Have any of y’all gone from ULCC in base to commuting at UPS? How was the transition?

 

Another vote for UPS then. I know several senior 7ER captains at DL doing several red-eye flip-flip trips each month, whereas at FX and UPS you can hold pure saying flying by year 2 right now (fleet dependent)

 

Send me a pm I can help you out. I tried sending you one but can’t.

 

Will do, thank you!

 

Day flying sucks. You get to your overnight and all there is to do is to sleep.

Fly through the night, crews mostly fully augmented so you get a good 3-4 hour sleep in, get to destination, have a full day to do what you want, then sleep at night.

You can do your 3-4 leg day, get to your hotel at 11pm for your 10 hour rest. Don't dismiss the realities that type of flying has on QOL.

QOL on "WOCL flying" is awesome.

 

im glad it’s not tough on ya. But, the science says that it’s not a healthy lifestyle over the long term.

 

Cool, but I challenge you to post a link to that science. That attitude has been floated many times here, but nobody can seem to find the peer reviewed scientific studies to back it up. Having flown long days and long nights, I can tell you a short night beats a long day anytime and a short day beats a long night. The real key is how often your job/line requires you to flip your circadian rhythm. We have some lines that will destroy you that way, but so do pax carriers. Avoid those, life is good. If you don’t, you drop dead two days after retirement, if you make it that far.

 

I’m with you - I’m constantly getting told how “unhealthy” our flying is, but I’ve never seen the study on cargo pilots with the occasional long night. We are not shift workers, I literally can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been absolutely dog tired in the last five years. Most of the time I fly international and sleep out of a normal rhythm 1-2 times a month (if that). When I’m home, I probably get more sleep than most 9-fivers. I try to eat right and workout on the road. I might die sooner than the fat legacy pilot I pass in the bar, but I’m not quite ready to blame the UPS flying. I know everyone’s experience is different and some people have a more difficult time than others adjusting, but our flexibility here places at least some responsibility on you to determine what works best for you. A job that requires you to sit all day and eat out constantly is likely the real killer in this industry, but I never see people asking which airlines have the healthiest catering.

 

MTSUFlyer, PM me. Tried to send a PM your way but couldn’t.

 

This.
And the fact that on a long flight you can get up and stretch your legs when you feel like it helps a lot. Being locked in a 737 flight deck for a 4 hour flight can't be good for you either.