If everyone hates their airline why not quit

[OI812]

ok ok i give up
this isnt exactly where i was going with this\

i just wanted to know why stay somewhere ya dont like

so i will wait and see for myself and after 6 months and i feel tha same as everyone else i will come pesonally say i was wrong and apoligize

 

[jetfo]

I doubt that anyone is looking forward to your apology. We just all hope that things will turn around in this industry and that quality of life and income will improve for all concerned.

 

[RichardRambone]

Absolutely true but how could we communicate that message to us young brats looking to fly? If the wages arent good enough, DONT TAKE THE JOB. We are all taking shatty jobs so we can move up to wherever but it sounds like moving up has become an oxymoron. I ferry planes and clean them and other office bs but I'd even have to take a pay cut to go to a regional. Give me break. What I fly isnt as important as if I can pay my bills. Its starts at the bottom and works its ugly way up. If we keep accepting things the way they are, there wont be changes, only downhill slides.

 

[jws717]

looking at the airlines from the outside is a very strange perspective, atlanta must look like an amusement park to you. All sorts of big jets rolling around. Ive been there myself, but after 6 months the jet boner goes away and it is just a job. A job that can be very exciting at times but more often very stressful. You must also realize that many pilots do not have direct information about what is happening at their airline, rumors are a way of life, many are real some are BS. And i am sure you complain about your job as a CFI to people as well.

 

[OI812]

looking at the airlines from the outside is a very strange perspective, atlanta must look like an amusement park to you. All sorts of big jets rolling around. Ive been there myself, but after 6 months the jet boner goes away and it is just a job. A job that can be very exciting at times but more often very stressful. You must also realize that many pilots do not have direct information about what is happening at their airline, rumors are a way of life, many are real some are BS. And i am sure you complain about your job as a CFI to people as well.

actually i really enjoy instructing and have seriously thought about staying at it, but there comes a time to move on.

 

[SkyBoy1981]

Why move on if its so great?

 

[OI812]

you know why

as an instructor you dont actually fly very often i want fly.
same reason most leave
but i am still staying on as a ground/sim instructor

 

[Dufus1]

It is funny how so many say "if only these 250 hour wonders would stop taking these low paying FO positions". Isn't that how we all got there? We all accepted one of those low paying FO positions. How soon we forget where we come from.

 

[SkyBoy1981]

It is funny how so many say "if only these 250 hour wonders would stop taking these low paying FO positions". Isn't that how we all got there? We all accepted one of those low paying FO positions. How soon we forget where we come from.

What the hell does this statement have to do with this thread? I haven't seen anyone say anything close to that in this thread at all.

 

[jetfo]

More and more pilots are leaving the airlines for corporate or other jobs. Heck, air traffic controllers make substantially more money than even most airline pilots. What's wrong with this picture?

Thousands of pilots are being produced by the pilot mills of ERAU, UND, DCA, FSI, etc. all being sold on getting an airline pilot job that will eventually pay them $100K+. They are being told the old story, and not the realities of today.

These wannabe pilots are putting themselves or their parents into $60K to $100K+ debt, just for the licenses needed to get an RJ job, without even a guarantee of that. That's not considering the cost of a degree at ERAU of UND. With a degree, probably at least $160K at ERAU.

When they get out, they find out the realities of an RJ job, that of being paid $20K to 30K for 5 to 7 years before upgrade. And then, the pay is not what it used to be even at Comair, after the concessions, maybe $60K a year.

This, along with the sacrifices associated with this occupation, is not being communicated to these prospective pilots. If they had the complete picture, many would chose other alternatives that yield greater rewards and less frustration and sacrifice.

The problem is that we all have a sickness that is called a love of flying. We drank the cool aid and now we are stuck. Many of us have pigeon holed ourselves into this career and once you have made the investment and commitment of time, it's difficult to get out.

What alternative jobs are you going to be able to obtain once you have dedicated years, or decades to a flying career? What are you going to be able to put on a resume that is relevant to an employer outside of aviation?

You end up being stuck, getting just enough money to keep on doing the same thing because you cannot replace even the marginal income.

I met A US Airways pilot commuting home the other day. He told me it was probably his last flight. He had been with Airways for over twenty years, lost most of his retirement, downgraded to reserve FO in DCA at about $60K a year.

He was fed up, was going to call in sick for the rest of December and take a three year leave after that, with no intention of returning. He was smart enough to build up a sideline business that was now able to supply enough income that he didn't have to continue at Airways.

Good for him, and I hope he does not have regrets for the rest of his life of all the time he had missed with his wife and children over the years to end up at this point, after a distinguished career of over 20 years.

What he should have had is the left seat, with a great schedule and a multi million dollor lumpsum distribution at age sixty, for his many years of sacrifices and dedicated service. So much for that.