I made the switch from Spirit Airlines to corporate two years ago. For me it was the best decision of my career. Corporate jobs are like airline jobs in that there are the good, the bad, and the ugly companies to work for. Fortunately, I landed a job with a fortune 100 company based closed to where my wife and I were born and raised. The company does not allow for the company aircraft to be used for personal trips. This means, on holidays and weekends, there is typically no flying. I did 25 overnights last year including training at FSI every 6 months. The quality of life is exceptional if you have a family. Granted, you will never make the kinds of salaries that guys/gals are enjoying at the top majors but yet again you'll do better than most in this industry. At my company, located in the midwest salaries range from 57k (most junior man) to 130k (most senior line pilot). We also enjoy great benefits including a pension plan. There's no commuting from the employee parking lot via the bus to the terminal, clearing security, bidding for vacations, or dragging a bag from place to place.....
Now for the down side. You typically don't have a hard schedule a month or so in advance and you don't get 12-18 days off per month. You may only average flying 12 days per month in corporate, you just don't know when they are going to be. Like I said, the top-end money isn't has good nor do you have the protection of a union. You do have to handle the passengers bags to a certain extent even though this is usually no big deal.
Some other things which I enjoy....closer relationships with co-workers and management and flying brand-new well kept airplanes which stay in a hanger almost every night.
Bottom line...choose your company wisely. In my opinion, there are a greater number of good airline jobs than there are good corporate jobs; but. if life-style is what you're after, a good corporate job is hard to beat.
Now for the down side. You typically don't have a hard schedule a month or so in advance and you don't get 12-18 days off per month. You may only average flying 12 days per month in corporate, you just don't know when they are going to be. Like I said, the top-end money isn't has good nor do you have the protection of a union. You do have to handle the passengers bags to a certain extent even though this is usually no big deal.
Some other things which I enjoy....closer relationships with co-workers and management and flying brand-new well kept airplanes which stay in a hanger almost every night.
Bottom line...choose your company wisely. In my opinion, there are a greater number of good airline jobs than there are good corporate jobs; but. if life-style is what you're after, a good corporate job is hard to beat.
