The (Bid) Life of an Airline Pilot

Folks, from the flight blog, welcome aboard!

I’ve had many of you ask, Just how do airline pilots go about getting assigned their jobs—which planes, which seat (Captain or First Officer), to which city are they assigned? And, once they’re assigned all that, how do they get their schedules?

Well, let’s explore just that!

But First…

Congratulations, Bunny!

So proud of Team Aux’s Producer, Bunny (my wife!), for her amazing showing in the Master’s Division of the NPC National Bodybuilding Championships!

All the more amazing that she did it after surviving cancer! It’s been a tough, years-long road, Honey, but you DID IT!!!

Special thanks to trainer Ivan of muscletopiausa.com!

And now…

The (Bid) Life of an Airline Pilot

The Bidding Process—Seniority is Life

It all happens by a Bidding Process, and it all boils down to your seniority—basically, how long you’ve been at your airline. The more “senior” you are, the more likely you’ll get your top choices. Pilots are only checked out and current on one plane type at a time—Airbus A320 or A380, Boeing 737 or 777, Embraer E-175, etc. (It is very rare that a pilot will fly more than one type. Airliners are simply too complex, and the procedures too different.)

Since I got hired by (what is now) my current airline back in 1990, I’ve been “based” in Phoenix. I’ve been very lucky in that regard—I was born and raised in Phoenix, and many of my friends and family still live here. Being hired here allowed me to bring my career back “full circle.” I had chased the career all over the map, up to Alaska, down to the Caribbean, with intermediate stops in Colorado and Washington, DC.

But, I digress. Back to the bidding process. When you first get hired by an airline, you’ll be assigned as a First Officer to a given airplane and base (city). Wherever they need you, they’ll send you. You’ll most likely be on “Reserve”—ie, be on call to replace a sick pilot—rather than have a “line” with a schedule. Slowly, as you move up the ladder, you’ll be able to move off of reserve and into a line—if you so desire.

Some pilots prefer Reserve, to maximize their time at home so that they can, for example, run a business. But, it’s a crap shoot. You may work more on Reserve than if you had a line. And, you never know when that (S)Crew Scheduling phone call will come!

Monthly Bid

Be Careful What You Bid for—You May (or May Not) Get it!

From month to month, you will bid for your schedule. As you slowly move up the seniority list, you’ll be able to bid for weekends off, day trips as opposed to redeyes, 2-day trips as opposed to 4-days, where you’ll spend your layovers, etc. etc. The options are nearly endless. The more senior you get, the more you’ll get your top choices.

By the way, if you leave Airline X to go fly for Airline Y, you’ll lose ALL that hard-earned seniority, and start at the bottom again!

Then, when you reach the top of the list (for your specific airplane, seat, and base), and start getting all those weekends off, now’s the time that you’re senior enough to bid from the First Officer seat to Captain! You’ll get to be the Boss, call the shots, get paid half again as much, and your hat size will grow by half an inch or more!

But, WATCH OUT! If you indeed DO get that fabled Left Seat bid, you’ll be back on the bottom again. You’ll move from the Top of the Bottom pile, to the Bottom of the Top pile, where you’ll most likely, once again, be on Reserve! And, again, start that slow climb up the seniority list ladder.

The Company "Equipment Bid"

Decisions, Decisions...

So far, we’ve only talked about a specific airplane, base and seat. At a major airline, however, as you move up the seniority list, options will open up for you to bid other airplanes, other bases (cities), and other seats (CA/FO). Depending your lifestyle, you may elect to stay the course where you are—say, in Denver as a senior FO, since now your daughter Sally is in high school. You get your weekends off to attend her softball games, and have 4th of July BBQs with friends and family. Heck, you might even get an occasional Christmas off!

That, as opposed to taking the first opportunity to upgrade to Captain in, say, Newark. Why? Because, then, you’d either have to move your family to New Jersey, or “commute” there from Denver, just to start work—or sit at a “crash pad” in NJ on Reserve!

And don’t even think about Christmas!

All of these factors must be taken into consideration every time the Company announces a new “equipment bid.” What planes and seats are opening up, and where? What schedule will I most likely have? Will it conflict with my current lifestyle and family plans?

As for Cap'n Aux...

I have a relatively cushy Captain’s bidding position on my Airbus out of PHX. These days (it’s always in flux), I bid around the top 30%, which allows me to fly somewhat decent trips, mostly avoid redeyes, and even get partial weekends off. Yep, all things considered, I’ve had it pretty decent for awhile now.

Which brings me to my plan…

Lately, I’ve been eyeballing the Left Seat of a 777 or 787. If I were to take the leap and snag a slot, I will most definitely be on the Bottom of the next Top pile, sitting reserve. What’s more, I’ll be commuting to another base—currently, PHX only has a narrow-body Airbus fleet based here.

Moreover, the wide-bodies all fly long hauls, so by default, pilots are constantly flying “back side of the clock.” It would definitely be a major change for me! I could elect to “wait it out” until I can hold a better schedule. But, yet another factor is the Age 65 Retirement finish line, which is racing toward me like opposite direction traffic at 12 o’clock. As for lifestyle, I’m no longer raising kids, it’s just Bunny and me at home, and so there’s not a lot of restrictions holding me back…

End of an Era?

So, with all that in mind, I’ve got some exciting news to share: after my 27-year love affair with “Fifi” the wonder Airbus, I’ve decided that it might be time for us to part ways.

To wit,

I have just submitted a bid for either the Boeing 777, or the 787!

That also means that, after over a quarter century flying an Airbus, I will have to trade in my sidestick for a control wheel, and once again learn to wrap my head around the concepts of flying a Boeing! Kinda like an Apple Mac guy moving to MS Windows. There’s lots of similarities, and lots of head-scratchers! And, of course, we will all get to learn whether you really can teach an old dog new tricks!

In any case, it will be a serious challenge, and a wild roll of the dice…

Which all boils down to the Cap’n Aux mantra:

Life’s an adventure. Life in the sky, Exponentially so!