Bidding

Bidding closes soon. I am going to preference Day trips first....then weekends off.....then 3 day trips with weekends off....then four day trips working weekends. Lots of days off is important as well.

Day trips are horrible for commuters but great for those who live in base and want to be home every night. Day trips start in the morning in base, fly 2-4 legs and finish in base that night. No overnights. The bad part is it's like an office job in that you drive to and from work everyday. I set up my preferences to start the day trips after 7AM so that I can take my daughter to day care and my wife can pick her up.

Next up is 3 day trips. Three day trips are a normally non stop flying and short overnights. The idea is to get 4 days of flying done in 3 days. It's hard for a 3 day trip to be commuteable on both ends as the trip is designed to be nonstop flying. I was never able to bid 3 day trips when I commuted for the very reason that they start early and end somewhat late.

Four day trips are the norm for most pilots/flight attendants. These are the most flexible in construction as it can be designed to be late start on day one, heavy flying on days two and three and light flying on day four. Or the line could be light on all four days...or any mix. I did almost exclusively 4 day trips when I commuted.

There is one other type of trip that I thought I wanted, but maybe later when my daughter is in school. The 2 day back to back.

The 2 day back to back is like it sounds, two 2 day trips back to back. For example the first 2 day would start at 9AM on Monday and finish at 6PM on Tuesday. The pilot/flight attendant goes home for the night. They come back Wednesday at 11AM and start the next 2 day trip finishing Thursday at 8PM. The advantage is the pilot/flight attendant gets an extra night at home.

I'll know my fate on Monday.

I'm pretty sure I will hold Christmas off....which will be nice.