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If I didn't have the bug before...

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Where the hell does it say that anyone who aspires to fly for a living suddenly has SJS? Here, I'm going to post the warning signs again on this thread for those of you with short-term memory loss.

Do you know a CFI who has applied at Mesa or Boston/Maine?
Do you know a CFI who is burned out after 6 weeks of instructing?
Do you know a student pilot who has answered an flight school ad for "guaranteed interview with our regional airline partner"?
Do you know a pilot who has purchased a CRJ type-rating?
Do you know a regional-jet pilot who has purchase a 737 type-rating?
Do you know an airline pilot who has taken concessions in order to allow their company to purchase larger airplanes?
Do you know a pilot who believes that AirTran and Jetblue are the "majors" they've wanted to work for for "their whole lives"?
Do you know any member of the RJDC who STILL BELIEVES that mainline pilots are hurting their career expectations?
Do you know any airline pilots who refuse to dress in their uniform as specified by their SOP because "if they wanted me to dress better, they'd pay me better"?
Do you know any airline pilots who carry their hats for 4-days without ever putting it on their head?
Do you know any airline pilots who wear a backpack rather than carry adult-luggage?
Have you flown with copilots who say, "I cant believe they pay us to do this!!"?
Do you know any individual whose first "real" job involved carrying 50-90 people in the back of a jetliner?
Do you know any regional jet pilot who drops the "Express" or "Connection" portion of their airline name while using their profession to attempt to pick up women in a bar?

In my opinion if anyone has SJS its you pilots that fly 70-90 seat airplanes around for 50 seat wages. You know who you are.
 
PilotOnTheRise said:
I got to sit in the cockpit of a UPS A300 the other day. I probably drooled all over it. If that is not enough to give you the bug, I don't know what else will.

So, why do I write this:

While sitting in the cockpit, I couldn't help but think of how lucky pilots are. Sure the regionals could pay more to their FO's, sure the industry is having some problems right now, although hopefully it begins to straighten out sometime soon, and there are always going to be some negatives, but it is still the best job in the world. I thought to myself; "I can either have this cockpit be my office, and be 30,000 feet in the air, or sit in a cramped office in some office building somewhere, doing paperwork all day". I choose the first one.

Things can always be better, but realize what you do for a living. Theres nothing much better if you ask me. I hope to oneday soon be joining you all in the cockpit. Until then, I'll keep training away.

Follow your dream. I had one helluva time for the 3 years i was at the regionals.:D it had its $hitty moments, but the fun times certainly out-weighed the negatives. good luck to ya and don't let people stand in your way!!!:beer:
 
I think you have to have SJS to aspire to fly. I've wanted to be a pilot since I was a kid. If it weren't for SJS, hanging around this board would turn me away quick.

But, with that said; everybody has complaints about their job. The grass is always greener, and things could be better. Ultimately things could always be better, but that could go on, and on, and on. Once things do get better, they could always be even more better, and so on.

Aviation is just one of those industries that can be up one day and down the next. But, I can't imagine anything I'd rather do than fly airplanes. As the UPS pilot told me; "you can make a good living as a pilot, just don't always count on the company you work for to pay you". F/O pay is bad at a regional, but ultimately you can make a very good living as a professional pilot. One day we will all hopefully be captains on a UPS A300, or wherever we wish to go in this career, and we will all look back at our journey and be thankful we had it.

And I agree with what another poster said. If you don't like it, get out. Its better to open your seat up to someone who really wants it, than to complain about it, and hate it, meanwhile someone is standing in your shadow, who would love nothing more than to be in that seat.
 
If you like flying so much, DON'T MAKE IT A CAREER!!! Keep it fun! if you fly for a job, then it just becomes work, and work sucks!
 
propsarebest said:
If you like flying so much, DON'T MAKE IT A CAREER!!! Keep it fun! if you fly for a job, then it just becomes work, and work sucks!

It is all up to the person. I've been flying for 16 years, the past 10 making money at it. It is still fun for me. Yeah, there are some times where I wanted to be anywhere else other than the cockpit, but it still beats sitting behind a desk in an office writing reports.

Since flying full time, 90% I look forward to going to work. When I was doing the office/management thing...I looked forward to going to the office about 5% of the time. But, then the cute girl quit and that number dropped to zero.
 
Pilot on the rise,

I understand your excitement. I used to share it. Don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean that I dont love flying anymore. I do!

And it doesn't mean that I dont miss flying the 737, I do.

But what it DOES mean is that the profession is no longer what it once was.

The people here who talk about SJS (myself included), and who whine about their jobs and who are looking for alternate careers are trying to share with you the benefit of their experience.

Sure, flying is a great job with many rewards. But it comes at a price.

The price, as of late, is profoundly bad job-security, lost retirement, outsourcing, increased time away from home, limited ability to recover from a furlough, and compensation that is a fraction of what it once was.

There are root causes of the above. ALPA, regional-jets, and places like Mesa pilot development, Comair academy, the old FSI pay-for-training programs, Embry Riddle and other pilot mills.

So don't mistake our bitterness as lack of ambition. Certainly don't mistake it for lack of passion. We love flying every bit as much as you do. We share your passion and we remember what it was like to have that enthusiasm.

If I sat in a UPS A300 tomorrow, i'd be drooling over it just like you did.

The difference between you and I is nothing more than a decade of experience in an industry that is extremely frustrating. Many of us have started over so many times (due to furloughs, mergers, etc.) that its nearly impossible to raise a family and retire. The prospects for our return to "the majors" is bleak -- and if we did get there, what would we benefit? The compensation and retirement are no longer there. The lifestyle is no longer there.

So please, enjoy your flying. But don't fall victim to SJS. Dont ever find yourself in a position where your ambition for a bigger, faster, airplane -- or that extra bit of "experience" needed to apply at another airline -- comes at the expense of a reasonable rate of pay. And for gods sake my friend, find a plan B. Get a real estate license, be an accountant, learn to build houses, or be a manager at home depot... just get a plan B.

Good luck. I hope you get to the cockpit of that A300 someday. Until then, fly smart.
 
PilotOnTheRise said:
I got to sit in the cockpit of a UPS A300 the other day. I probably drooled all over it. If that is not enough to give you the bug, I don't know what else will.

So, why do I write this:

While sitting in the cockpit, I couldn't help but think of how lucky pilots are. Sure the regionals could pay more to their FO's, sure the industry is having some problems right now, although hopefully it begins to straighten out sometime soon, and there are always going to be some negatives, but it is still the best job in the world. I thought to myself; "I can either have this cockpit be my office, and be 30,000 feet in the air, or sit in a cramped office in some office building somewhere, doing paperwork all day". I choose the first one.

Things can always be better, but realize what you do for a living. Theres nothing much better if you ask me. I hope to oneday soon be joining you all in the cockpit. Until then, I'll keep training away.

Please excuse what may be a lengthy reply.
I am 74 but I can certainly still feel the emotions that you do. I soloed in J-3 Cubs in 1951. Joined the USAF the same year mostly to avoid getting drafted for Korea. My high school buddies were there and wrote back that it was terrible. I was sent to radio mechanic's school at Scott AFB, Ill. I discoverd a little grass field right close to the base where I could rent an Aeronca Champion for $8 an hour. Eureka! I then applied for Aviation Cadet Training and was accepted in a few months. There was an old DC-2/C-40 fuselage sitting on blocks in the woods near the barracks. I'd sneak out there and DREAM, just as you did in the A-300. After 8 years in the USAF flying mostly transports, I resigned in 1959 and got on within 2 weeks with North Central Airlines...in DC-3s. I was flying with 2 year captains, wow, quick upgrades right? Wrong....7 years later I was still an F/O flying with the same, now, 9 year captains. But finally my time comes and I make DC-3 Captain. Of course we have DC-9s on the property also by this time, arg. In the next 12 months I make captain in the Convair 440 and then the Convair 580. 10, count them, 10 years later I finally make DC-9 Captain and then B-727 Captain. At that point I have 20 years with the company. Through mergers I end up on NorthWest. I was too short for NWA in 1960, they wanted 6ft tall pilots....yep, shorter need not apply at NWA! But they got me anyway in 1986 and then I made A320 captain and finally 747-400 captain for which I took the pay and stayed on the A320.
I'm now retired, but I still know how YOU feel! Don't let the naysayers get you down. You will enjoy the career if you keep a good attitude.

Best Wishes
DC
 
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SennaP1 said:
Don't let them get you down. (PILOT on the Rise) Yeah its got its up and downs. But if its what you want to do, do it.

I wish all these guys that keep complaining about the industry would get out, Oh I know you //expected// different things. Its never too late to change careers. That's why there are 40 yr old FO's at regionals.

That SJS stuff is stupid too, yes I fly a jet. But its not shiny and I could care less. Actually my dream airplane to fly at an airline would be a Q400 (out of my hometown) Props are alot more fun anyhow. Although I hear the Q400 is a Mx disaster.

P1

P1,
If all the people who got into this because of the "money" would bail, their wouldn't be an excess of pilots. Then the money would be better!:laugh:
 
I understand what the airline industry has gone through over the last several years. I can understand the frustration coming from many of you. It is one thing to love flying, but when you are trying to support a family, and build a retirement, sometimes things are more important than the 'flying' itself. My simple solution to those feeling this frustration is not to quit, but stick it out. I'm referring to the people not just feeling that frustration, but also feeling a hatred toward the job, and flying. I don't say quit simply because it opens a seat for me, but because it would probably be best for them.

Otherwise, remember that the airline industry has gone through this before, and come out booming again. Will that happen this time? I don't think we can answer that for sure, but I think it will improve. It might be a transformation from the Delta, American United, NorthWest days, to a SouthWest, JetBlue, AirTran, Continental days, but atleast we have something to look forward to. The airlines may change, but hopefully the industry is moving again. Don't consider yourself stuck at a regional, with no hope at a major job. If you believe it, and strive for it, eventually it will happen, whether sooner or later. Pay may not be what is once was a the majors, but that could change, but even as it is now, it is a very good living. Salaries are still higher than what most people make in a desk career.
 

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