Preferred A/C
10-03-2015, 09:01 PM
#2
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2012
Position: B777 CA - SFO
Posts: 730
Any airplane that doesnt end in "-guppy". If there were such a thing as daylight landing qualified, I wouldn't have been for most of this year as a reserve Captain. Redeye shenanigans doth abound in SFO and LAX; not so much on the 320 fwiw.
10-03-2015, 09:07 PM
#3
Banned
Joined APC: Jun 2008
Position: A320 Cap
Posts: 2,282
Agree fully with my friend Lerxst. I've flown both the Guppy and Fifi in SFO and the flying on Fifi is much better. Big however.... that can change on a dime around here.
Fifi is a much better place to spend time as well. More variety of destinations on the 737 and you'll be more senior, but my impression between the two is that quality of trips at 60% on the A320 list = 30% or so on the 737
Fifi is a much better place to spend time as well. More variety of destinations on the 737 and you'll be more senior, but my impression between the two is that quality of trips at 60% on the A320 list = 30% or so on the 737
10-03-2015, 09:15 PM
#4
Line Holder
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Aug 2015
Posts: 35
Pardon my ignorance. Do you mean 60% of the trips on the A320 are quality...and 30% are quality on the 737... Meaning your opinion is the A320 is a better selection in this discussion?
10-03-2015, 10:02 PM
#5
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Feb 2011
Posts: 3,866
The trips today will not be the trips in two years, and again in fours, etc. I've flown a Boeing since 1979. It's great except for the loud constantly spinning trim wheel, the massive yoke between the legs, the 80 db at cruise, and the 1961 Mercury space capsule size cockpit. There are many factors to consider, but if every other factor is equal, and you simply need a tie breaker, choose the work environment that is bigger, quieter, and doesn't have a constantly spinning millstone disk in it. After all, it's where you'll spend most of your time.
Last edited by APC225; 10-03-2015 at 10:39 PM.
10-03-2015, 10:52 PM
#6
Don't say Guppy
Joined APC: Dec 2010
Position: Guppy driver
Posts: 1,926
Concur with Lerxt, and especially APC. Never, in any part of your career, choose a base or aircraft based on a single trip, or count on what they do staying the same. By the time you get there, the trips have changed, or changed to a different aircraft, or worse, the base closes.
I think the best advice I ever heard, in hindsight, was to buy a house in the biggest base the airline has. Or, buy an RV.
I did neither. I think the RV would have been more fun. The house, more stable.
I think the best advice I ever heard, in hindsight, was to buy a house in the biggest base the airline has. Or, buy an RV.
I did neither. I think the RV would have been more fun. The house, more stable.
10-04-2015, 04:27 AM
#7
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2010
Posts: 2,639
Concur with Lerxt, and especially APC. Never, in any part of your career, choose a base or aircraft based on a single trip, or count on what they do staying the same. By the time you get there, the trips have changed, or changed to a different aircraft, or worse, the base closes.
UAL has an entire department, and they are actually running the show, that measures every potential city pair with a micrometer and changes aircraft size and frequency on a constant basis trying to extract every possible nickel of revenue. As a result nothing is static and flight ops, along with the rest of the airline, is in a constant crisis trying to keep up with the "plan."
A current example: there is a fundamental shift in aircraft routing methodology coming down the pike that will change many of the trips on the 737 and the 320 starting in January exclusive of marketing's shenanigans. The trips that you see today do not reflect what you will see in the spring.
10-04-2015, 07:32 AM
#8
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2012
Position: B777 CA - SFO
Posts: 730
This.
UAL has an entire department, and they are actually running the show, that measures every potential city pair with a micrometer and changes aircraft size and frequency on a constant basis trying to extract every possible nickel of revenue. As a result nothing is static and flight ops, along with the rest of the airline, is in a constant crisis trying to keep up with the "plan."
A current example: there is a fundamental shift in aircraft routing methodology coming down the pike that will change many of the trips on the 737 and the 320 starting in January exclusive of marketing's shenanigans. The trips that you see today do not reflect what you will see in the spring.
UAL has an entire department, and they are actually running the show, that measures every potential city pair with a micrometer and changes aircraft size and frequency on a constant basis trying to extract every possible nickel of revenue. As a result nothing is static and flight ops, along with the rest of the airline, is in a constant crisis trying to keep up with the "plan."
A current example: there is a fundamental shift in aircraft routing methodology coming down the pike that will change many of the trips on the 737 and the 320 starting in January exclusive of marketing's shenanigans. The trips that you see today do not reflect what you will see in the spring.
10-04-2015, 10:59 AM
#9
Banned
Joined APC: Jun 2008
Position: A320 Cap
Posts: 2,282
Apologize for not being more clear. What I meant was that the types of trips that I fly at 30% on the 737 list are very similar to the trips I was getting at 60% on the Airbus list. 4 days with a red eye in there somewhere. As I, and others here, have pointed out though, the trips can change on a DIME. The A320 flying used to stink in SFO, and now it's really very good. So going forward it's crap shoot. The A320 is a MUCH better office to spend time in, but you are giving up a little seniority to fly it.... at least in the left seat. I confess to not being up to speed on how the seniority is now playing out on the right seat. Maybe someone else can chime in on that?
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