Question for former airline pilots now flying corporate

[54fighting]

I might go to G200's department (corporate) and absolutely love everything about it. (Just the opportunity to work with G2 would be worth any hardship... ).

Are you kidding! See, I think he is a real piece of work, but that is just my opinion.

Back to the topic. I did about 5 years at a regional, was a very senior ERJ CA and was getting my first bid choice each month. But for me it was the daily grind that brought me down. I was also a commuter and bid 4 day trips. The commuting more than anything burned me out. I look back at it now and remember the good times that I had and how much I ejoyed the schedule.

Now having been in the corporate world for 6 years, the benefits far outweigh not having a schedule. But the reality is, in a good flight department, you are not on call 24/7/365. Very rarely are you called out on a pop up and for the most part, you know your schedule at least 2 weeks out, if not more. But the key is finding the right fit. There are some truly great jobs and some not so good ones. And that is the difficult part. Having a crystal ball does help.

 

[whymeworry?]

I flew corporate very briefly in the beginning of my career. Then I flew 121 for 9 yrs. During that time, I took two COLAs. One was to fly for an overseas airline. The other was to run a VIP Corporate Charter operation in the Middle East. That was some of the best flying I've done in my career till date. When that project was up I came back to 121 for 9 mos before getting on with a major. Now, I've supposedly hit the big leagues. I fly WB jets all over the world and I'm even holding 737 CA as of the latest bid. One would think the world is my oyster. Yet, I'm tired, burnt out and overall rundown by the schedules. We re working condsiderably harder on the 121 side of the business these days than ever before in history. Unless you're in the top 30% at an airline, it's hard work... not physically hard, just taxing on the body and the mind (read poor shchedules).

I miss corporate flying. I get approximately one solid offer per month and I'm not even looking so I know there is plenty of opportunity on the corp side. I've got too much invested in my career move thus far to abandon ship and jump back to corporate but the next time COLA get offered, I will take one and worry about finding the right gig once I'm officially out on leave.

Unless you hit the jackpot like me at got hired at the beginning of a boom, I would certainly chose corporate over airline any day of the week... assuming you found the right fit.

 

[ewarning]

Give me a call

I was an airline guy and went corporate after a furlough and I love it. The corporate way of life is much more satisifying.

Any regrets? I know it's almost a no-brainer to leave just about any regional for just about any corporate gig, but I'm more interested about any legacy or LCC drivers who either left their airline gigs to pursue corporate flying opportunities, or were furloughed, got a corporate gig and never looked back.

 

[matchthehatch]

Your job is only as good as your CP

Like AA717 said, the quality of corporate jobs runs the gamut. My best gauge of the quality of a job is the Chief Pilot. After my furlough in 2001, I thought myself lucky to find a corporate job. What I've found is that your job is only as good as your CP or DO. I'm truly lucky to be working for a guy who looks out for his pilots, but I had to work for several meatheads to find this gem of a job.

 

[vortilon-x]

corporate after the airline

I went into corpoare as well after almost been made redundant in the aftermath of 9/11. I must say I did not regret it and experienced in one month as much as I would do in one year regional airline flying. I love the variety you have with corporate and you are not just a number. However ther are some oufits out there you want to avoid. I was lucky as we did not fly too much and had always plenty of rest. I spent a great time away from home and thats why I returned back to regional flying. But if the right job comes along in corporate again, who knows, I would certainly look at it again.....

 

[Swass]

Like AA717 said, the quality of corporate jobs runs the gamut. My best gauge of the quality of a job is the Chief Pilot. After my furlough in 2001, I thought myself lucky to find a corporate job. What I've found is that your job is only as good as your CP or DO. I'm truly lucky to be working for a guy who looks out for his pilots, but I had to work for several meatheads to find this gem of a job.

Match,

So are you a Tibor guy or an Abel guy? Myself, I'm partial to Tibor with a huge Sage streak..... Galvan is also on the sidelines.