Jonny Drama

Whaaaat??? You must be residing on planet denial. I’ve done a whole bunch of Hawaii the last two years on the NEO. Always can get to 32-33k for initial cruise yeah the high twenties may only be about 1000fpm or slightly less. But not near as bad as you are suggesting. Never weight restricted out of OGG, HNL, or KOA. LIH they usually restrict 10 seats for the unreliable winds, but honestly most days we could still go full. But even the 757 would occasionally be weight restricted there. The last half of the flight we can usually be at 36k sipping 5000 lbs per hour or slightly less. And per the FOM and Airway Manual Hawaii is a Flag Op and has 180 ETOPs so alternates aren’t really up for negotiation. We are always landing with about 10000 lbs minimum and almost never redispatching.

FL370esq

Yup...clearly this profession is no longer subject to business cycles. Can only go up, never backwards.

Jonny Drama

The 321ceos are much more sluggish than the NEOs in the upper 20s and low 30s weighing 10-15k pounds less than their NEO counterparts.

Jonny Drama

I always get a kick out of hockey’s almost perpetually negative attitude towards the industry. For a guy hired young with a golden career (outside of the first 5-6 years stagnation) he sure does live in a glass is way more than half empty world. While there will always be a chance of hiring pauses and possibly even furlough. This is a far different industry than it was in the 2000-2010 time frame.

marcal

They’re both dogs. But very comfy.

CrazyEight

Climbing is a function of excess power. Slow climb = struggle. It is another airplane that has been stretched well beyond what it was originally designed to do (this goes for 737, 757, 787 and 320) and spends most of its time getting ratted around in the clouds. They are a comprimise between the engineering side of the house and marketing. Sure, it has been updated with a wing to help cruise at higher weights but its as if the engines are still from yesterday, not something that will climb you out of trouble. I also feel like these planes take for ever to accelerate and clean up and spend or a higher percentage of their time at altitudes I am trying to get out of.

I would take a 40 year old 757 to Hawaii vs a new NEO.

CrazyEight

In his defense, when he got hired WBA was paying a hair over 120 an hour and it would take 9 years to break $75 on the 757. It was post airline health clinic and the Great Financial Crisis wrapped into one. All the 2008's were stuck at the tail end of the list for six years, with hint of furlough for most of it. Thank you Compass flow protections. The only reason we didn't get furloughed is due to the fact that pay rates were so low it didnt cost a lot to keep us around. Northworst was so cheap they would seasonally unfurlough pilots for summer flying. Then came Anderson's dream of outsourcing the entire West Coast, dumping the Pacific network, flying 40% over the Atlantic and signing up AeroMexico into the mix as our new TX hub. We were flying some old dog@#$% planes and cancelled 18 787 orders and 50 options with the simulators already installed in the bays. It was the the final nail in the hope casket and the beginning of endless dissappointment.

It has been a good ride from 2016 till 2019, and lucrative 2022+. I would advise junior to live within reason until you are 80% on the list and then assume you could go from very junior NBA to junior NBB and take a BK paycut on top of that, lets call it a 100% to maybe a 50% paycut.
Lots of uncertainty in the world and we have lots of debt. Forward earning guidance is not great... Another hit below the waterline (XYZ winning their dream of a major war) and trust me, it will get interesting for all and devastating for some. No generation has escaped this.

To me the only thing more annoying than constant pessimism is blind optimism. One is tainted with prior experience and one is, well, detached from reality. You wont find many pilots that have been around 15+ years at any airline that aren't a bit seasoned. That is at least one and likely two economic cycles under their belt.

1Taco

Of course you aren’t. Why would you be optimistic about anything, eeyore?

Gulfasaurus

Exactly, and this is the crux of the issue. It even affects the miighty 757. The 757-300 has the same problems everyone is complaining about on the 737-900 and A321: slow climber, runway hog, can't cruise as high, smokes brakes if you're not careful. The slight increase in thrust on the engines isn't enough to fully offset the weight increase from the stretch, and you're using a wing that was designed for a much smaller plane. The other day I was in a fully loaded 757-300 bouncing around in the tops for an hour at FL360 towards the end of a transcon with MAX FL showing 365, where in a -200 we would already be up at 380 in smooth air. But airlines like stretched airplanes because you have a much lower CASM, taking more people for basically the same fuel burn.

CX500T

The 757-300 is the 75Y in DL systems. As in Y is it so long/slow. But the "bad" plane in the 75/76 family performs like the 321 but with more people/cargo.