nerdpilot said:
atleast the top half of the senority list at netjets paid for their job...a job they new paid poorly but didnt care just so they could bypass a less glamorous 135 job and build some experience and actually earn a jet position.
I'm probably going to start a war here. Please take this in the spirit intended!
I consider PFT to be like Alpine Air. You pay X$ for X hours of flight time - essentially buying your job that SHOULD pay you.
Quick math:
1st year EJA pay back then about 30K - taxes and type in C560 = about 15K take home.
1st year at most any commuter back then 15K - taxes and QOL = squat.
2nd year EJA pay in the mid thirty's and logging PIC in a jet.
2nd year at most any commuter in the mid 1990s = gross about what we'd take home in our 1st year at EJA.
I never understood the CAL commuter schools at the time that cost 10K to get a job for 12K, but at EJA, when compared to the other available choices, we could recoup our tax deductible investment relatively quickly.
Most / all of my new hire class in '97 came from 135 freight, commuters, and military.
How is this any different than going to HPA and getting your 737 type - hoping for an interview with SWA? (except we had a guaranteed job that at least would pay back the cost of the type.)
The next contract gave us our money back too. Yes, many pilots at the time were planning/did go onto other jobs, but others - like me- thought they found a place to spend their career.
Once these latest negotiations started I realized that the pilot group lacked the will to win against WB and RTS with the Truckers providing not much more than laptops (which we had to fight them for!) I got the opportunity to move on to greener pastures and took it. I think you've found the will after these years, and I hope you hold on for everything you can get from WB!
So Nerd, just FYI - most of us came from less glamorous 135 jobs and wanted to get a job that paid better than the commuters while having a life and building jet PIC in case we wanted to move on. In my case it worked!