aviation hardships

[Jeff775621]

I finally realized when the times get tough the pilots the first one togo. Which is even more in the kick in the balls is when the company doesnt even tell the pilot and has to find out from a third party. Im a 900 hour pilot who flew traffic watch in a 172 and i learned today a darkside in avation. anyone else have stories like these?

 

[Pattern-Master]

Oh man, thats the first of many you will be faced with in this retarded industry. Sorry to hear about that.

 

[Jeff775621]

haha yeah i know, it was my first commerical pilot paying job. anyone know of pilots needing any co pilots in the northwest ohio area ? i make a great co pilot.

 

[pilotyip]

Hang in there this is still a great career, I am still living my dreams 55 years later.

 

[coloneldan]

I've heard about guys being in the middle of recurrent training and getting a call from the boss. "We've sold the airplane. You're laid off. You have a ticket home. The flight leaves in 2 hours."

I was once at the airport, cleaning the airplane. Three strangers pulled up in a Baron. One was an aircraft broker, the others were prospective buyers. I called the owner and he said they wanted to look at it, but it wasn't for sale. He said if they bought it, he would take care of me. They bought it, he paid me for 6 more weeks. I guess that's better than nothing.

When you have a good job, there is nothing better than aviation. When you have a bad job there is nothing worse. The worst thing is, the good jobs can end without notice and the bad jobs just won't go away.

 

[Jeff775621]

I've heard about guys being in the middle of recurrent training and getting a call from the boss. "We've sold the airplane. You're laid off. You have a ticket home. The flight leaves in 2 hours."

I was once at the airport, cleaning the airplane. Three strangers pulled up in a Baron. One was an aircraft broker, the others were prospective buyers. I called the owner and he said they wanted to look at it, but it wasn't for sale. He said if they bought it, he would take care of me. They bought it, he paid me for 6 more weeks. I guess that's better than nothing.

When you have a good job, there is nothing better than aviation. When you have a bad job there is nothing worse. The worst thing is, the good jobs can end without notice and the bad jobs just won't go away.

I totally agree. i liked my job, it was a good first job to have, i learned alot and logged over 500 hours doing it in a year. Time to move on.

 

[B737Dvr]

be "informed......

Hey man sorry to hear about your kick in the balls. I had something like that happen to me years ago when i was still so new i squeaked! The company shut down while the fleet was airborne, we were almost stranded in another country with no ride home (and no hotel) but lo and behold we got home barely and i never saw "it" coming and the 4000 owed me for FE duties for 2 weeks worked! The major lesson for me.........be very informed, learn all you can about this industry so that you can recognize warning signs, so that ******************** like this doesn't slap you in the face again! now i know that you can never know enough to not have this happen to you again, but there are those that are in the know and then there are the others who get ******!!!!
if you sip the company koolaid and not guzzle it down like some, at least you can learn and recognize when you should bail and when you should stick it out! hope this helps.

 

[avbug]

I worked for a corporate department; I was their Director of Maintenance, and a pilot. I was working on the jet one morning when the Chief Pilot approached me, told me to stop what I was doing and come into his office. There I met with the CP and a member of the Board of Directors, who told me the airplane would be going before long, but first, they would be contracting out the mx and my end of the flying...take the rest of the day off and have my tools off the property by tomorrow as it' the end of the pay period.

I don't personally know any corporate pilots who haven't experienced that. A days notice, or so.

I flew for a fractional...had no notice. Fired. Then rehired, shortly thereafter. They made a "mistake," they said. Apparently my mistake was being identified as a union sympathizer (I never was)...but left a bitter taste.

Flew for a government agency, or rather, a contractor within a government agency. One day I was employed, and the next almost all of us were gone. No explaination. I flew for an ambulance company; complained about their bouncing paychecks, and wallah...I left, and shortly thereafter, so did almost everyone else. Furloughed at another place. And another. Bailed with one employer not long before two of the aircraft I was flying broke up and exploded on missions, killing all the crews. And so on, and so on. Sprayed for one company, took a leave to go overseas for a time, and fully expected to come back and keep spraying. Except when I got back everyone but one was dead, and he had a heart attack and quit flying.

Twice got traded to another company as part of a wet lease arrangement...the other company bought the airplane and the trade became permenant...until they sold it and I was out of work again. Always with very short notice. Quit several jobs on the promise of another, and the other fell through...I'm there right now, come to think of it. The nice thing about aviation is that while pilots are a dime a dozen, so are jobs...the jobs are out there.

If you're looking for work in your local area, you're not motivated enough. You're the beggar, not the chooser; be prepared to move to chase work. You might get lucky, but chances are you're going to move a few times. I certainly have.

I've worked for several employers that went bankrupt, sold out, morphed into something else, got parted out, or in which everyone was killed or died off (old age, cancer, aircraft accidents, aircraft losses, etc). One in which the owner went to prison and the company fell to the dogs. Another for whom I did part time work got a number of leasebacks from an investor who wanted to fly...and who geared-up three of his own aircraft. Three more were crashed by inexperienced pilots, one more crashed killing nine friends...and so on. All with no notice or warning, of course.

More than a few times I've been told I'm moving, or that changes have occured, with no notice. You're going to XXX temporarily (TDY), hope you're already packed, can't tell you when you're coming back. Or, now that you're here, go in the shop and build two engines, you can go home when you're done. No clothes, no supplies brougth with you? Tough. Ten o-clock told we're leaving at 0600 the following morning, and then ten months later told it's okay to go home now. A week later called out, eventually came home Christmas morning. (Wife wasn't happy).

Welcome to aviation (and reality)...you're already in it, and just now figuring this out? Did you not do any research before you started???

 

[pilotyip]

Got to move

Well Said Avbug: If you're looking for work in your local area, you're not motivated enough. You're the beggar, not the chooser; be prepared to move to chase work. You might get lucky, but chances are you're going to move a few times. I certainly have. I too have experienced the CP on Friday night "Turn in your keys and credit cards we are grounding 1/2 the fleet" There are jobs out there, some better, some not as good, sometimes easy to find, some hard to find. You have got to move to get the job.

 

[Draginass]

You have to realize that corporate managements in the aviation industry are no different that other American industries . . . . they are almost all greedy, dishonest, scumbags. Once you understand that, and are not fooled by the warm handshake and smile, then you understand the industry.