tcco94

You jealous bro?

Scooter432

100. I'm leaving the WB to go NBA. Europe while fun is rough on my body. On paper it appears grand..tour around on Delta's dime. Reality is struggling to get through the day after feeling like you have been run over by a bus. Staring at the ceiling after only getting 2 hours of sleep initially in the night and then finally falling asleep around 3-4am before heading back home. I've tried most tricks to mitigate it with varying degrees of success. No matter how I slice it, its bad on my body. Add on top MX delays nearly most trips this summer and I'm over it. I've been fortunate to see most of the cities I wanted to check out. I realize I enjoy them more well rested on vacation.

I greatly look forward to sticking within a 1-2 time zones from home and staying domestic. According to some on here though since I'm in the 2000-8000 seniority, Im crazy to go NBA..ha ha ha.

Gunfighter

Europe is middle of pack WB flying. It's definitely better than South America, but much more difficult than 4 pilot ops. TLV, JNB, CPT, ACK and SYD are much better than 3 pilot all-nighters. Some of the ICN and HND trips are body clock daytime flights. I feel better after flying MSP-HND-MSP than I ever did after a domestic 7ER trip. We get so nuanced about the differences between 73N and 320, but overlook the wide variety of WB flying.

tcco94

I wonder when we will even go back to TLV. Heard nothing but great things about that trip and layover hotel.

crewdawg

The problem with that is the "variety" is fleet or base specific. As an example, my variety was AMS, CDG or LHR, which got old after about 2 months. The variety was simply which base in the states you overnighted. If I wanted any of the other stuff it mean oob, or waiting until the super hot season when the senior guys would y fly FCO or ATH.

tennisguru

Mock award is posted.

Gooner

I identify with your experience. I also agree and tell my FOs to go try the WB life at the earliest that makes sense opportunity. Best to find out if the schedule works for your body and then your family. My spouse noticed while I was home more I wasn’t “home” on some of the days since I was operating at let’s just say less than 100%.

The other perk of seeing the international world is the pacing of the operation. I have tried to bring the unhurried and methodical pace that transoceanic flying creates to the domestic operation. The biggest loss is not having the 3rd pilot slightly out of the weeds monitoring us and handling the non flying related duties.

Gunfighter

Thanks for clarifying the point I was trying to make. WBB gets lumped together as though it's all the same, but it varies considerably between base and fleet. DTW 330 has lots of 34-37 hour 6 day trips, where you have more variety on the mid trip layover (SLC, MSP, BOS, SLC, SEA) than you do in Europe (AMS, CDG or LHR). A senior MSP 330 will see HND-LAX-HND, but get 47 hours for the same 6 days of work. LAX 350 can be a steady diet of ACK and SYD or random trips through MSP and ATL over to ICN, HND, ATH, TLV and even south to SCL. NYC A330 averages 17 hours for a 3 day Europe redeye. ATL A350 3 day HND pays 27 hours for daytime flying.

-NYC choices may favor NBA rolling thunder or flying to the Caribbean on a GS rather than a steady diet of 3 day 17 hour trans-atlantic trips.

-LAX WB reserve with a monthly GS could credit 100 hours with 4-5 days of work outearning a NBA working 15 days all with redeye starts.

-ATL local willing to work any day of the month can crush the short notice GS as NBA, whereas a commuting 350B with 3x3 day trips gives 21 days off to maximize home life or a hobby.

-DTW NBA averaging 5:30 per day would be much better than a junior 330B averaging 5:30 per day.

There is so much variety in the WB schedules that a generic comparison of WBB to NBA is like saying "real estate is a good investment" without identifying the market you are talking about.

I'm glad we don't all agree on the best decision. Every pilot senior to me who has different preferences improves my relative seniority. If every pilot thought WB was the best answer, the WBA plug would be 1,200, not 4,000. So much of what gets expressed is justification of personal choice, not necessarily well meaning advice.

FangsF15

Wow, my timing prediction a few posts up aged very poorly.

Mid-bid cut lines:
WB A plug just over 40XX, or ~23%
WB B plug 116XX, or ~69%
NB A plug right at 14,7XX, or ~86%

Very similar to the final results of the last AE, with NB A being a little more junior. Mid-Bid seems to trend a little more junior that final award.

Big E 757

I flew INTL on the ER for years, and once I got my sleep program down, I’d do pretty well sleeping through the night in Europe, so I always thought 3rd break coming home would be best, because I was rested and wouldn’t sleep during 1st break. Although there were plenty of times I struggled to go back to sleep after waking up at 2 to use the bathroom.