What's your route?

This is the most common question that I have been asked when people find out that I am a airline pilot. It is a complicated question. I am sure there are pilots who fly the same route every trip. Especially, if they fly larger equipment or they are more senior than myself. I fly a different trip almost every time. I was in 50 different cities in 2009. I was hired in 1998 and my seniority number is 6,527. Now that number starts to mean something when I tell you we have about 10,000 plus pilots flying at our airline. My Mother sometimes thinks I get these great trips because I am such a good pilot or because I am so nice. But in reality, it comes down to numbers. We are all the same in the crew schedulers eyes. We are one piece in this large puzzle that allows the jet to get off of the ground safely. Most people are very curious about how we get our schedule. And that is quite a miracle of sorts. Around the 12th of the month our bids come out for the next month. Crew Manning publishes a sheet (looks like a book) with all of the trip schedules for us to review and decide which trip we would like to fly. Bidding is done online and you rarely will speak with a real person about your schedule. The company provides a computer program to help you sort and select the schedules that appeal most to an individual pilot. Because I fly the Super 80 in DFW we have over 300 lines to choose from. There are a variety of different ways to decide how to select your bid. Pay, time off, particular days off, destinations (layovers), 2-3-4(how long)day trips and so on. After that you allow the the program to sort and select the schedules that best align with your wishes. You can then review the selections and you can manually move them around since the computer isn't quite as particular as you. My favorite warning written on the program states...this program does not guarantee you will receive the bid you want.... Bids close around the 17th of the month. Then on the 18th they publish your award. Yeah!!!! we have a schedule. Well, sort of. You can use the schedule enhancement period and try to change the most important thing wrong with your schedule. Around the 26Th trip trade with open time opens and you can go in and look at other available trips and see if you are allowed to trade for something more desirable. Trip trade is open for the rest of your working schedule. So you might be able to trade for a better trip that accommodates your desires. But not always. If manning is down it is harder to drop trips. If you have undesirable trips you might not be able to drop trips. There are so many variables that it will make your head spin. If something really important comes up and you need to get a day off you can go to the Chief Pilot and request an Emergency day off. On another day you can make-up the trip to receive your full pay or use vacation time to pay for the fun. For the most part this works well if you need to do something important. Basically, what I am telling you is that your schedule is never set in stone. Until the day before a trip you might be able to trip trade with open time or pick up a trip from another crew member. This all applies to a regular line holder. We have other divisions of pilots who are on reserve, temporary duty (usually in a different base for the month) and second round bidding. And that is too complicated for me to explain today. I hope this helps you understand that when you ask about what route I fly. I might pause and smile a bit.