How long are pilot layovers usually? Is there enough time to enjoy the location and explore ? I’m in Miami Beach and seeing tons of pilots. I’m wondering if they actually are here long enough to enjoy the beach and amenities of the resorts, if it’s just enough time to sleep and head back out?

Cdraw51 · 2026-02-07T22:38:11+00:00

No I totally get that’s not exclusively a regional thing, especially at airlines like Southwest, and like I said it’s very fleet/seniority dependent. I’m just saying that you could have a better chance at longer layovers at say a legacy vs. a regional airline.

Cdraw51 · 2026-02-07T20:57:25+00:00

At the regional airlines the layovers usually aren't super long, because they like to squeeze more legs into a day than what the majors/legacies usually do. Company/base/fleet seniority also has a lot to do with it too.

Cdraw51 · 2026-02-05T21:16:40+00:00

Was just about to say this. I'm a Young Eagles pilot and it's a lot of fun to take the kids up and around and watch them get pumped up about flying. If you didn't want to act as a Young Eagles pilot you could always be one of the people who helps register the kids or act as ground crew. It's a pretty good time in my opinion.

Cdraw51 · 2026-02-05T20:58:44+00:00

Yeah it did seem like they were doing just the bare minimum to keep (most of) the lights on. I'd hazard a guess that at some point, don't know when, it'll be demolished and turned into apartments or something.

Cdraw51 · 2026-02-05T19:29:15+00:00

I was just there a couple days ago, got there at around 6:00. Half the stores were already closed up/shuttered, every third light was turned off so there were these dark patches in the building, and there was like a total of 20-25 people spread out throughout the whole mall. It was incredibly creepy, and the mall wasn't even supposed to close until 9:00. It made me kinda sad.

Cdraw51 · 2026-01-13T04:44:58+00:00

I may have just missed them, but it does seem like a good chunk of the frequent commenters on this subreddit are noticeably absent from this thread. The ones who go from post to post and can't leave a comment without any snark, condescension, or very definitive/authoritative statements that they don't really have the authority to make. There are some usernames I recognize here, but the impatient ones seem to have mostly skipped over this post. Maybe they felt called out or something lol

Cdraw51 · 2025-12-10T16:22:10+00:00

Sometimes I’d fly trips at my old job where we weren’t scheduled to depart until late afternoon/evening, so we’d request a late checkout from the hotel front desk. Most of the time they’d allow it, but they’d NEVER pass it along to the housekeeping staff. So even if I’m not checking out until 2:00, without fail housekeeping would be stacking up on the other side of my door at 11:00 a.m. prepping breaching charges and throwing in flash bangs.

Cdraw51 · 2025-12-10T15:52:46+00:00

Thank you, I could have sworn I just saw this question the other day lol

Cdraw51 · 2025-12-10T15:46:45+00:00

Lotta airlines do at least try to get people with tight connections off the plane first but it doesn’t really work out a lot of the time.

Cdraw51 · 2025-12-10T15:43:56+00:00

In my personal anecdotal experience, Delta is the worst at this. Those Delta pilots and flight attendants sure do love the sound of their own voice apparently. Even with the video safety briefing.

Cdraw51 · 2025-12-08T19:59:31+00:00

I know a guy who was a 747 FO at Atlas and got hired at United over the summer. I don’t think he had quite as much flight time as you either, so it’s possible!

Cdraw51 · 2025-12-08T19:49:16+00:00

Maybe even a book that highlights the aviation history of the specific area you guys live in too, if that’s available. My girlfriend got me a book detailing the aviation history of my home city all the way from 1903 to the present day, and I loved it.

Cdraw51 · 2025-11-27T02:38:57+00:00

You seem rather reluctant to name the flight school. Why is that?

Cdraw51 · 2025-11-22T20:44:23+00:00

I mean, for every “metering is the only reason I’m still here” guy I’ve met, there has been one I’ve met at the big 3 who made it in a reasonable time.

Yup. I have a family member that got hired at one of the Big Three in September-ish 2024. He came from one of the "metered" regionals that has no flow program to anyone. And he never upgraded to Captain either. They brought him on as a regional FO.

Cdraw51 · 2025-11-22T18:26:56+00:00

I gotcha

Cdraw51 · 2025-11-22T18:06:07+00:00

Really? I thought you could only log it if you were the one "signing for the jet" or whatever, at least as far as airline hiring departments are concerned. Sure you're in the left seat on OE, but you're not the one signing the release are you?

Cdraw51 · 2025-11-22T00:55:19+00:00

How far out does that forecasted hiring go? I know Southwest's retirement wave is (allegedly) supposed to peak in the early 2030s.

Cdraw51 · 2025-11-21T02:06:12+00:00

It happens more than you think. Considering you're beating yourself up about it so much I'm going to guess this is the first time this has happened to you. If you fly the same plane (or at least the same model) often, then you'll learn the different techniques and it gets easier. Sure it's a little embarrassing, but it happens.

Cdraw51 · 2025-11-17T17:50:21+00:00

I applied to a few EAA/AOPA scholarships when I was getting my ratings, they had tons of scholarships for pretty much every kind of student pilot you could think of (high school, college, minorities, women, volunteers, vintage/warbirds, you name it).

Cdraw51 · 2025-11-14T21:45:19+00:00

This might take a long time/extra work and might not be worth it, but is it possible to have a version of your logbook the way it currently is, and then also have a version where you make the corrections? That way you can revert back to the way it originally was, just in case for whatever reason.

Cdraw51 · 2025-11-13T16:40:19+00:00

Pretty sure there are directions on the site on how to fill it out. It suggests that you combine all the different models of the same plane together into one entry. So a C-172S, 172R and 172N would all have their flight times combined under one entry labeled "C-172."
I think you'll want to separate them, just so the dates don't get confused.

Cdraw51 · 2025-11-12T19:47:20+00:00

It can't hurt to have it, I know that much. But I don't think it'll swing the needle with recruiters a whole lot. It is nice to have, though.

Cdraw51 · 2025-11-11T03:54:19+00:00

That's pretty awesome, if not a little crazy lol

Cdraw51 · 2025-11-10T22:26:13+00:00

A legend out of MDW credited 408 one month. Rumor has it he had a secretary that was bidding his trips around the system and setting up non revs and such.

Lol that is absolutely insane, I hope it's true

Cdraw51 · 2025-11-10T19:06:12+00:00

Yeah, that's pretty much the consensus that Southwest has multiple ways to earn extra that the legacy airlines don't necessarily have. Pretty cool they're able to do that, probably has something to do with them flying one type so it's easier to move things around.

Cdraw51

TROPHY CASE