perdiem is paid on these. Sounds good? Ok, a 3 am show time requires you to be at employee parking lot by 2:40 at the latest so you are probably waking up at or before 2am (this is Western Europe bankers hours). Can you be in bed asleep before 1800 to get your 8 hrs...? Sounds easy, reality is another thing. Can't tell you how many times I lay in bed from 530pm to 9 or 10 pm tossing and turning getting more and more ****ed off because all I wanted to do was feel good at 2am and that was out of the question at no fault of my own. But honestly, out of all the night stuff we fly I find these to be the most manageable. Other guys detest them. Damage: reduction of quality sleep hours, possible circadian disruption.

True night flying. All sorts of stuff and mostly on the domestic fleets. It can be multiple flights into and out of the sort with no sleep opportunities, red eyes, a link of flights around the country, etc.. The only positive is that this type of flying isn't common (all I've done is 1 red eye) so at worst it will be sporadic. Damage: circadian disruption, circadian flip-flop, reduction of quality sleep, reduction of total sleep. This $hit will kill you. Biggest problem is that these trips are interspersed with other pairings so there's no consistency.

International. You start going E or W. SDF is usually a 2-3am show. You can do around the worlds, loops around oceans, intl hub turns, out and backs, scatter patterns, you name it. Trip times can be anywhere from 4 days to 14. The biggest problem is the 24 hour layovers associated with E-W long haul flights. You need to get 2 x 8hr sleep opportunities in a 24 hour period when your circadian rhythm wants to do it in 36. You'll find that despite your best efforts you will show up for a long flight right at the time your body is demanding a long sleep. Needless to say, rest breaks are invaluable. Otherwise it's your standard intl problems which are more circadian based vs length and quality in domestic night flying. The flying is generally easier too. Guys doing certain intl hub turns can stay on US time zones (but this goes senior). Damage: Circadian disruptions and flip flops, reduction in quality sleep.

The counter to all of this is the time off we get and the lower block hours we fly. We talk about these as being benefits but they are actually necessities. Mixed fleets like the Z and MD offer variety of pairings that you can use to recover from your exposure to the bad stuff despite the convenience the night stuff usually brings to you. Regardless, you'll notice when you get a few weeks off in a row with normal sleep just how chronically tired you are during your normal working life despite how good you are at sleep management. I'm starting to dread going to work because no matter what I do at some point during my trip I'm going to decimate my body clock and sleep cycle routine. Doing this once in a blue moon is one thing. Done chronically it will start to kill you.

As for all the questions they were drilling you on: this job is mainly about fatigue management. Your main thoughts are how to recover and be rested for the next assignment. The guys that don't are the ones who look 20 years older than they are. Like boiler said, you have to make a lifestyle change to fly night if you want to survive. It's all about survival.
Great intel. Much appreciated.
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Old 03-07-2017, 07:23 AM
  #22  
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The question I would ask you is, can you fall asleep at 12:30 am then get up at 2:30 am and go fly for another few hours. I can, and I find those small cat-naps really work well for me. Others here say that if they fall asleep, they have a difficult time waking up and they're groggy for awhile. It really boils down to how you handle this. Also for myself, I'd rather be tired and flying at night than deal with Whining pax, flight attendants, gate agents etc. Also remember one thing, All it takes is one jackass terrorist on a mission to send the pax carriers back into a post 9/11 downturn, whereas here, not so much. Also really look at our retirement...no brained there.
Good luck
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Old 03-07-2017, 09:35 AM
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Originally Posted by Vito View Post
Also for myself, I'd rather be tired and flying at night than deal with Whining pax, flight attendants, gate agents etc.

...... AND .... having to orchestrate a security team/anti invasion boondoggle just to get up and take a **** or grab a bottle of water.





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Old 03-07-2017, 10:45 AM
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The big advantage of night flying is that there's no weather at night!
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Old 03-07-2017, 11:37 AM
  #25  
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Originally Posted by Vito View Post
The question I would ask you is, can you fall asleep at 12:30 am then get up at 2:30 am and go fly for another few hours. I can, and I find those small cat-naps really work well for me. Others here say that if they fall asleep, they have a difficult time waking up and they're groggy for awhile. It really boils down to how you handle this. Also for myself, I'd rather be tired and flying at night than deal with Whining pax, flight attendants, gate agents etc. Also remember one thing, All it takes is one jackass terrorist on a mission to send the pax carriers back into a post 9/11 downturn, whereas here, not so much. Also really look at our retirement...no brained there.
Good luck
Yep sounds great to me! I've talked to several very nice people about this topic so far.
I must say every UPS pilot I come in contact with either through this forum or meeting on my jumpseat has been a class act! Great group of guys/gals there as far as I can tell.
I can't wait to start class!!!!
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Old 03-07-2017, 12:49 PM
  #26  
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I would recommend you do a litttle experiment, the next time you have any time off, sleep 8 am till 2 pm and do that several days a week and see how you feel, this job is tough, I have done it for 16 yrs here at ups and the only real downside is that you never feel right even on your days off, all the benefits, retirement and salary aside, this will be what affects you the most, and even at 30% on my fleet it hasn't changed, so understand before you come here, you will fly nights! The day trips are harder than the night trips and just as fatiguing, if the benefits for you run family are worth it then do it, otherwise go to a pax carrier.
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Old 03-07-2017, 02:30 PM
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Fear of a 911 event and the after effects to the pax industry drive many to and keep many at this job. Also, the after effects witnessed in 2003-2005 with all the chap 11 and liquidation of pensions also effect how people view this industry and their willingness to do this type of flying. The future is unknown.

Last edited by WhenPigsFLy; 03-07-2017 at 02:41 PM.
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Old 03-07-2017, 02:41 PM
  #28  
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Also, even if you get your 8 hours say from 8 AM till 4 PM, waking up and only seeing night time several days in a row messes with you mentally. Day night transitions really mess with you as well. I though pax domestic flying was rough sometimes.. This takes it to a whole new level. Just the other day I woke up at 4 PM for a 1:30 AM shuttle. 3 AM airborne, back in the hotel at 4 PM. 24 hours awake. I sleep good during the day but this stuff gets to you quickly.
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Old 03-07-2017, 05:47 PM
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Why a 4pm wakeup for a 3am t/o...is this including your commute in?
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Old 03-07-2017, 06:23 PM
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Should have worded that differently. I woke up (by myself) at 4 PM. Because that was the schedule my body was in that week. No alarm or anything.
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