Itsajob

I’m interested in how people who were widebody f/o’s and are now narrowbody captains feel about the change. I’m mostly interested in how you actually feel during a trip and on your days off. I like the idea of one and done, great schedule, and great pay, but not if I feel like garbage all of the time. What is the least of the 2 evils? Commuting to widebody f/o would be ideal for schedule and days off. Junior line holding captain would require more days on for not that much more money. I’d prefer to go to widebody f/o, but I’m concerned about how healthy that kind of flying is in the long term.

Zenofzin

I did the 777 for 3 years, glad I tried it but couldn’t wait to get off. I got to where I hated going to work because I knew how sh$tty I’d feel. I bid 737 CA and never once regretted it. A lot of Great trips, better money and rarely ever up nights. I still see those planes takeoff and think “those poor guys”.

Zenofzin

Plus if you finesse the system and work the money is much better then you think.

Chakerik

Not at United but I'd second what the guy above said. I'm glad to have tried international but I much prefer domestic. I always felt terrible at work.... some guys love it though. I'm also curious what others think.

F15andMD11

There are significant health concerns about flying polar routes, never mind the time zone changes from Asia. I’m actually surprised it’s not addressed more. At a previous company they had presentations about the increased radiation exposure of polar routes. It’s real. I even had a FA ask why NRT FAs have higher instances of various cancers (no data to verify). Just saying...will it stop me from bidding it (short term), no.

Itsajob

Based in iah the widebody lines typically fly 12 days and are easily commutable on both ends. 737 captain lines would require 3 more days of flying plus several day off commutes. Based on equal time lines (I typically value days off more and don’t pick up open time), being a captain would pay just over $3,200 more a month, but require up to 6 more days working or commuting. The dollar per day favors the 777 or 787. I just don’t know what would be the better decision in the long run. I don’t see any widebody openings any time soon and I want to be more senior before changing, so this is more out of curiosity than actual planning.

Andy

I do not like NB CA nearly as much as WB FO. But in order to enjoy WB FO, you have to:
1) be able to sleep on an airplane. Lots of pilots say, sure, easy. Not always the case. and
2) you can't be a slave to circadian rhythms. You have to be able to sleep when you're tired and not be bothered by local time zones.

Personally, I'd get a lot of sleep on international trips both in hotels and while on break. At the end of many trips, I was more rested than at the start of the trip.

WB international flying isn't for everyone.

The great thing about this airline is that one has choices. I'd recommend that you 'try' WB FO when you are at the point that you can hold NB CA. If you don't like it, you can bid to NB CA instead of being seat locked before bidding back to NB FO.

UALinIAH

I’d echo what Andy said about it taking the right person for it. I did almost 15 yrs as a WB FO and the older I got the less I liked it. For me personally as I got close to my 50’s my body didn’t bounce back like it did in my 30’s. Many of my days off were spent recovering from the all night flying.

The beauty of it is that you can bid up to WB FO and if you hate it, bid up to NB CA right away. You can’t do it the other way around as you’d be frozen from bidding down.

IHateYou

I've been WB FO for 3 years now. I'm one of those that needs my sleep. I'm RSV. If I have a month where they use me a lot, I'm worn out. If they only use me once for the month, I feel great and made good money. I am usually bunkie so I always have first break. At first I wanted to fly and land....then after some flying spots I didn't like taking 2nd and third break so much.

Here's why: Many trips leave after noon or early evening. Most of the flights are 10 hours. So if we leave at 4pm, we land at 2am body time. No big deal as I'm usually go to sleep about 12-1am on days off anyway. So first break leaving there's no reason to sleep. I go to first class and get paid 231 bucks an hour to watch movies. Then when we get to destination, I immediately go to bed and sleep until I wake. Most guys and gals want to hit the road running as they are on "vacation." Not me. I couldn't care less about what city I'm in and what the food and culture is or sight seeing. So I wake up 7-8 hours later and it's usually late afternoon or night (middle of night asia). I eat and watch movies in my hotel room. And I'll usually sleep on and off until it's van time. Now depending on how I feel, I'll get a work out in somewhere in there, but sleep is number one.

Then coming back, I'm on first break again and my break is usually around 3-7am body time. So no problem sleeping on break unless it's really bumpy. When we land at home, sure I'm beat from a long day but I go to bed early that night and will sleep a good 10-11 hours and I'm back on normal time and feel great. So it has been working for me really well.

The guys that hit the road running and sight see and play are not getting their breaks until much later and are usually wiped by the time we land.

Pros of WB: One leg. Insanely easy flying. First class rest to watch movies. Or bunk to nap. Large cockpit to stand and stretch. CPDLC (never realized how much I'd love not switching freqs every two minutes), All the guys are great and almost no micro-managers. Pay vs what you do is awesome. Landings class! I love to dequal and have more days off (just me, most guys hate not landing). Super laid back environment. Cool destinations if you enjoy culture and sight seeing (I don't, but others do).

Cons of WB: Long legs. 14:30 to Bejeing gets old! Time zones (for me asia is way worse than Europe). Less cycles in the plane so you get rusty quicker. If you enjoy landing then you'll miss landing a lot. Mean ass FA's...my god (many are just miserable human beings). South America flights. Those are both double all nighters...those suck. 6 day trips are awful.

Anyway, for me, I don't enjoy the Regional airline schedule of 3+ legs a day for 4 days. I like doing one leg and done. I've figured out how to manage the sleep so right now the WB thing works for me. But if you need lots of sleep and want to go hit the town when you get to LHR or AMS and such, it'll kick your butt. But then again 4 on 3 off all month kicked by butt too on the 737.

blockplus

787 is a great plane for sleep on the plane, felt good not great most of the time. 777 300 same slept fine felt worse after arrival. 777-200 , if you are iro it is like being a zombie, coffin bunk , no way to cool it down ( especially with a crotchety old capt that cranks the heat in the flight deck, get a sweater). If you get smoked out you have a seat in back lights on and noisy during the service. Flying seat isn’t bad, quiet and dark in back. 6 days suck! 4 body clock red eyes. Hour -2 hour plus van rides. It takes 2 days to feel back to normal.

I went back to nb capt haven’t slept better. 2 redeyes in 6 months. Rarely more than 1-2 flights a day. Just got the Bose headsets and the ringing in my ears stopped.