Cessna 421 Pilot Corpus Christi Texas

[CaravanMan]

We're on that same call-out time at my EMS job... 20 mins, airborne in 30. It's really not that bad at all. I'm at home more than I'm at work, and I don't find myself staring at the pager all day. My QOL is the best it's ever been, and this is the best job I've had. Don't knock it 'til ya try it!!

 

[Dustin H]

I'm with CaravanMan

As far as QOL is concerned, it's all in how you look at it. If you stare at the pager all day waiting for it to go off then I'd say you need to pick up a hobby or two. Forgetting that you are on a pager and only going into work 2-3 days out of the week will leave lots of time to accomplish other things you may have going on in your life. 200 hours (flight time) a year divided by 36k/yr. equals $180/hr. The pay may not make you rich, but the job allows you the freedom to do other things.

 

[kswhite]

Freedom? Freedomto do whatever you want to do, assuming you can be at the airport in 20 minutes, dressed and ready to fly. Try going fishing, golfing, watching a movie, or heaven forbid, having a drink.

I'm not trying to knock the job becuase I understand sacrifice but I've been put in the situation all to many times when they call you out short notice and the only reason that it's short notice, is because the boss was to lazy to pick up the phone and let you know 4 days ago when the trip was originally scheduled.

Just be careful and make sure we, as pilots, are not being taken advantage of. If you're flying people to hospitals in life threating situations, that's fantastic. If you're flying people to the casinos on 20 minutes notice...well, it's not for me.

 

[Kingair1181]

I agree with many of these posters.... a 20 min call out is insane. Even if you live close to the airport you basically can't plan anything for that day. No golf (cause who wants to tee off on hole 2 and have their pager go off, raise off the course, speed towards the airport well changing in the car and then run into the terminal - along with losing the money you payed to play the course.) You'd basically just have to sit around at home and wait it seems.

I have a 2 hour call out and live roughly an 45 mins to an hour from the airport and I have a very hard time getting there unless I am basically ready to go when i get the call. Between changing clothes, grabbing my flight bag, the bathroom, maybe getting gas, ect - I don't have much time. Unless it's flying EMS on a very very time critical flight then maybe it's worth it. But 20 minutes just isn't fair at all, especially w/ those wages but good luck maybe you'll find someone but it's not for me.

 

[icefr8dawg]

agreed, any operation with a 20 min. call should pay for pilots to bunk in the fbo, otherwise they're abusing you to get an edge on the other guy with the 1 hour call. Now, if the money were right... Say like 50K with weekends free, now that's another thing...

 

[Dustin H]

Just for clarification, the 20 min call out time is just a “show time” at the airport (not a wheels in the well time). Takeoff time after the initial call out is more like 45min to an hour. 90% of the flights are VFR and are within 100NM. There is not a lot of planning and preparation required for these flights. The longer flights are pre-planed with more time to prepare.


Shifts are also on a rotation involving two pilots. If you are on the rotation as the second pilot, you have a lot more freedom than just 20 minutes as the first pilot will get called out before the second. So it's still possible to catch a game of golf or go fishing while on call. And you still get your 10 days off per month if you want to go out of town or what-not.


It's definitely not for everyone, but it can be a fun gig if you know how to work the schedule.

 

[PacoPollo]

Stop flaming the guy. Gee a fellow pilot offering help to another pilot and ya'll
biatch and complain about 20min call out? For that pay im willing to do other hangar work.(clean aircraft,mop,cut the lawn,wash bosses car) It seems to easy of a job!

 

[kswhite]

"For that pay im willing to do other hangar work.(clean aircraft,mop,cut the lawn,wash bosses car) It seems to easy of a job!"

Gentlemen, that's why we often times struggle to get the money we deserve. Please don't undercut each other and resort to doing menial labor just so we can fly. It's great to fly and we all love it, but we have to fake it sometimes and draw a line in the sand when the boss man asks us to do this sort of work outside of the flight deck.

 

[CaravanMan]

I'm sorry, but in the EMS industry patients don't usually let us know 4 days in advance that they're going to be deathly ill. When you take a job like this you have to have the understanding of what type of work you'll be getting into. It is a LIFE SAVING operation where every minute counts. I knew what I was getting into. I was willing to give up certain freedoms. Sure, the wife and I can't go to a movie without taking the risk of getting a page, but you know what? We save $18 by doing that!! And it sucks walking by the fridge with some Blvd. Wheat in there, begging me to drink it, but I'm willing to give that up for 2 weeks at a time because I love my job, and I love helping people. If you don't want to give up playing golf because there's the chance that someone might have a heart attack and you'd be called to save their life, then don't take this job, and don't knock those of us that have it. Your butt might depend on us one day. Not trying to be rude here, but you don't seem to get what this 20 min call out means here.

 

[kswhite]

As stated earlier, in life saving situations, it is incredibly honorable to sacrifice your daily life in such a manner to help others. If it's not life threatening or even emergency related, then short call out times (ie 60 mins. or less) are something that we need to try and prevent so it doesn't become the norm for non-emergency related travel.