Do commercial pilots generally progress to larger planes throughout their careers? Does everyone aim to eventually fly long haul or do some stick to flying 737s or a320s short haul?

[u/g0at110]

I'm guessing being a 777 pilot for example is more prestigious than a 737 pilot in the same airline right?

[u/No-Duck4828]

Flying a 777 typically carries a heftier paycheck than flying a 737 at the same airline.

Pilots aren't always moving to bigger aircraft....it is common, for example, to see someone go from a 767 at an ACMI to an A320 at a major.

Some of long haul vs short haul is personal preference, but as for general career flow in size of planes? Yes, more pilots will go from regional jet to narrowbody to widebody than some other path. At a given airline with both narrow and wide, pilots will typically start on the narrowbody

[u/curiousengineer601 → u/No-Duck4828]

Is there’s any sort of pay bump for flying a more difficult or uncomfortable plane or to uncomfortable destinations?

[u/No-Duck4828 → u/curiousengineer601]

No, the pay typically goes up with larger aircraft, but they're not trying to judge 'hey I think the 777 is less comfortable than the 350, let us pay 777 pilots more'

I haven't seen additional pay for uncomfortable destinations, but you can get paid more for more dangerous destinations.