long- or short haul

[klink]

Here it is, plain and simple.
Is there **any** rational reason to choose either one.
One is long established carrier, 737 operator, well paid, . Flights within Europe, some holiday flights; home every night.. But threatened by low cost and other companies in the region. Maybe not immediately, but perhaps the next decade.

The other one is one of the biggest booming 747 Cargo operators (not Air Atlanta) which also have decent pay and rosters which should become better sometime.

I have a family with 2 kids under 4 years, and am under 30 myself.
Is it smart to enter the long-haul world only because I have a hunch that the short haul carrier could have problems in the far future? Or should I wait and see?
Other factors: I really don't care what aircraft type or seat I sit in or what destinations I fly too.
I just want to keep a good income, live a good life and keep my family together.
So, my dear friends and colleagues; shoot your opinions. There is nothing like a wrong answer!

[Carnage Matey!]

I'll have a go then! Short haul is undoubtedly more satisfying flying. Long haul is, to be frank, incredibly boring. Staring at the sun rising with another 6 hours to go at a time you should be asleep is not fun. Also its nice to have a bit of interaction with a cabin crew rather than cargo. I would say that it boils down to to how many worthwhile days you get at home. If you don't care what aircraft you fly or where you go to, and assuming the pay is roughly comparable, then rosters are going to be the make or break issue. Short haul can appear to offer more nights at home, but with long days of work you might not get to see young children awake. On the other hand with long haul you'll spend more nights away from home but may return home on the last day at 5am then have a run of days off. It all depends on what the typical roster is. In terms of tiredness I've found that on long haul you are more tired on the day you return home than with short haul, but after that day the difference is negligible. In a nutshell, I would say go for whatever job gives you most useful time at home and don't worry about what may happen ten years down the line because nobody in aviation can predict that far ahead. I'm no expert on the matter but I hope thats offered some useful insight into the potential differences in lifestyle.

[Earthmover]

Well this house contains a long-hauler and a short-hauler. Neither of the lifestyles are perfect, but as the short-hauling member of the duo - up to about oh, 5 years ago, I would have said definitely short-haul for the reasons given on the post above. Now, with the low-cost dominance, I'm not so sure. I fly long-haul hours with short-haul days off, I am the crew-meal maker and provider, the only nightstops are in ghastly UK hotels for days on end (often 7) 'filling in' for other-base crew sickness and leave. The flying is as intense as it can be and I am as permanently knackered as my long-haul oppo. The money is not as good, and Company Management seems to be generically less caring and more hostile than in the past. (This is not actually a moan - I still love the flying!)

The long-haul life appeals much more than it used to - about the same or a bit less monthly flying hours, but with a decent destination (usually) at the end of the trip, and reasonable days off to recover. Apart from the boredom previously mentioned, the Jet-lag is the significant downside, as far as I can see - and certainly it is a big downside: the long-haul body seems to live at about 40W and comes to life when everyone else in the house wants to turn in for the night - and wants to sleep when everyone else wants to play!

I've not flown freight-only so am not competent to comment.

A difficult choice - but one that I must confess I'd like to be in a position to make.

[klink]

Thanks so far; I recognize it's an extreme luxury position I'm in, Earthmover. But you know, the more choice, the more difficult the decision.
Carnage brought up perhaps the core question. In that case I should stay with he short haul carrier...
This has been some great input already!
Anyone else care to comment?

[Earthmover]

Absolutely! I wasn't sniping at your position in any way by the way - I'm just about at Top of Descent in career terms, and despite me thinking I'm 30, long haul employers won't see that reflected in my DOB on the front page of my licence, so I've gone past the point you're at!

Tricky indeed - the very best of luck.

PS: Just reviewing the years to go, I'm actually at the outer marker! Don't let the career PNR go past!!

[reverserunlocked]

Ulcers or piles, isn't that the choice?

[Comanche]

Incidentally, I have been asking myself the same question for the past few months and was considering chasing up my application with Emirates, but decided against it in the end.

I am a Captain with one of the biggest low cost carriers in the UK, and overall I am verry happy. My situation is simular to yours with a family and a small child.

As far as the boring long flights, I could very easily cope with that. Busy short flights are not really my thing. Bring a book, read a paper, chat with the cabin crew, have your crewmeal and a snooze in the bunkbed and before you know it you have arrived.

However, what is clear is that most long-haul pilots are constantly tired with jet lag a major factor. Also, I don't think I could ever get used to the idea that my body is never going to be fully adjusted to the local time zone. It would eventually create a feeling / sense of perpetual disorganisation.

Furthermore, when flying long haul, on your days off you will have a lot of catching up to do with admin, house chores, telephone calls etc. With short haul I tend to have either the morning off or the (late) afternoon and usually manage to get a lots of things done on a working day. Imagine sitting in a hotel in Singapore missing your family, with loads of idle time but unable to effectively use it. To maximise your quality time with your family, if you decide to go longhaul, you may have to hire for example a gardener and forget DIY altogether. Admittedly, my child is not in full time school yet, but even when she is, I will still see her either for breakfast or dinner. Even if it is say 30 minutes a day, that time to me is valuable.

Whether or not long haul has more future than short haul is indeed difficult to predict. I think with world wide oil production about to peak (search for Peak Oil on the web and you will find plenty of info and material to make you start worrying) possibly plunging the world economy into a Great Depression there is little future for the airline industry anyway.

Last, I know of long haul pilots that have left companies like Virgin to go back to short haul. A great deal of short haul pilots join the long haul carriers quoting as reasons to fly bigger aircraft and seeing some of the world while being in the company of 'beautiful single cabin crew'; reasons that would not apply to you.

[klink]

thanks for the thoughts!!

@Earthmover; I didn't pick it up like that. But there's one of the things as well you want to avoid. I would hate to end up in a midlife crisis because I regretted the choices I made during my career. So far no problems on the horizon yet, though .
Just want to be as sure as I can be, that's all!
@Comanche; time with the kids is unvaluable indeed. Just seeing them is already great. Maybe I would also not be enough of a Vagabond to kiss the family goodbye and disappear to the other side of the Globe for the next 10 days.

Thanks again for the help guys, really appreciate it. I think I'm going to leave things as they are and be happy with what I have.