Career Change Poll

[Yank McCobb]

For all the doom and gloom that everyone spouts here, I had an extremely rewarding 121 career with a top company. I retired 3 years early with a VERY nice retirement. Maybe I was fortunate in that my career choice was a company that everyone laughed at or derided for "bringing down the profession" until the last few years when pilots couldn't beat the doors down hard enough.

Take your best shot and live with it. DO NOT LOOK BACK. There is nothing to see behind you.

 

[bigboeings]

I have been going to write this for a while, but a thread came up that was along the line that I was thinking about. Like most guys here Ive been caught in the mess that he busines is in also. So I have had to question myself, and do some real soul searching. Having worked at other jobs before, at least I do know what that lifestyle is like. What i came to realize is that even if this career has gone downwards lately it still has some plusses that are hard to get over. I may be gone several days in a row, but when Im home ,Im home all day and night. Especially in the summer I see my kids all day long, go camping with them on Tuesday, and to the beach on Wednesday. I still have a minimum of 12 to 14 days off, and sometimes 18. I'm not rich at all, but I make a living without working 50+ hrs a week. I can see for some it does get old, and I do get tired of all the BS from time to time, but the one good thing is when you get in the air, you pretty much leave it all behind. Well enough said, maybe Im in the minority any more.

 

[skyaddict]

Well said too, BigBoeings. I'm not saying it's all negative. I truly love what I do for a living, even if I and most of us are not or no longer paid anything remotely what we are worth. (Of course an economist would say that what we are worth is the market rate of supply and demand now, and our profession, unlike many others, has never kept supply tightly under control the way the oil industry does by controlling production, or doctors and lawyers do by controlling barriers to entry.)

I see many who hate their job even on the job. I hate that I am not home anything as close to what I'd like to be; I hate commuting and archaic policies that make commuting difficult; and I hate being paid chickenfeed wages (first year FO pay at a regional after being furloughed at twice that pay), but I love the flying part, and certainly 90% of the crews are terrific to work with.

 

[Irish Pilot]

I suppose it may depend at where you are at in the industry as well. Personally I am still enjoying life at my job (a small regional caliber 121 op out of Vegas) and having upgraded made it even better. Unfortunately I HATE Las Vegas and want desperately to move back to the midwest but have been unsucessful finding a job except for regionals...and I really think I would like to avoid that market. Ive been trying to find something corporate, but you know how that barrier is to break.

I probably think about jumping into another industry once a week. Not because I dont like flying...but I too have felt the pressure of wanting to be home every night...having every weekend off...having holidays off....and making good money right away. I dont not want to be one of those pilots who looks back and thinks "Man I sacrificed way too much to get where I am."

I want to spend my life living it...buying a house...having kids...ect. I dont want to have to spend another 10 years of my life getting to a position where I can do that. The downside is that there isnt anything that I know of that excites me like flying airplanes

Its frustrating though...Im 3 years out of college and most of my good friends are already making 6 figures in a job that will last them a lifetime. They have the houses, the toys, all live in the same area, and every week its a new adventure for them. Now granted...the material stuff isnt all that important to me...but it would be nice to have the new house, a new boat and truck to pull it with, etc. These guys may not love their job like I do mine, but they are getting so much out of life every week because they have a stable good paying job. They meet up most nights and go out and then on the weekends they hit the lake and party like rockstars....all the while I am working 12 hours a day 5-6 days a week just trying to clear the bar with the bills and stuff.

And yes....every time I go home I get that "Wow you are a pilot huh...you must make tons of money and hardly ever work!"

Sigh.

 

[Ty Webb]

I left after 5 years at the airlines. I work for a friend now who has a growing business. I make more money, I'm home every night, and I'm much happier with my lifestyle now. I don't regret my career decisions. I had a lifelong dream to be an airline pilot and I achieved my goal. I'm proud of my accomplishments but it was time to move on. I still fly on the side and I'll never quit flying, but it will be a hobby for me as opposed to a career.C425Driver

Looking at your profile, it seems you never made it beyond the regionals . . . . no wonder you were so unhappy. Wonder if you would have been more happy if you were making $130-$180K with 16-18 days off per month? Maybe not, but I'm not sure your experience was really enough to base a career decision on.

PS, I used to fly corporate, for a very successful law firm and I can tell you that even highly successful lawyers are not necessarily any happier than the pilot dumping their honey-bucket . . . . . copy, copy?

 

[Ty Webb]

Its frustrating though...Im 3 years out of college and most of my good friends are already making 6 figures in a job that will last them a lifetime. .

I have a hard time believing this, unless you are hanging out with a very small segment of the "3 years out of school" population.

Regardless, if they are making that kind of money, they are likely spending half of their life at work. I'd be curious to know how much they are enjoying that job they spend so much time at . . . . after three or four years, I doubt they enjoy it as much as you enjoy flying. If I am wrong, maybe you should get out while it's easy for you to do so.

 

[Secret Squirrel]

I have these friends all making six figures

I love hearing about all the great jobs out there from people on the web boards. I bet most of his friends are spending money like they are making six figures but financed to the max making min monthly payments. That or it is a two income family. I did personal taxes for a number of years and what you may think someone makes and what they actually make are two different things. People lie about their income. It is right up there with my shlong is a foot long or my other car is a ferrari.

In my experience the people that have never really worked another career in their life are the ones that complain the most about aviation. I have done a lot of careers. Some I even made good money. But I always worked a LOT harder and more often.

Folks, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Just make sure you get real info from a number of people in that industry when you decide to make the jump.

Unless you are more senior to me or at a company I want to work at. Then just get the F*&$ out of aviation as fast as you can!!!!!

SS

 

[Irish Pilot]

I have a hard time believing this, unless you are hanging out with a very small segment of the "3 years out of school" population.

Regardless, if they are making that kind of money, they are likely spending half of their life at work. I'd be curious to know how much they are enjoying that job they spend so much time at . . . . after three or four years, I doubt they enjoy it as much as you enjoy flying. If I am wrong, maybe you should get out while it's easy for you to do so.

I guess I may be. I also should have been more specific. Of my core group of good friends back home several already make 6 figures. I didnt mean that to sound like I know all kinds of people making that much money.

Two are in the arena of computers and one sells surgical equipment for spinal surgery. The computer guys have your typical 9-5 and the other guy has a modified 9-5 (he takes several day trips here and there but for the most part is home and works throughout the day visiting hospitals and sitting in on surgery.)

They all work hard and they all seem to enjoy it....for now anyway. Being only a few years out of school means they are still fresh to their industrys....I suppose their jobs may get old over time...but who knows. They all have some serious earning potential. And while I agree with what most pilots say about how not many people out there enjoy their field as much as we do....well...with all the talk about QOL...

I guess at times for me the line between lifestyles is grey when it comes to either sacrificing a lifestyle you desire to have a career that you find enjoyable and feels not much like work vs. having a career that you dont necessarily love but gives you a very comfortable lifestyle with a normal schedule, great pay, in the location you desire.

I dont know what each of your careers have been like or how long you have been in the industry...but I already have met guys older than myself who have left the industry and are glad they did and other guys who I work with who tried to leave the industry several times and have resolved to come back to work for a 1/3rd or less of what they were making in the "real world" just so that they could fly airplanes. I just find it frustrating at times knowing how much money and time I have invested and that with my qualifications (not that they are great) find a job making enough money to pay the bills. I understand the concept of "paying your dues"...I like others just wish the regionals started around the ballpark of $30-$40k a year...unfortunately that thought is almost laughable. But I am young and at this point still have over 30 years to devote to the airlines.

The reality is that everyone has a different perspective and different priorities. When I was in school and for the first year or two out of it I was one of those "I will go anywhere and do anything just to be a pilot and to further my career. I want to fly the heavy metal." I am still going to work to try to achieve my goal as a pilot for a large sucessful carrier (Fedex, UPS, JetBlue, SWA, and growing up in the midwest Ive always wanted to be a 757 driver for the redtail) and I am willing to stick out low pay and a less desired schedule because there are few things in this world I enjoy like I do flying (and I get to do it for work!)...but I would jump all over a decent corporate gig back home just to be near family and my old stomping grounds.

Dont get me wrong though...I still stick with what one of my college profs used to say about flying airplanes: "Beats workin for a living."

Im sure in a few years Ill have a good corporate gig or airline gig that is better paying with a location I like and I will joke about the "rough" days as a young up-and-comer. Who knows.

What an industry.

 

[Irish Pilot]

I love hearing about all the great jobs out there from people on the web boards. I bet most of his friends are spending money like they are making six figures but financed to the max making min monthly payments. That or it is a two income family....

Honestly all that I was trying to do by bringing my friends' income up was trying to help show why I sometimes ponder other lines of work...like we all probably have and like you have obviously done before. I find it rather interesting that people here would get so sensitive about that lol. Yes they all earn 6 figures and yes they inevitably spend more than they make. Thats the American Way isnt it? Im sorry if you find that hard to believe...but many people do make over $100k a year a few years after a good education.

BTW...I didnt say they had great jobs, just well paying ones. And 2 of the 3 are single males...the one having just gotten married 4 months ago.

 

[PHX767]

I stayed away from pure corporate for too long. Heard about the pagers, schedules, etc. Then I found out some companies have a vastly different way they operate their planes. It's a lot like finding the right spouse - you just have to keep looking.

Our guys usually have the schedule put up a week or two prior. Of course the world is an ever changing place so there are some changes. This weekend instead of taking the Man somewhere on Friday and coming back Monday, it changed to midday Saturday and back by dinner on Sunday. I can live with that. Their only short notice trip was when we were already out on the road and just an out and back from our location to pick up some business guys that had airplane problems, and they let us know the afternoon prior.

So the workload varies a lot just like the company would. Our plane is for the sole use of the owner and his employees, unlike some companies that put the plane on 135 to pick up some charter bucks.

So, a round about answer to the thread is that while there may still be big bucks to be made in the 121 world, it's all about the quality of life. I got sick of commuting to a crash pad to be the junior reserve dummy and spend all of my time fighting to get to work or back home. Then I got furloughed and I didn't have that to worry about any more! Thanks AA!

 

[SheGaveMeClap]

Irish Pilot,

I'm in the same boat. My close friends I grew up with are all making six figures, it's always tempting to get out of flying and do something else. If you pick the right profession, you can be making well into the six figures within a year or two out of college. One guy hit it big with a pharmaceutical company and got a fast track to a mid-level mgmt position, one is a lawyer (works his a$$ off, 80 hr. per week is the norm, no thanks) and the other is a dentist in MSP. They are still single and spend the money just as fast as they make it. But hell, that's the life. Good for them. If I could do it all over again would I have chosen another occupation? Probably not. Flying has been pretty good to me. It's alot better now with a different job. But I'm still too lazy to work and too scared to steal.

Good luck finding something back up in this part of the world......

 

[hmmurdock]

Greetings..

I have been in the industry for 4 and a half years and think about going back to my prior career(restaurant industry) mainly because I have a fully funded company pension there that picks back up if I go back into mgt. I know I will NEVER see a company funded retirement in the airline industry if I stay, but I can't seem to get the pension at my former job out of my head. I really like the idea of the financial stability this would afford me going into retirement. This for me is reason enough to think about leaving the industry, for me anyway.

Take care

 

[Jmajoris]

Irish Pilot,

I'm in the same boat. My close friends I grew up with are all making six figures, it's always tempting to get out of flying and do something else. If you pick the right profession, you can be making well into the six figures within a year or two out of college. One guy hit it big with a pharmaceutical company and got a fast track to a mid-level mgmt position, one is a lawyer (works his a$$ off, 80 hr. per week is the norm, no thanks) and the other is a dentist in MSP. They are still single and spend the money just as fast as they make it. But hell, that's the life. Good for them. If I could do it all over again would I have chosen another occupation? Probably not. Flying has been pretty good to me. It's alot better now with a different job. But I'm still too lazy to work and too scared to steal.

Good luck finding something back up in this part of the world......

Most of the talk is about money. Just think about what a crappy job a dentist has, spending his day in other peoples dirty mouths. Could you actually do that? How about the argumentitive lifestyle of a lawyer? Anybody know the pressures of making sales/kissing ass to pay the bills?

They all fail the rocking chair test (for me) miserably.....

If you're worried about money and or your retirement, plan on starting a part time business when you reach the majors (or other suitable place) and have some free time. With an Internet store, 20 hours a week via laptop, email, and voicemail can make some good dough for yourself, and you'll still be working less hours and have a better lifestyle than your friends doing something that you love. Buy a condo or 2 and rent them out. In 15-30 years the notes paid off and you're getting lotsa rent with little going out the door. See the big picture!

For me, there is nothing in life that equals doing what you love for a living. If you have the right attitude, you'll find a way....

 

[C425Driver]

Gee Ty,

Looks like you've got me all figured out, don't you?

In the future I'll be sure to check with you before I make any major decisions.

C425Driver

 

[labbats]

Very few well paying jobs let you leave work at work. If nothing else, you'll have some impending sale or nagging boss on your mind as you tow your friends around the lake. After postflight, I'm done. Completely.