Please help, what should I do?

[B6Busdriver]

Background: regional captain 4000ish pic, check airman
Goal: United, Delta, Alaska, Hawaiian, FedEx

Do I take a job somewhere else (somewhere much better) in the meantime to pad the resume and take a >50% pay cut? Or do I stay and wait for somewhere I want to be long term to call? (Even though I don't have any really good contacts anywhere). It is tough to want to leave now that life is great and money is ok

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated

-cougar blue

If it's JetBlue, feel free to pm me. I'll give you the facts as they are, no spin.

 

[Flyer1015]

Stay where you are at until you get an offer from a company that is one you could see yourself retiring from.

This is how regional lifers are born.

 

[Sioux115]

And try Dogfish IPA. This helped with the creation of this post.[/QUOTE]

Says the DELTA Pilot. Remember, op is trying to leave pinnacle so he can afford it. That sh!t is xpensive, but good. Maybe it's cheaper back east. Deschutes Inversion talking.

 

[Dan Roman]

Good advice.

I would go where I would rather be long term. If you are okay being a checkairman at Pinnacle the rest of your career...then stay. If the thought of that makes you cringe, then I would be out of there. This is an industry where you would be lucky to even get an INTERVIEW at one of your top picks you listed let alone the job.

As far as your check airman gig...right now everything is based on a computer score, you got the box checked - points tallied, doesn't really matter that much going forward. Besides, if you go to JetBlue, it wouldn't be unheard of if you got tapped to do some training or some special project since you got the "check airman" badge at your previous gig. That would look even better...Pinnacle Check Airman...moved to JetBlue worked on some special projects/gave ground instruction at JetBlue.

I don't think that being at JetBlue gives you much/if any advantage at any of the carriers you mentioned, but if things don't go as you planned, JetBlue would not be a horrible place to be "stuck".

Another thing i've been hearing from friends doing hiring at Alaska and Hawaiian is the volunteer check box is huge lately for some reason (I bet there was an article in some HR magazine or something and now everybody is doing it) Make sure you got some solid volunteer credentials.

Good luck.

+1 on this post. I moved around and flew for several airlines. At the time, they all seemed like big moves. In retrospect, a few years here or there isn't all that significant in the long run. So if you can go to somewhere that boosts your resume, it's worth it, providing it's also somewhere you would rather spend a career at should plan A not work. The JetBlue example was used. Keep in mind that SWA was a second tier job at one time and now they are a first tier career choice. I could see JetBlue doing the same thing (providing they vote in a union!)
The only thing you can be sure of is every airline will change dramatically over a 25 year time, so it's all crap shoot.

 

[Green]

Go to EK and make 150k tax free, get some right seat 777 time, and enjoy all the perks for a few years. You might not want to go to Delta/UAL when they call.

 

[Varmint]

Go to EK and make 150k tax free, get some right seat 777 time, and enjoy all the perks for a few years. You might not want to go to Delta/UAL when they call.

Exactly. Take a pay raise the first year instead of a pay cut. Look into contracts/international flying if you and the family have any sort of interest in it.

 

[waveflyer]

You want to keep your learning curve steep-
Getting comfortable isn't attractive to recruiters- stay as a CA for as long as you feel you're still growing and then move to the next respectable carrier- show ambition-
It can be harder and you'll know people who stay in your seat who get straight to the good job- but I'd constantly be looking to improve your worst case as well-
What's nice is you don't have to go to just any stepping stone- The standard is will the job keep you learning and is the career better than pinnacle in case you never move on- crazy things happen man-
As far as money- plan for that- you're an airline pilot- no bmw's or new boats for a while
Good luck-

 

[waveflyer]

Ign and Dan said it well

Good idea on the Intl options too- why not have an adventure while you're at it-
Recruiters like interesting too

 

[Dumb Pilot]

The international option is not bad really but you must have due diligence with your research, there are some good jobs out there but there are bad ones too. Be aware that depending on age, marital status, age of your kids etc. the golden handcuffs and the easy lifestyle (once you go thru the nonesense of their training style) might make it a permanent decision, you have to see how many guys here at Air Japan came with that exact plan in mind, a place to hang your hat for a while until brand X starts hiring, but instead they find themselves married to a beautiful lady, living an easy life, traveling to exotic destinations while on their days off and not thinking about changing it for the world. My point is that plans seldomely get realized in aviation, it is all a big adventure and you just don't know where it will take you.

 

[cougarblue]

this is all such awesome advise and great insight. a lot to think about. keeping the learning curve steep, volunteer work, networking, etc... i think this is a good conversation to have for many of us little guys trying to figure out the future. Thanks for the well thought out replies!

-Cougarblue