Do pilots get lay overs in citys?

Question

hi all,

I plan on becoming a pilot for airliners or cargo. I was wondering if pilots get layovers in cities? say i fly to new york and my next flight doesent leave for 5 hours, am i allowed to go explore the city or do i have to prepare for next flight?? also do pilots get layovers that last days and does the airline pay for the hotels? thank you all!

Answer 1

5 hours would not be a lot of time to explore NYC....

if you fly intercontinental, you would probably work your next trip the day after you arrive.  Yes, you get hotel and probably per diem, but depending on who you work for, it may not be that generous!

Answer 2

Simply put, yes, pilots get layovers in cities.

If you happen to have a five-hour sit at an airport in between flights, typically the pilots will not leave the airport.  They will hang out, perhaps grab something to eat, use a laptop...basically little things that will help pass the time.  They usually will not start preparing for the next flight until about an hour or so before the flight.  Five hours would not really allow you enough time to go out and explore a city, however, if you lived in that city or knew people that could pick you up and drop you back off at the airport, you might have enough time to go somewhere to grab a meal or something.

Depending on the airline and the trip that you are on, pilots can have layovers that may only last about eight hours, while other layovers may last three and a half days.  The longer, multi-day layovers are typically found on international, overseas trips.  Domestic pilots will have much shorter layovers.

When pilots are working a trip, the airline will pay for the hotel at your scheduled layover at the end of your work day.  Pilots do not pay for them.  If they did, they would always be broke!  Also, each crew member gets his or her own room.  Often times, the pilots will get together with the flight attendants after they get settled in their hotel so that they can go out and eat together, have a drink, or do a little exploring.  You can bet layovers in certain cities are much more fun than other cities, but the better cities are often more senior trips, meaning that the more senior pilots/flight attendants bid for and receive them each month.  This means that while the senior guys are hanging out in Las Vegas, or Honolulu, the junior guys are getting stuck in places like Syracuse or Fargo.

Answer 3

if you're lucky you might even get L a . .d...cheers

Answer 4

This depends on the airline and the type of trips they schedule.  First, to answer your question directly, you can generally do whatever you want during your breaks, although some airlines don't want you to leave the airport, just in case they need to reschedule you.  5 hours is not enough time to go explore NYC.  It might be enough time to grab lunch somewhere other than the airport though.  At my former airline, I frequently had "sits" (time between one flight and the next) of up to 5 hours.  I usually just sat around, went for a walk, listened to my ipod, read a book, etc.  I rarely left the airport.  When those were at LaGuardia airport, in New York, I would sometimes walk to this diner that was about 20 minutes away.  My airline required me to be at my airplane 30 minutes prior to departure time.  It only takes about 10 minutes or so to prepare for the next flight, not counting the time required to board up.

Again, how long your layover will be depends on the airline and trip scheduled.  My layovers would typically last anywhere from 9 hours to about 13 or so.  That would be enough to to go out to get something to eat, but that's about it.  On rare occasions, I would get lucky and have something like an 18 hour layover in a cool city.  On those, you could do whatever you wanted, as long as it didn't involve breaking any FAA regulations.

At my airline, I never had layovers that lasted more than 24 hours, although that does happen.  Especially if you do international flights.

During your airline career, you will have plenty of opportunities to explore cities that you might not have been to before.