Career Advice

[bptham]

Hello everyone,
I have to bug all of you again for some career advice. I've done this before and it's generally been a big help. Back in February I interviewed with Xjet and was not hired. It turned out to be somewhat of a blessing as I have been very fortunate with contract flying considering my low time. Xjet did ask me to reapply in three months and tomorrow is that three month anniversary. I am again giving some serious consideration to the whole airline route. Contract flying has paid well but it is feast or famine and with timing being everything, right now is a little bit of a famine time. To make a long story longer, I guess my question to everyone here is are the airlines worth it? I try to read a lot of the threads on here and I here some good things but a lot of bad things as well. I understand you take the good with the bad always but the appeal of steady pay sounds pretty good right now. What are the chances of moving up to a major, if any? Far be it from me to judge anyones career choice but am I getting it right when I think that working for the airlines will be scraping out a living, risking the lives of others and myself till I'm 55 and then having 5 years to make enough money to retire on? I used to think last year when I was real hot and heavy to get on at a regional that you put in your 5-10 years and then it's on to the good life of a major airline. Anyway, sorry for taking up so much of everyones time. Looking forward to the responses...

 

[pilotyip]

Flying is still a viable career, in 5-10 years you should have career position, could be regional, corporate, cargo, LLC, or maybe overseas. You can be making around $100K per year and live decent life. You have to decide why yopu are doing it. If you like to fly, it can be great career.

 

[pa31350pilot]

Well, I can't really offer any direction for you. This is something that only you can decide. Believe me, I know how hard it can be to try and figure out which way to go. I've been down that road before, and still go through it every day. You have to ask yourself at the end of a day...Am I happy where I am and what I'm doing? If the answer is yes, stay put....if it is no, keep pushing towards your ultimate goal until you het it...otherwise you will always wonder "what if???" Also, this board can be a great source of info, but it can also be quite misleading. Remember that most people won't say anything unless they are upset about something...hence many negative posts. But again, there is a lot of great posters out there that can offer a lot of great info and help. Good luck, be safe, and have fun!

Tailwinds