Flying people vs. boxes?

[skyward80]

A question for pilots who have flown people and who now fly boxes (or the other way around)... which do you prefer and why? Please don't tell me one group of pilots is better than another or any of that other stuff. I don't wanna hear about that and don't want to read any flames. I just want to know what you liked and disliked about both types of operations. Thanks!

Skyward80

 

[LR25]

The reason flying boxes appealed to me so much was, it was no nonsence flying.

You, airplane, and boxes.

It was fast paced, kept busy and had a schedule.

But both types of flying I have found to be rewarding, but the most fun to me was flying checks in Lears, what a hoot.

 

[WrightAvia]

boxes vs people

I could do both... boxes tend to be very quiet and not very needy at all. If you work for certain feeder operations you will be on a schedule, which is nice.

With people you will find some regular customers that can be real pains. They will make complaints with your boss that don't make sense and actually make you hate your job at times. With people, your trips will be an unknown factor of when you'll get home. You can't plan on it. They'll tell you that they'll be back by one, but they really wind up coming back at five pm. Passengers don't understand duty time issues and when they ask to make an extra stop or change in destination, they don't have a clue about accelerate stop distances. You tell em to stow the tray tables for landing and after you shut down and run back to fling the door open, you see the tables out. They bother you about the ICE on the tail and the type of bottled water you have in the cooler. The have an attitude that because they paid 1.95 a mile and 300 a day plus expenses...that they can overload the airplane with unexpected extra guests with golf clubs even when ICE is a big factor. Sometimes they just don't get it...look what happened with that black singer chick, Aliaha or whatever. Argued with the pilot to bring the extra passengers that like to supersize the fast food. Nobody wants to see a scale...even post CLT beech 1900 crash.

I did both. Could do either again, but I love my cargo job. It is more mission oriented...get the boxes into the destination airport. Wait for the delivery guys to come back in the evening at the hotel and then fly the boxes out to the hub again at an exact time. If they don't have me loaded and out by a certain time, my freight loaders have to answer to somebody...I love that! That makes me the customer at that point in time. Think about it.

I fly for a reputible feeder contract operator and I love it. Yea, my coworkers can be baboons at times, but the planes are well equiped, well maintained and operated on a schedule. (we're 135, but we are basically on a schedule).

I would say, to actually answer your question...do a fair amount of both. No one could hold that against you, as no PIC is bad PIC. Try to get into domestic passenger 135 and cargo 135 and get lots of time in all the different planes that you can. It makes for some really cool job security if hold 135 letters plus documented time as PIC in those planes.

Hope that helps...research your employers well and take the jobs that will pay you the most, plus offer you the most in time with family...if you can find that. We max out at 55,000 a year flying single engine turbines and we laid no pilots off what so ever during the 9/11 debacle.

good luck to you.

 

[Idreamtofly]

Scheduled boxes is the key to aviation happiness. On-demand cargo is never on time just like on-demand "people" flying.

In my opinion, the best of all worlds is to fly scheduled freight but remember people tip better.
Idreamtofly

 

[NightFlyer]

I used to fly passengers and now I'm flying freight. I prefer freight hands down to flying pax's. It's nice to pull up to the gate finish the checklist and walk off the aircraft as opposed to waiting for all the pax's to get off. Some guy like to strut through the terminal with their uniform on, personally I could care less. Matter of fact on some of the longer flight we change into sweats or something more comfortable. We don't have flight attendants so me being the junior guy on the plane serves the food and pours the coffee. I don't mind, I don't do much in cruise anyway. One of the best things about freight is that it is a much more stable industy than pax flying. On the down side there is much more night flying with boxes so if your not able to adjust your sleep cycle then maybe you should stick with something that will have you flying during the day. At my company we do about 60% night and 40% day, so it depends on your seniority how much night flying you'll be doing. Another down side is the lack off pass benefits. We do have agreements with several airlines out there but it's not near as good as what I had when I worked at my former airline. All in all I prefer the freight side of the business. If I would have gone over to another pax carrier then I would be furloughed right now so I'm very happy where I'm at right now. Good luck to you and fly safe.

NightFlyer

 

[Airpiraterob]

freight's good. people are good.

its all good yo.

scheduled freight is the absolute way to go. unless that schedule happens to suck. and many places will make you load and unload the freight yourself. and if all they bring dosent fit.....they dont like it....my loaders didnt have to report to anyone, if they made me late, i jsut told my people and when the customer asked. we told them their people were slow. but you cant work magic. however if you can manage it all, you will be happy. best flying i ever did. RAW stuff, pure and in your face. its nice flying at night too. quite plesant and the controllers have a better attitude i think.

people are good too. in the corporate world it can also suck with complaints and incessant whinning from the pax. but in my opinion. a well managed airline is golden. i mean you have to worry about people...but you dont have to load their luggage or get them bagels in the morning. the attendants do that for you. they load on. sit down and fly. and then you get to leave when youre done. and you get a few ays off in a row...then fly a few ays...i guess its all were working towards. that schedule cant be beat once you hold a line.

corporate-some people really like the customer service. they like making it a good time and flight for the passengers. when you have nice people to fly around that mostly understand the things involved....you cant have a better time and any pilot alive. especially when they tell you, " bring your clubs along and you dont have to worry about that hotel, we got a guest house for ya." or if you do have a hotel....itsa nice one! but with the horrible passengers, well....then it sucks.


back to freight. quite a few places make you load and unload yourself. its fast paced and a rockin job. but your back will hurt and youll be tired. but you got it done and people are happy. talk about job satisfaction. its there. its fun. pays good sometimes. the downside is that its a cutthroat industry. the porofit margins are so small that any maintenance problem will most likely kill that profit for that day. if the company didnt bid it so low someone else would have the route. so theres pressure to live with something broken for a while. most of the snakes you find are out there in cargo. watch out. be careful.

good luck. fly happy. it works best that way.

 

[WrightAvia]

skyward80 it is important to know your..

...boxes well when flying cargo. Like, card board boxes and corrugated boxes. There is a difference you know!

 

[KDA or DEATH]

Freight Dog for 6 years, Heavy Iron, Scheduled service.

Major Airline 11 years, Heavy iron, Scheduled service.

Freight SUCKS. (period)

WHY?

Yes, you are correct...No PAX problems, etc.... BUT:

3am is for SLEEPING, fornicating,drinking, puking or pissing..Generally in that order of importance.! (See: SLEEPING)

3am is NOT for flying Large Transport Category Aircraft! Or any OTHER a/c for that matter!

I had a cake freight job...worked 30 hard hours a month, got paid for dozens of hours more via rigs, did one leg a day on average in very good equipment and had about 20-22 days OFF every month.

I now work 70-80 hard hours a month, am paid for almost the same, do 2-3 legs a day and average 15 days off a month....BUT, I NEVER stay up all night and feel like krap for days....

I would NEVER go back.

I have friends at:

FedEx, (former)Emery, Airborne, DHL and "UnameIT" Freight Airlines...They ALL have 2 things in common:

1) They make good money.

2) They hate their job.

Beware night freight, it's a great way to get where you're going...It's a LIFE SENTENCE TO HELL otherwise.

JMHO..From a former member of:

"The Order Of Sleepless Knights"

YKW

 

[LR25]

When I was ATI, alot of got together and printed up a bunch of T-shirts........OOTSKS with a DC-8-71 on the front, I wore that thing out into rags.

Freight is still the best!

 

[JethroF15]

I have friends at:

FedEx, (former)Emery, Airborne, DHL and "UnameIT" Freight Airlines...They ALL have 2 things in common:

1) They make good money.

2) They hate their job.

Beware night freight, it's a great way to get where you're going...It's a LIFE SENTENCE TO HELL otherwise.

It's a personal thing. You can either handle the night flying or you can't. Personally I like it. One leg into the HUB, check into a sleep room (free) for 3 or 4 hours, and one leg back out. I average around 82 pay hours and 27 block hours per month. And it's not all night flying either. I'm not senior, bidding about 65% in my seat, but I bid 4 straight months this summer of all day flying. Sorry to hear that ALL of KDA or Death's cargo friends hate their jobs. Probably 95% of the cargo guys I'm around like their job. Sure there are certain things they don't like about it but I'm sure that the PAX people would say the same thing about their jobs. Again, you can either handle it or you can't. For me, I don't mind cashing those monthly paychecks even if I am a little drowsy.

MDM