Life as... a Line Holder Airline Pilot

[ExpressJet Jeremy]

Can you give us a kind of calendar of what your inital time was like with your career? Kind of a day by day where you were, what you were doing. I'm just trying to get an idea of how it all works in the begining.

LukeZ_MD

So far, my flying career has had 4 distinct phases in terms of lifestyle... student, instructor, reserve airline pilot, line holder airline pilot.

Line Holder Airline Pilot
Once I became a line holder, things finally began to get better. First it was that I could know my schedule for the entire month. Wow. My wife loved that part.

Another thing is that you can improve your line. It is usually very difficult to change which DAYS you will be working, but it is usually very easy to trade for a different trip on the same days that may have qualities that you like better such as start and finish times, how many hours you fly per trip (and as a result, how much money you will earn), where your overnights are or who your captain (or flight attendant) is.

When I bid or trade for trips, I look for the following, generally in this order:
1) Commutability - I prefer trips that start after noon and end around noon.
2) Dallas overnight - If I get one, I sleep in my own bed while on a trip!
3) Line value - I want to make as much money and flight time as possible whle Im at work.
4) Interesting overnights - All else being equal, a trip that overnights in SAV, BVT and CHS will always be desired over one that overnights in LFT, SHV and AMA.

Finally, as a line holder and you start to get more senior, you start to be able to hold more days off per month. I realized this summer how much of a difference there is going from 12 days off a month to 14 or 15!

I'll post my schedule as a sticky post and will try my best to keep it updated so you can see just how things look.

I hope this little series helps answer your questions, Luke, and perhaps may even generate a few more.

Jeremy

[CoryN_TX8]

Yeah, I certainly know life as a line holder is a lot better. I haven't been on reserve in about 6 1/2 years so going back to that will be a change for me.

You gotta love the SAV overnight downtown on the riverfront. If you do end up in SHV just don't get shot next door at the Waffle House!

[ExpressJet Jeremy]

Savanah is actually my wife's favorite overnight. She always comes along on those.

[ChristopherH_PA13]

Man I went to a SAV overnight a few months back with a crew (to be nameless lol) and it was a blast. SAV is an awesome city

[RichardA_WA]

I went there with my girlfriend at the time and I hated it, probably because she is a gold digger.