Originally Posted by
HappyBandit
Lifestyle has been mentioned several times and I understand that LH crews typically work about 30 to 50% of an equivalent full time roster of eg domestic crew.
Depends what you mean by "work". You can say that LH and SH both fly the same amount of stick hours, but LH crew spend some of that time in the bunk. In terms of days at work it would roughly be the same, expect that more of that time in International is spent in a slip port on a layover.
What I'm interested to hear is what's the journey like. For eg are you looking at your watch every 30 mins dreaming that this epic flight would finish?
For the most part yes. Having said that you don't actually fly that many sectors vs SH (depends on your A/C but about 1/5th of the sectors of a SH aircraft roughly)
2) how much does it knock you around both on slips and back home?
Quite a bit. For the most part still find time to socialise but the fatigue's always there in the background.
3) is there enough time to see things at destination?
You can fit in a day trip every now and then, and some time to look at things in the layover city. But after you've ticked off the main highlights in any port that becomes less interesting and most layovers are usually spent doing normal things you would do at home like gym, exercise, study, reading, watching movies, occasional beer etc.
4) does it effect home life much with being away for 4 to 6 days at a time?
Depends on the relationship. You'll need your family to understand the lifestyle. You'll also have the advantage of being home free for 4-6 days at a time too. As a tip when you're away on a slip do things like study for sims, or other work you can do alone while away so your time at home can be devoted to family and friends as much as possible.
One advantage of LH is you can commute more easily, so can live several hours drive out of a major city if you choose without having to drive to work every 1 or 2 days
5) is the job interesting? To be honest I don't care much about being pic after all these years and quite happy for someone else to worry about whether there's enough fuel but interested to know if the trips are still interesting enough? I guess it's what you make of it?
It's still your job as an SO to worry about the fuel and put your input into the operation. At some time you'll want to upgrade (now that there's a clear pay rise going from 78 or 350 SO to 73 FO) and it'll be pretty obvious to your trainers if you've switched your mind off in the backseat.
As far as interesting? Sometimes, but mostly no. You're there for cruise relief, and as time goes by the altitude at which you're allowed into the control seat gets higher and higher. There's some who have decided that's what they seek in life, but most want 3 and 4 bars eventually.
As far as time away in slip ports? Well some do love it, it suits their personality or lifestyle. Some loathe it.
The good thing is, assuming recruitment and movement levels return to pre Covid norms which they seem they will, is that upgrade time to SH is only a few years even in the most senior SH base so you can come back to that type of flying reasonably soon if you find the LH lifestyle doesn't suit you. Or remain in LH if you choose, it's good to have quite a few options.