Full Circle Validation

[realityman]

I thought it would be Delta for me also. I even took heavies over fighters in the air force and luckily got the international bug out of my system early. No offense Wolf, but I can remember looking out of the cockpit of a C-130 at a G-IV and thinking " you want to fly international in THAT tiny airplane ? " As to my position at NJA, it is nice to be able to say I envy noone's airplane and noone's job.

LOL!! That's great! Perspective is an amazing thing, isn't it? I've never flown any of the 'heavy iron', but when I'm topping a huge line of weather at FL470 in the X, and I look out the window and see a B757 or C130, or something similar way below me, I always think "wouldn't it suck to have to try to get through the weather in those things? Much easier just to fly on top of it!"

RM

 

[old*art]

I understand .. but Boeing and Lockheed build them to withstand the weather and Cessna does not !!

 

[johnsonrod]

You have to admit that Delta pre-911 was pretty sweet. Delta pilots earned great salaries and growth meant nice airplanes, nice worldwide variety and pretty good upgrade times. Everything changed after 911 and a career at Delta currently is not as desireable but still more attractive than other 121 options.

It's true that NJI/NJA is a fantastic opportunity nowadays but you need to compare apples to apples. If you compare NJI/NJA today to Delta pre-911 it would be less clear which is more attractive. I have an Atlanta-based buddy who currently flies 757/767 at Delta and his gig is still pretty sweet despite the lower pay and some job insecurity.

 

[mt2]

It's all relative. I've been around the world with brand X and had great fun and enjoyed the crew comraderie and variety of flying there, even if I wasn't making the legacy salaries. I recently did the phone interview with NJA and hope to move to the next phase soon and, eventually, earn a spot there. To me it's all about job satisfaction and QOL -- if you don't enjoy the job, the flying, and customers/owners then the great pay and bennie package won't be worth it. Good for those that see and appreciate the importance of that -- I look forward to flying with you at NJA someday soon.

 

[wolfpackpilot]

It's all relative.

It certainly is. I guess what I forgot to say was that for years it nagged on me that I felt like I had only achieved 2nd place; and that my dream was never going to happen.

After flying with C & M... I realized that what I thought my dream was doesn't exist anymore. And although I could have gotten there, what I would have hoped it was.... wouldn't have been.

I know now that for me, I have achieved a level and place that is clearly the best I could ever do, and looking back on what I've made, what I fly, where I've went and where I'm going... I have made to the top. NetJets is the new "dream job".

Sitting in the cockpit with a man who retired from Delta as a 767-400 Captain, and have him look you square in the eye and say.... "Billy, don't ever leave this company because you will never find anything close to it in the 121 world" is hard core advise.

But then again, I'm still an old school pilot... I wish for a day when all pilots earned a wage and have benefits equal to their professional abilities.

 

[G200_PILOT]

What a great post sir! Thanks for sharing it.

I'd like to share my story as well. Back in 2000, I decided to jumpseat back to Germany to see my family. Since NJA didn't have any "official" agreements with any carriers, the chances were about 50/50. Anyway, I was able to jump from my hometown to ATL so hey, my luck was going good. I went right to Frankfurt gate and waited there till I saw the crew approaching. I went to guy with the four stripes and began to plead my case. It turns out that the guy I was talking to was the IOE captain for the flight. He started to tell me that he normally doesn't allow and jumpseaters during an IOE event BUT,,, he was going to make an exception this time because he wanted to learn about this "little operation called Executive Jet." We spent quite a while talking about it and had a blast.

Move ahead two years... While grabbing a cup of coffee at the old First Aviation, I noticed a guy sitting in the pilots lounge that looked familiar but I couldn't pin point it. Sure enough, it was the same IOE captain that had allowed me to hop along so that I could see my family. It sure is a small world and an even smaller industry.

Maybe it's just me, but I think the retired Delta guys are some of the most fun guys to fly with. They love what they're doing even after 40+ years.

 

[mt2]

wolfpack --

I hope you didn't think I was dishing your post with my "relative" comment. I was merely trying to validate what you had said.

The big iron is pretty cool but you'd be amazed at how many of us look at your ride and say "Nice airplane!, wouldn't it be great to fly that".

 

[hammer2]

I got to agree with Wolf. Although I'm not at Nja, Flex has been good for me. I had the same experience with a couple of retired US AIR pilots, peidmont side.I feel blessed to be in this industry as well. This is my stopping point.

 

[TurboJetCpt]

You have to admit that Delta pre-911 was pretty sweet. Delta pilots earned great salaries and growth meant nice airplanes, nice worldwide variety and pretty good upgrade times. Everything changed after 911 and a career at Delta currently is not as desireable but still more attractive than other 121 options.

It's true that NJI/NJA is a fantastic opportunity nowadays but you need to compare apples to apples. If you compare NJI/NJA today to Delta pre-911 it would be less clear which is more attractive. I have an Atlanta-based buddy who currently flies 757/767 at Delta and his gig is still pretty sweet despite the lower pay and some job insecurity.

Nothing Pre-9/11 matters...the only thing that matters is what the industry looks like TODAY.

 

[FLYLOW22]

Nothing Pre-9/11 matters...the only thing that matters is what the industry looks like TODAY.

That's pretty flawed thinking and it's also the reason why pilots are continually willing to settle for less, and less, and less...

No historical perspective, reference or preference.

Sad. But thanks for illustrating the point.