HighFlight

I have been able to get 5+ days off a month since I started flying the line, minus the first two months when I was still learning how to bid. Just bid for 9 days off in a row and got it, just under a year with Endeavor.

Flyhayes

The big thing to understand is that while it's attainable, it probably won't be attainable right away. Everything is based upon your seniority at a company. While on reserve it's realistically probably not going to happen until you are senior on reserve. Then once you become a line holder you'll now be one of the junior line holders... So that might make it tougher to hold 5 off in a row. The plus side to being a line holder though is that you tend to get more days off in total than as a reserve pilot. Once you obtain more seniority it gets easier. To that, you might want to look at regionals that are experiencing a lot of growth so you climb the seniority ladder faster. You might also have to accept that in the beginning, you might not be able to pull your weight as a care taker, the trade off is that down the line you can take a more active roll. Someone mentioned looking into FMLA, so that might be a good avenue.

Otherwise there are 135/fractional operators out there that work on a 7on/7off schedule. The entry barriers might be higher than getting into a regional at the better paying places, but the schedule would align with your responsibilities. Wheels Up comes to mind, I think Planesense has a 7/7 schedule (not sure).

rickair7777

That's a broad sweeping statement, and it's pretty much guaranteed to be wrong. It depends on equipment, base, and seniority as much as the airline.

I think most slightly senior airline pilots can get five days off in a row. I could get ten without any trouble, but the rest of the month would of course be sucky. At SKW, it might be hard at MSP and/or DTW because the trips tend to be lower credit which forces a lot of work days.

HighFlight

Don't mean to rain on your parade, but I could do that by month 3 off IOE at EDV.

"Best schedule flexibility at any regional airline"?? LOL How many regionals have you worked for thus far?

Frick

I don't think people fully understand how great the SAP is at PSA. I've flown with guys from Envoy, express jet, Comair, etc. and they all say the SAP is the best scheduling flexibility they've ever seen. Seniority plays a part, but not as much as other airlines. Equipment does not matter because we all fly the 200,700, and 900. ANYONE who is a round one line holder can use SAP. When I was hired 2 years ago I was a round one line holder 3 months after IOE. Hiring was pretty much none in 2016 so obviously reserve times are longer but now we're hiring 40-60 a month so reserve times will come down significantly. With the SAP I can have ANY day off I want. I had thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years off. EVERYONE who wanted Christmas off had it off. Seniority does not matter with SAP. I originally was awarded flying on Christmas but dropped it during the SAP. The company got desperate and offered 200% so I picked up a trip that started with one late flight out on Christmas. I'm a commuter and was still home on Christmas until 4pm. I usually drop down to 65 and consistently get 2 separate weeks off in a row each month. One month I had 15 days off in a row without using any vacation. A few months I've gone to Europe or somewhere in the carribean, came home, and still had a whole week before I had to work again. I flew with a captain a few days ago that used 2 weeks of vacation in December and had 28 days off. You can make your schedule whatever you want with the SAP. When I bid on my schedule each month I just click on each line in order just to get it over with because I don't give a duck what I get awarded. when the SAP comes around I just trade everything. I don't look at what line has most days off or the highest credit or weekends off or whatever. I can create my own schedule during the SAP. They say the company doesn't like the SAP. Well, I would need the flow to triple and 20k more a year for me to even think about voting it away.

pagey

I stand by my statement. No regional has anything that can come close to offering the flexibility, and QoL of the SAP.

Is it broad and sweeping? Yes, because it is that unique.

pagey

Yea? Could you have 10 in a row every month? Because I can. How about every single holiday off, no matter what. Birthdays? Anniversary? Mistress flying into town? Just plain don't feel like going to work on a particular day?

Can you get those off? Every single time, without fail?

I don't mean to rain on your parade(I do) but like I said in my other response, I stand by my original statement.

Best flexibility. Best QoL.

Keep "LOLing", I'll keep going to work when I want and not going to work when I don't want.

Sambeaux

A lot of the Skywest guys really have a hard time acknowledging that another regional is better in any significant way then theirs. I'm relatively new to Skywest and If I were to do it again I'd come to PSA because I've since researched the **** out of SAP. This is from someone who has zero desire to work for American and couldn't give a $hit about the extra money.

Lovemywife

My first month as a round 1 line holder, 17 consecutive days off including a major holiday. Yes, SAP is nice.

Frick

To add to my previous comment about seniority....seniority only matters until you're a round one line holder. With the amount of hiring PSA is doing now I would guess it would take 3 to 6 months after IOE to be a round one line holder even in the most senior bases. That's similar to my experience when I was hired 2 years ago.

Once you're a round one line holder seniority goes out the window. The SAP is basically a 24 hour giant free for all where anything goes. Seniority does not matter. Equipment does not matter. Weekends, birthdays, holidays do not matter. Maybe you got your December schedule and realized you forgot to use a week of vacation for the cruise you booked 6 months ago that's over Christmas AND New Years AND you're the most junior line holder AND the reserve grid is -40 on Christmas Day. Have no fear the SAP is here. Drop that whole week with ease. Like I said...seniority doesn't matter. Reserve grid doesn't matter. That's why the company offered 200% to pick up flying because EVERY line holder that wanted Christmas off took it off. The only thing using vacation does for you is pay you for your days off. I get my own 2 separate entire weeks of vacation every single month. Even the most junior line holder can drop the last half of one month and the first half of the next month and have 3-4 weeks off straight without using any vacation or calling out sick.