mrvmo

Yes.....for example......if you have 2 days of training that you place in the middle of a week long trip.....the week long trip is removed from your schedule. But.....the company can back fill you on the days that you are not in training within the footprint of your original week long trip. Sometimes they backfill you as much as contractually possible.....sometime you get some extra days off. Yes, you are pay protected for the trip regardless, or greater depending on what they backfill you with.

pony172

For the record, I am pretty happy here. 12 yr FO at 74% on the MD. The key to life here is this, "FIND YOUR NICHE". I have very little luck with trip trading or line improvement, success of the new drop/trade board remains to be seen. I bid the MD because even though I am the lowest seniority of all the fleets, the lines are still better as a commuter. As FTFF says, you just don't get your choice of days. Best of luck to the OP.

whalesurfer

It's all based on the fleet and domicile he/she would get. Just talked to a "new hire" who's on the MD (off probation by now). He said he typically gets base-trip lines or reserve lines. He lives in Tennessee but near the Kentucky border so he said reserve wasn't really that bad and base trip lines reminded him of pax airline schedules, 4 on 3 off, 2 on 3 off, etc., etc. If you live near your domicile you might actually find the "junior" schedules ok, not great but ok.
As far as your last question - in 11+ years here it only happened to me once and I could've avoided it but needed specific days off. The dreaded 4-weeks on was followed up by the much appreciated 4-weeks off - and I wasn't even using my vacation..

There's definitely a huge difference between international and domestic trips. Several guys who left ANC 74 and MD fleets are now contemplating bidding back to Anchorage.
It's much easier to go from 75/76 or Airbus to MD or 74 than the other way around. Once you've gotten used to flying just one leg, admittedly a very looong leg, a day it's hard to go back to a domestic fleet.. I'm glad we have many different choices..

Brown Boeing FO

I got kicked off the 74 three years ago and I didn't look back for long. I'd be 99% on the Whale and I'm 72% on the Bus, no contest I have a better life on the Bus. I hate long legs and the time zone changes were hard for me. I've also lost 30 lbs even though I work out less now versus back then.

I won't talk about the fact that I make more money on the Bus (because junior 74 is RSV) and I'm home so much more that my wife keeps asking me when I'm leaving.

That said, like has been said elsewhere, you need to find your niche.

BBFO

CactusCrew

One word ...

YES

767pilot

Yes is the correct answer, but isn't there as much chance of 4 weeks in a row off?

FTFF

I haven't, nor have any other newhires I know, gotten stuck with 4 weeks of RSA or anythjng in a row. A couple of guys did say they did almost 3 weeks of base trip stuff in order to secure certain blocks of time off. Bottom line, with even a tiny bit of seniority on fleet you can bid avoid nasty blocks like that. Not something I'd worry about if you're interested in Brown.

CactusCrew

Not likely, it will happen when one is really junior. Sometime in the decade that was C2006 I had 25ish days straight. It was RSV, then training, and then more RSV. Prior to that block and after that block was 13 days off or less. It was all contractual because training wasn't part of the language about 21 days straight. They got us on that one.

See above. It can happen.

I lived through it, not a big deal. I wasn't really a new hire then, it was only year 4 or more into my sentence.

If that's a real concern about coming to UPS, it would be better to look at Kalitta or Atlas. They have really short trips with huge blocks off in between.

UPSFO4LIFE

Kalitta, that's a great place to be!

captbiff

And why would that be?