Opinion-Best Days Off

[Ty]

What are the best days off, assuming the N,N,D,D,M schedule?

Considering traffic level, street traffic, life outside of work, etc.

Thanks, from a lil guy stuck on Wed/Thurs RDO's.

 

[FightingIrish2012]

Sunday/Monday. You completely lose Friday night with that mid but make up for it by basically having the entire true weekend off, plus Monday all day and Tuesday until 3 or 4pm.

And don’t worry about Sunday pay. I can’t believe the numbers of controllers making 6 figures who run things so tight that if they could not get a schedule with Sunday premium, they would literally be bouncing some checks. It’s nuts to set yourself up like that, take Sunday off like 90% of America and watch football, it will feel like a much more “natural” life despite the untraditional ATC schedule.

You also dodge traffic if that’s your thing by missing heavy VFR days Saturday and Sunday and the big commercial traffic Wednesday and Thursday night.

 

[Dousand24]

At my facility, we rotate RDO’s half way through the year since we’re seasonal with traffic.

Mon/Tues -> Sun/Mon and vice versa
Tues/Wed -> Sat/Sun and vice versa
Wed/Thurs -> Fri/Sat and vice versa
Thurs/Fri stay the same year round

 

[32andBelow]

Thur fri is good if you can get it. Don’t have to work till sat late so you can chill with your irl friends Friday night with no qualms. Then Sunday you don’t have to be in till 1 or so so you can go
Get a couple Saturday night if you want

 

[GulfBravoPapa]

Thur fri is good if you can get it. Don’t have to work till sat late so you can chill with your irl friends Friday night with no qualms. Then Sunday you don’t have to be in till 1 or so so you can go
Get a couple Saturday night if you want

I hate Thur/Fri... Despite being slow traffic Sat night is ALWAYS short staffed and it is impossible to get any spot leave.

That Sunday morning mid is easy peasy on Mon/Tue off

 

[lIlI]

Wed/Thurs are the best.. IMO

:you get there Friday night to miss managment, don't see them on weekends. See them one day and that's Monday.

You work Sunday mornings so you get to watch most football games. (Depending on which time zone you're in, I'm in East, so I barely miss any.

You don't have to deal with people when you're shopping/skiing, extracurricular activities because they work in the middle of the week and you don't.

You can go out Friday nights after work and drink because you don't have to be up early on Saturday.

Sunday pay... Yes please.. pay me 25% more for doing 50% of the work I usually do. Sunday pay adds up. 7k more a year for easy work. If you're religious ok ok I get it.. but they offer church at night on Sundays too.

HOWEVER... IF YOU HAVE KIDS...I would think Monday/Tuesday would be best.

 

[TJ_ATC]

Whichever days you get the most training

 

[liter a cola]

Whichever days you get the most training

Yeah okay....seriously I had to edit this post to add what are you smoking?

 

[DL0509]

No mids here so best days I've had are Mon/Tues.

 

[DankVectorz]

Depends where you are. Here on Long Island I think weekends off suck because 40 million other people are off too. I loved my Thurs/Fri rdo’s. OT day was Thursday, off on Friday and bang out Saturday if I needed.

 

[Dontbotherme]

Mid wise here: (in order of what I’d consider the best)
- Tuesday/Wednesday are great days off as it still gives you time on a traditional weekend to hang out with friends/family and you get an extra 1+45 of Sunday pay every week for simply going to work for your forty hours.
Thursday 1530, Friday 1300, Saturday 0645, Sunday 0545, Sunday 2215.
- Wednesday/Thursday are great days off if you want avoid management, don’t have kids, have a spouse that works shift work/gets premium pay for working weekends, and don’t like waiting at grocery stores, restaurants, etc.
Friday 1530, Saturday 1300, Sunday 0645, Monday 0545, Monday 2215.
- Friday/Saturday is probably the best one for family life though as you have basically an entire traditional weekend for family life. Sunday 1530, Monday 1300, Tuesday 0645, Wednesday 0545, Wednesday 2215.

No mids here so best days I've had are Mon/Tues.

Those along with FRI/SAT and SAT/SUN went quick during bidding, at my first facility (level 8 up/down). I couldn’t believe that as a new hire and newly certified CPC I had SUN/MON off, until I transferred to a larger facility. HOL, SUN, and ND were the only premium pay you could get as OT was completely non existent. (Example: I worked more OT here, in the first two weeks, after certifying on a few radar positions, than I did in 3.5 years at an up/down.)

 

[DL0509]

This year I ended up getting Tues/Weds, and hit the prime time lottery by getting Thanksgiving and BF off. Christmas Eve,Christmas day and NYE, New year's day both fall on my RDO's, having 3 holidays in a row that's nice especially with a family.

 

[Dontbotherme]

This year I ended up getting Tues/Weds, and hit the prime time lottery by getting Thanksgiving and BF off. Christmas Eve,Christmas day and NYE, New year's day both fall on my RDO's, having 3 holidays in a row that's nice especially with a family.

Sweet! Thanksgiving or Christmas is already gone by the time it gets to me in R1 and both are long done by R2. I bid MON/TUE (no mid this year) so most of my holidays are day in lieu of and paid on Wednesday’s shift. I went through and bid the SAT and SUN off before each holiday so I could have that weekend off and still be paid for the holiday. (SAT-TUE off for MLK Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, and Veterans Day).

 

[rugbydog11]

Sat sun is the best set of days off. I traveled to 16 different cities last year for weekends... Leave right after the mid Friday morning, come back Monday. 0 leave used. Also rugby games are Saturday. All my normal friends have weekends off. Can still get any appointments or whatever done before the late one Monday.

 

[BCHOOSIER]

I'm a fan of Thursday/Friday. We don't have a mid and this year Im working E/D/D/D/D. First day back is very laid back and I can make it to all the kids activities during the morning. The rest of the week I'm home for dinner and on a more traditional schedule. Great if you have a family. Last year I had it made with 4-10s...Monday/Thursday/Friday RDOs. (E/E/RDO/D/D).

 

[spider]

The day you bid worst days off because you want to avoid traffic is the day you need to just apply for a staff job and call it a career.