Movin' on up, or Stay Put

[Double Shot]

Thank God I voted for Bush. After all he is going to veto this age sixty thing. And the Libs are lineing the halls to sign on for sixtyfive. Pick your posion. I vote No for age sixtyfive.

(I know Bush has no idea what the age sixty vote is all about but I can count on his veto)Today 01:34

did not mean to double post.
No way to edit previous post.

 

[FurloughedAgain]

Hey Blzr,

I don't remember which corporate operator you're flying for. I know which 121 you flew for prior though.

These boards are interesting, but unless you happen to be talking to someone who WAS part 121, went to Corporate, and is pondering a return to 121 -- the advise you get here is flawed.

I would question which of the peanuts in the gallery who are spouting off about the airplane being sold in a declining economy have actually FLOWN corporate. (real corporate, not charter)

My personal opinion would be that you should take a critical look at your flight department's usage of the aircraft. Is it used for critical business needs? Or to take the boss golfing, sailing, etc.

How much time is the use of the corporate aircraft saving the executives. If your department has not done such an analysis to determine overall time saved vs. airline flying -- they should!

I disagree that corporate flying is categorically in greater jeopardy than airline flying in a declining economy. I don't think we can paint with such broad strokes. It depends on the type of company you work for, what happens to their business in a declining economy, the usage of the aircraft, etc.

Personally I would much rather be where I am today during a recession with rapidly rising oil prices than at an airline whose cost structure is dependent upon the price of oil.

Is my job here secure long term? Probably not. Is it more secure than being in the bottom 20%-30% at an airline -- i'm almost positive.

 

[IAHERJ]

Hey Blzr,

I don't remember which corporate operator you're flying for. I know which 121 you flew for prior though.

These boards are interesting, but unless you happen to be talking to someone who WAS part 121, went to Corporate, and is pondering a return to 121 -- the advise you get here is flawed.

I would question which of the peanuts in the gallery who are spouting off about the airplane being sold in a declining economy have actually FLOWN corporate. (real corporate, not charter)

My personal opinion would be that you should take a critical look at your flight department's usage of the aircraft. Is it used for critical business needs? Or to take the boss golfing, sailing, etc.

How much time is the use of the corporate aircraft saving the executives. If your department has not done such an analysis to determine overall time saved vs. airline flying -- they should!

I disagree that corporate flying is categorically in greater jeopardy than airline flying in a declining economy. I don't think we can paint with such broad strokes. It depends on the type of company you work for, what happens to their business in a declining economy, the usage of the aircraft, etc.

Personally I would much rather be where I am today during a recession with rapidly rising oil prices than at an airline whose cost structure is dependent upon the price of oil.

Is my job here secure long term? Probably not. Is it more secure than being in the bottom 20%-30% at an airline -- i'm almost positive.

You make good points. There are so many different corporate jobs that you have to look at each closely. One I think about would weather a deep recession well as the flight department is in existance to fly for a wealthy individual who continues to add wealth(passive income). His 2 jet flight department isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

 

[Dumb Pilot]

I flew corporate for many years and I agree that not all corporate jobs are the same (as all airline jobs are at it's core, pretty similar) but I would only fly corporate again if my kids where going hungry.

 

[Embry Ace]

I previously flew for 121 regional carriers and now fly corporate. So much of your decision must be based on what corporate job you have and what 121 job you are talking about. To blanketly say that in an economic downturn you are at greater risk than at the airlines is certainly not true in all cases depending on what industry you operate in.

I too have the desire to fly 121 again but there are only three carriers that I would leave my current job for (Fed Ex, UPS, or SWA). That being said, you won't know if you made the best choice until the end of your career. Some of the things I consider in my reasoning are: job security, compensation, time off, the kind of people you fly with, the kind of people who you are flying, and the type of flying you do. I have a great job that allows significant time off, very few overnights, great equipment, and I'm making what a senior FO would make at the legacies in my second year. That being said, a very small percentage of my work is actually flying airplanes. I miss the purity of flying from point A to point B without worrying about the limo or the hotel or rental car or customs ect... For me, that more than anything is why I want to go fly 121 again. Just my opinion though. By the way, I vote Libertarian.

 

[learflyer]

Just look how good the last 8 years have been under a republican administration.

another suv with a jesus fish on the back, and bush/cheney sticker.

 

[sqwkvfr]

its amazing how dumb republician supporting pilots are, sometimes I wonder if these guys ever went to college and took the basic liberal arts classes!!! This administration has did more to ruin our industry then anyone, open skies anybody???

That fancy liberal arts education evidently did wonders for you.

....and what in the hell does taking "basic liberal arts classes" have to do political orientation? Just because the word "liberal" is involved doesn't make it such.

Anyway, way to represent those with a "liberal" arts education.

 

[blzr]

Hey Blzr,

I don't remember which corporate operator you're flying for. I know which 121 you flew for prior though.

These boards are interesting, but unless you happen to be talking to someone who WAS part 121, went to Corporate, and is pondering a return to 121 -- the advise you get here is flawed.

I would question which of the peanuts in the gallery who are spouting off about the airplane being sold in a declining economy have actually FLOWN corporate. (real corporate, not charter)

My personal opinion would be that you should take a critical look at your flight department's usage of the aircraft. Is it used for critical business needs? Or to take the boss golfing, sailing, etc.

How much time is the use of the corporate aircraft saving the executives. If your department has not done such an analysis to determine overall time saved vs. airline flying -- they should!

I disagree that corporate flying is categorically in greater jeopardy than airline flying in a declining economy. I don't think we can paint with such broad strokes. It depends on the type of company you work for, what happens to their business in a declining economy, the usage of the aircraft, etc.

Personally I would much rather be where I am today during a recession with rapidly rising oil prices than at an airline whose cost structure is dependent upon the price of oil.

Is my job here secure long term? Probably not. Is it more secure than being in the bottom 20%-30% at an airline -- i'm almost positive.

We do about 75/25 buisness vs personal flying. We are in the energy sector and as oil and coal prices rise, the better the company does.

I'm just mulling things over and making sure I don't make a change just for the sake of change. Funny how thr grass always seems greener on the other side, but in the end it's still JUST grass.

 

[FurloughedAgain]

Amen to that.

Turns out the reason the neighbor's lawn was so green was because he never cleaned up the dog poop!

I'm in the same boat, so drop me a PM if you ever want to hash things out.

 

[mamba20]

No corporate job is safe. The VERY FIRST thing that a company cuts when money gets tight is the flight department. I flew corporate before 121 and 2 of the companies I flew for sold their aircraft when the profit margin started to drop.

 

[mamba20]

And if the GOP stays in power the deficit will continue to explode, and the dollar will continue to tumble and become the new peso which will drive oil prices up to that $200 dollars a barrel. That along with energy policy that has no plan to change from fossil fuels and diversify our energy portfolio should help keep fuel prices low.
But at least the countries debt will be bought by our friends like China. Just look how good the last 8 years have been under a republican administration. But at least our taxes will be low, we can just borrow our way out of debt just like the mortgage market did for those Americans who ran their house holds like the GOP runs our economy.

BTW I think you should stay put and bury your head in the sand.

Great post!

 

[puddlejumper101]

We do about 75/25 buisness vs personal flying. We are in the energy sector and as oil and coal prices rise, the better the company does.

I'm just mulling things over and making sure I don't make a change just for the sake of change. Funny how thr grass always seems greener on the other side, but in the end it's still JUST grass.

Well...I was going to bring that up. Corporate flying can be very good depending on what company you are flying for. To leave the energy sector now for a 121 carrier?? Wow...unless the job stinks royaly, it sounds like your company will be doing well for a while. If I was a corporate pilot for Countrywide, or a builder then I might bail quickly...but if I am a corporate pilot for Texaco, or Shell, etc...I might stick around...based only on what you said.

As far as politics, Dems or Reps, whoever ends up in office has a HUGE problem. I can't blame the Dems yet...last I checked the GOP has been in power for 6 years. I am not a member of either party but to blame the party that has been absent since 9/11 seems a bit crazy...however it is easy to blame the party that is currently in power and it just happens to be the GOP. Everyone talks about how the Dems WILL screw it up and forgets how the GOP already did that. Could the Dems have done better??? maybe, maybe not...we will never know. What we do know is we are in bad shape as a nation, and when I look at the top since 9/11, I see the GOP...can't argue that.

 

[FurloughedAgain]

No corporate job is safe. The VERY FIRST thing that a company cuts when money gets tight is the flight department. I flew corporate before 121 and 2 of the companies I flew for sold their aircraft when the profit margin started to drop.

Yup. You were precisely the peanut I was talking about.

I'm not saying it can't happen. I'm just saying you can't paint EVERY corporate job with the same broad brush. There are some corporations that rely upon the corporate flight departments to conduct their business. They simply can not do what they do without business aviation to support them.

We all just cross our fingers and hope that we work for one of those.

I'll say again, I am MUCH more comfortable working for the company I do in a declining economy than I was working for an airline whose cost structure is dependent upon an unrealistic and obsolete price of oil.

 

[mamba20]

Yup. You were precisely the peanut I was talking about.

I'm not saying it can't happen. I'm just saying you can't paint EVERY corporate job with the same broad brush. There are some corporations that rely upon the corporate flight departments to conduct their business. They simply can not do what they do without business aviation to support them.

We all just cross our fingers and hope that we work for one of those.

I'll say again, I am MUCH more comfortable working for the company I do in a declining economy than I was working for an airline whose cost structure is dependent upon an unrealistic and obsolete price of oil.

I would hardly say that my post warrents being called a peanut so I I'll let the rest of the folks on here decide what they think about it. Personally I think your an a$$. I was speaking strictly from my experience having FLOWN (yes I actually flew corporate and not charter). I prefer the 121 world but again thats just me, the companies I flew for weren't exactly gems. Ok, your up, what zinger have you got for me now?

 

[FLYLOW22]

No corporate job is safe. The VERY FIRST thing that a company cuts when money gets tight is the flight department. I flew corporate before 121 and 2 of the companies I flew for sold their aircraft when the profit margin started to drop.

You are right... then the company buys a Fractional share.