Cargo-inept career question

[dhc8fo]

OK, I am cargo-inept, but I thought this was the perfect place to ask this question....

Is there a good company to work for where you fly part-time (say a couple of days a week), in decent equipment (ie: at least a twin), and for decent pay?

I want to figure out how to be at home with my kid more and still be able to fly. I have never ventured into the dark side of cargo before (haha).

Thanks for the info!

 

[pilotyip]

You have nearly incompatible set of priorities.

 

[imacdog]

Where do you want to live and what is your definition of decent pay? We fly piston twins out of Minneapolis and are very accomodating with pilot scheduling. Some companies that put one pilot on one run can be difficult to work with but our company doesn't do that.

 

[wheelsup]

What companies have "efficient" runs? I can't stand the thought of flying to an out station only to sit for 10 hours while I wait for the night stuff to come in, then fly back.

Are there any good cargo jobs where all you do is fly point to point, unload, then do a quick turn? Or are most cargo jobs about sitting around waiting?

~wheelsup

 

[imacdog]

At least at my company there is waiting involved. Our long run is depart at 5:00am, land at 8:00am, depart at 6:00pm and land back home at 8:30pm. That's the long one. The shortest run is depart at 6:30am, land at 7:45am, depart at 2:30pm, get home at 4:30pm. Occasionally we have a medicine charter flight that is out and back, but we don't get them very often.

 

[USC328]

Are there any good cargo jobs where all you do is fly point to point, unload, then do a quick turn? Or are most cargo jobs about sitting around waiting?

~wheelsup

Have you looked at AirNet? We have routes based all over the USA mostly OMA and East for the props. Most runs fly-fly-fly with minimal sitting around. Usually you fly 6-8 legs a night with around 5-6 hours flying. Some turns can be 10 minute turns, other runs will have some layovers. Runs you get and the city you will live in depend on what is available when you finish training. We are losing alot of guys to the regionals. One of my buddies that left to fly for SkyWest after a year here said he would turn in a week of that flying for a week back in his Chieftan anyday. It is the best flying you will ever do and will learn soo much, not to mention add the PIC time to your logbook. Upgrades to the Learjet are around 10 months now and the last Lear SIC to Lear Captain was 7 months. You must start in the props regardless of experience and meet all the 135 PIC requirements. If not, we do have an SIC program in place that has been accepting guys/gals with 1100 hrs total or so. Hope that helps. PM me if you want more info. I am based in CMH and can answer most questions you have.

USC328

 

[mar]

Now wait a minute...

...I'm not sure but I think FedEx has some twins and their pilots seem to have some pretty good schedules.

Check it out!!

 

[Airpiraterob]

the contract operators usually fly point A unload/load to point B/ load unload then home that day/night...again all depends on your schedule but you do wind up at home at the end.....and thats when you sleep while your kids try to wake you up......cause you didnt get to sleep all night, you were flying.

i don't know of any operators that offer any part time type of work...well there may be some that offer it on an 'as-needed' basis but good luck getting that to even jive with what you want in a home life.

flying cargo + normal homelife=check your pulse to mkae sure its real!

 

[CaravanMan]

My route is a Mon eve-Sat morning run. I live in A and depart evenings around 7:15pm & arrive at B about 8ish, overnight. Wake up at B, leave about 7:00am & arrive back at home, A, around 8am. Repeat, repeat, repeat until Sat. morning. It's ridiculously easy and I get paid a reasonable salary, but it really stinks being away from home 5 nights a week, especially since I got married in August. But the job's really pretty nice.

 

[Airpiraterob]

yeah I forgot about those. my schedule was like that but with only 4-5 hours in the middle there of sleep. some let you have that 7-8 hours...most don't.

if you can find that schedule...youre a lucky man/woman. They are out there and CaravanMan, you've found the crunchy center we all look for. It's good times when you get it. You basically fly to your bed so if you have a wife....well...weekends is when you gotta make up for it. "wink, wink"

 

[Fuzzy_is_Hungry]

A lot of our runs are 7 or so hour duty days with minimal sitting. Usually Depart from A, go to B, C, D, then come back to A empty. Afternoon show times, home by around 8:30. Give or take an hour.

 

[FN FAL]

OK, I am cargo-inept, but I thought this was the perfect place to ask this question....

Is there a good company to work for where you fly part-time (say a couple of days a week), in decent equipment (ie: at least a twin), and for decent pay?

I want to figure out how to be at home with my kid more and still be able to fly. I have never ventured into the dark side of cargo before (haha).

Thanks for the info!

You kind of limited yourself with the "at least a twin comment". Our caravan feeder operation has three runs in Columbus Ohio that work tues-friday with no rons. From what I hear, the runs start sometime around supper time and end up back in Columbs about 11:00 PM. That's a 32,750 to start and no ad hoc flights...you're scheduled to that run and that's it.

My run is 12 days a month with no rons and no weekends...it's about as part time as you can get...except the run was 10 days a month for several years before they changed the schedule. I'm still happy with it though.

If you are not limited in where you want to live or what type of operation you want to fly for, you might be surprised.