Hello all,
I am 37 years old and I am starting my ATP program. I did a lot of research about what is the age cut off and if it was worth it to start at my age.
One thing that keeps coming up is senority and schedule. I keep hearing I will never have the perfect schedule.
What are some schedule examples for a new pilot and realistically what should I expect say in 5 years?
Can anyone share examples of good and bad schedules?
Thank you
Addy,
First I recommend you visit the scheduing section where you can see some actual schedules.
As for you question “what’s a good schedule?”, that’s a really good question and the answer is highly subjective, ie, what I think is good maybe very different than what you think is good. With that in mind while it’s true seniority dictates everything at the airlines, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have a bad schedule or anything else. It’s a matter of what you want and your priorities. Let me explain.
Obviously seniority allows you to get what you want before others but it’s really more that seniority allows you to get what EVERYBODY wants first. Easy example is Christmas. Most people want Christmas off but only the most senior will get it. Same goes for weekends and many holidays. Well, I’m Jewish and my kids are grown so I don’t need Christmas or weekends off. That means my priorities are different than the majority which allows me to target better trips vs those days. When I was at my Regional EWR was a very junior base because no one wanted to live in NY. NY is my home so I got it and was able to build seniority quickly there because it was different than what everyone else wanted. Make sense?
Adam