Major Airline vs NetJets

[TurboJetCpt]

Going to SWA, FEDEX or UPS would be a great move, depending on age, commuting and QOL, even out of NJA...but no other airlines are worth the move...just my .02

 

[kman]

No one will argue that SWA, UPS, and Fedex have higher monetary compensation but I would put our QOL against theirs any day. How much is that worth to you? Throw in the fact that we don't have to worry (nearly as much) about age 65, cabotage, sabotage, or price wars and I think its pretty dang close between us and them. Now if we could just get into CASS it would be perfect...[/quote]


sorry man would have to disagree, swa for ex. has a min overnight of 12 hours ,min of 15 days off for the junior reserves, senior guys can get up 20 off, being able to plan an overnight that is longer than 10-12 hours is great. Don't get me wrong guys, im glad to have a good job at nja, its just a schedule and overnights longer than 12 hours are great and i still miss that a lot.

 

[Cavpilot]

Don't get me wrong guys, im glad to have a good job at nja, its just a schedule and overnights longer than 12 hours are great and i still miss that a lot.

So what airline did you come from that didn't do reduced (8 hour) rest?

 

[kman]

how many reduced rest overnights have you done in a 3 or 4 day trip? my last gig, start around 5-9pm, and averaged 15 hours on the overnight with the exceptions for weather and last day so you could get back early (9-11am) on your last day. Too bad upgrade was at least another 5-7 years away and fo pay was capped at 37k. I did not commute which counts for a lot, but i would make the move the right job.

 

[Diesel]

sorry man would have to disagree, swa for ex. has a min overnight of 12 hours ,min of 15 days off for the junior reserves, senior guys can get up 20 off, being able to plan an overnight that is longer than 10-12 hours is great. Don't get me wrong guys, im glad to have a good job at nja, its just a schedule and overnights longer than 12 hours are great and i still miss that a lot.

15 days off for junior reserves at fdx... now here is the other half of the story.

your reserve schedule will be broken up into multiple "tours" of 4 days making commuting unrealistic. Oh you want to commute in on a monday? Sorry fredex doesn't fly monday. 1 in 7 yup you get that if you have 28hrs off in hkg. There is your 1 in 7. Looks like you're working 14 days straight on the other side of the world. Plus count the commute to panc. fuuun.

The grass isn't allways greener. It is green but pilots tend to make their jobs sound better than they are. Goes for NJ too.

 

[Cavpilot]

how many reduced rest overnights have you done in a 3 or 4 day trip? my last gig, start around 5-9pm, and averaged 15 hours on the overnight with the exceptions for weather and last day so you could get back early (9-11am) on your last day. Too bad upgrade was at least another 5-7 years away and fo pay was capped at 37k. I did not commute which counts for a lot, but i would make the move the right job.

My last gig you could pretty much plan on every last overnight on the trip being reduced rest. Thereby circumventing any compensatory rest. Also we had very unproductive long overnights. Without a good trip or duty rig, you were hosed.

 

[kman]

My last gig you could pretty much plan on every last overnight on the trip being reduced rest. Thereby circumventing any compensatory rest. Also we had very unproductive long overnights. Without a good trip or duty rig, you were hosed.

I always liked my last overnight being reduced so I get back early. My last year at the airlines had an 18 day off 85-90 line. As far as long overnight being unproductive, that usually the boring slamclickers fault or a bad case of FFS(Fugly Flight attendant syndrome).j/k

Also day trips lines were the best, once in a blue moon could hold the almighty, tues, wed, thur 10am-5pm line. But I think I should stop talking before i get beat down by my 1108 brothers, for being ungrateful lazy 121 guy.

 

[Ralph Wiggums]

No one will argue that SWA, UPS, and Fedex have higher monetary compensation but I would put our QOL against theirs any day. How much is that worth to you? Throw in the fact that we don't have to worry (nearly as much) about age 65, cabotage, sabotage, or price wars and I think its pretty dang close between us and them. Now if we could just get into CASS it would be perfect...

I'm glad you are happy at NJ and I wish you many years of safe and happy flying there, but your comments about QOL got me thinking. Here is a look at my last 8 trips at SWA:

Avg block flown per day- 6:24
Avg duty day- 8:22
Avg overnight- 15:58
Avg legs flown per day- 2.83
Max number of nights away from home in a row- 2

Between Dec 1 and scheduled thru March 31:

Number of weekend days worked- 7
Number of weekend days off- 28
Days off in Dec- 18
Days off in Jan- 18
Days off in Feb- Scheduled 16, which I have increased to 19
Days off in March- 16

I used some of those days off to pick up extra flying, which is paid at second year rate.

Did I mention I'm still on probation? Year two pay starts soon, which will be an easy $83K, plus per diem, plus any extra flying I pick up.

I've flown regional, fractional, and now SWA. SWA is light years above the other two jobs.

Props to you guys at NJ. You've raised the bar on compensation for the entire frac industry. There are many good things about fractional flying, but if you have 15+ years left of flying and you aren't even considering SWA or the other usual suspects, I think you're doing yourself a disservice, IMHO.

 

[skiandsurf]

Props to you guys at NJ. You've raised the bar on compensation for the entire frac industry. There are many good things about fractional flying, but if you have 15+ years left of flying and you aren't even considering SWA or the other usual suspects, I think you're doing yourself a disservice, IMHO.

One of the things I like about NJs is most of the people would love to fly on us, whereas most people dread having to fly on SWA. NJs provides a top notch service, whereas SWA has brought this industry down to shorts and bomber jackets. Today, SWA is where the pilots want to go, it was just 7 years ago, most people went there as a stepping stone to get to the big dance. Sure I will never make as much money as the SWA pilot, but I will be proud to bring class back to flying.

For the record, I flew 9 days in Jan. I had a 7 day vacation (21 days off). I flew 7 days in Feb (7th-13th). I wont see a plane untill March 7th.

If you really want days off and good pay, my friend flies a Pilatus. He flies about 2-3 days a month and makes $120,000/yr. I dont think he is looking to go to SWA.

 

[JustInfo]

I have one big reason I will never go to SWA (or any of the others) - COMMUTE!

Not gonna do that again, talk about a drag on the QOL.

I assume Mr. Wiggins lives at his base? That may make it worthwhile.