How was the schedule like when you first started out as a commercial airline pilot?

Question

I want to know if you can choose to be on day flights when you first start out, or if the company will make you go where they need you to go. And if any of you know how the "bidding" on flights and the "seniority" system thing works, if you could explain it to me that would be great to. Thanks for your guys' time!

Answer 1

I am not an airline pilot, but can answer this: you are less likely to get a route you want when you first start off. The more seniority you have, the more of a chance you have of getting the route you want. So no, you probably won't get your first pick. The senior guys will choose the flights where they will be able to be home with their family more, and at better times. You might get the red eye for a while.



I can't answer your question on route bidding, sorry



The seniority system works by how many years you have been with the airline. Also, the type of aircraft you fly. A 1 year F/O of a Boeing 757 will make around the same as a 1 year Captain of a 737

Answer 2

If you are worrying about schedules, you are going to have a long hard time in the airline industry. They are going to use you like a rented mule, and squeeze every minute out of your duty time possible, that way they keep the number of pilots to a minimum. See, each month the corporate bean counters are just eaten alive, when they see that they needed X amount of pilots to fly the trips, but they have 30% more pilots sitting around doing nothing... nothing equals.. sitting on Reserve, training, or heaven forbid.. days off.



Working the bidding system becomes an artform for some pilots, they spend hours and hours pouring over the lines, trying to find overlaps, or days off that line up from last month to next month, and believe me.. there is a LOT of money to be made doing that... if that is what you are after. Learning to "work the system" so that you are in the right place at the right time means the company will have to pay you extra to complete a trip because of duty time conflicts, or training schedules etc.



If you are a new hire, bottom of the list for a major at a large hub... say AA at DFW... you might be looking at 250-300 schedules... that is why they have the computer software so you can punch in what you want, and it will show you what comes closest. You will be making decisions based on money vs. quality of life. Would you rather have the time off??? or make the money?



SouthWest has a unique approach, the more you fly, the more you make. If you want the time off... don't fly... but you don't get paid. See.. the first rule for these schedule beaters is they spend the first half of their life trying to get the job, and then they spend the 2nd half of their life trying to not DO their job.



Say you have been online a couple of years, you are at a base that has 60 pilots on your seat and a/c. You are # 35 on the list. You would bid the 35 lines (in order of preference) that you want... if NO one above you wanted your first choice... you would get it... but.. imagine if you were standing in a sporting goods store and they were giving away 60 items, and you got to pick at #35... the really good stuff would be pretty well gone by the time it got to you... and the poor guy down at #60... doesn't even get a choice.. he gets the LAST item, regardless of what it is. Still if you liked canoe paddles, and no one above you wanted one... you could get what you wanted... but that was because you liked something that no one else did. Same thing.



This is why seniority is so critical, and it affects your vacation, training, and upgrade as well... and can even affect if you get the jumpseat to go home... This is why you see guys NOT take the upgrade to Captain, because they would rather be a f/o with a GREAT schedule, than a Captain with a lousy one. Because of this, some airlines will only allow you to "pass" your upgrade for a small period of time, then they force you to take it. Most carriers would have guys that were WAY senior, sitting in the f/o seat, because they had the # 1 schedule EVERY month... and it really po's the junior guys... BUT... he didn't take the Captain upgrade.

Answer 3

When you first start out, you have virtually no say in what your schedule is. They will put you where they need you. Plan on being based in a city that you don't live in and on reserve.



Unless you are based in a crappy city that no one wants to live in, only senior pilots get day trips. Plan on being gone for several days at time, over the weekends and holidays.



Bidding works by bidding for what you want to fly. Once all the bids are in, the most senior person gets their schedule first, then the 2nd most senior person and so on. By the time the new people get their schedules, all the good stuff is usually gone. Some airlines have you bid on entire month "lines" and others use a "preferential bidding" system. The latter means you tell a computer "I only want to fly day trips, I want every Friday off" etc. It's a system that works very well for senior people and very poorly for new people, but you have to pay your dues in order to get the good schedules.



You go through this anytime you start out at a new airline, not necessarily your first. That's why pilots don't like to hop from one airline to the next. Even if you make the jump to a good major airline, you will still start out at the bottom and get garbage schedules for a while.



It's a constant cycle of good and bad schedules:

New F/O: garbage schedules

Work your way up to senior F/O: you get to pick your schedules.

Upgrade to Captain: You go back to being on reserve and gone every weekend and holiday

Move on to a major airline: back to crap schedules

Senior major airline F/O: great schedules

Upgrade to major airline captain: back to the bottom

etc, etc.

Answer 4

At most US carriers, seniority drives all schedule awards. If you are a new First Officer, you will be assigned to a base and likely get a reserve line with 8-10 days off. On the assigned Reserve days, you are "on call" to cover pilots who call in sick, are on vacation, or in training.



At most carriers, you will have little control over the schedule as a newhire, because you bid on them, and they are awarded in seniority order. Once the lines are awarded, most carriers allow pilots to "trip drop" or "trip trade" to improve their schedules.



As you gain seniority in your base, the number of schedule lines you need to bid decreases until you are Numero Uno, when you choose your line for the month.



Then you upgrade and go to the bottom of the Captain's bid list... Most F/Os take the first upgrade they are offered, but some folks wait to take an upgrade to keep their good schedules.