the dream gone forever?

[Otto77]

Id like to start a serious thread to see what folks thoughts and opinions are for the industry for the foreseeable future? As a military guy that has always wanted to go airlines..it just seems like everything is and has been on a negative trend with nothing positive. Will there be an industry in a large capacity in the next few decades? Will there be a need for pilots? Will everything deteriorate into pilot training programs such as in place in Europe and Asia? Will it ever been a well payed job again? Sorry for the crazy questions but all of this oil reading over the last year has been nothing but a major downer and I see a job that I've always wanted to do disappearing before my eyes here. Thanks for serious thoughts and even for the sarcastic ones I'm sure to get here anyhow!

 

[GuppyWN]

If I was just trying to break into the airlines I'd be jealous of you. I'd kill to have an airline job AND a guard job as a safety net.

People must fly. Question is - on who. That's the answer we'd all like to know.

Good luck bro.

Gup

 

[satpak77]

what is your definition of "dream" job

(yes, I am serious)

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

There will always be a need for pilots... the question is who will be doing it for the wages that our economy wants us to pay pilots.... you? me? The chinese?

 

[Erlanger]

Id like to start a serious thread to see what folks thoughts and opinions are for the industry for the foreseeable future? As a military guy that has always wanted to go airlines..it just seems like everything is and has been on a negative trend with nothing positive. Will there be an industry in a large capacity in the next few decades? Will there be a need for pilots? Will everything deteriorate into pilot training programs such as in place in Europe and Asia? Will it ever been a well payed job again? Sorry for the crazy questions but all of this oil reading over the last year has been nothing but a major downer and I see a job that I've always wanted to do disappearing before my eyes here. Thanks for serious thoughts and even for the sarcastic ones I'm sure to get here anyhow!

FedEx or UPS is the answer.

 

[UALjan15]

Two words: Fly Boxes!

Honestly, cargo is the only portion of the industry where I see the dream still alive. There are just a couple of major players, and neither is really trying to undercut the other one. They are successfully passing rising operational costs onto the customer, who seems ready to pay in good times and bad. There are higher barriers to entry than passenger flying, which seems to be keeping the LCC cancer out of this sector. Pilots are well compensated, and are holding onto work rules and pay as everyone else has slid.

If I were still in the military and planning an airline career, I would camp out and wait until UPS or FedEx was hiring, and drop my papers once I had an offer from one of those two. As for the passenger sector, just rewrite the above paragraph using the opposite of everything I said positive about cargo, and you pretty much have it.

I don't know how far you are into your military career, but I (and most of my contemporaries) wish that we'd stayed to 20 years.

 

[dbrownie]

Two words: Fly Boxes!


I don't know how far you are into your military career, but I (and most of my contemporaries) wish that we'd stayed to 20 years.

I fly with guys/gals ALL the time who wish they had

stayed in. If you can do that, do that!

Boxes do seem the way to go. I went the "other"

route because they called first, to be honest!

No regrets but if I could "do over"

FLY BOXES......

DB

 

[pkober]

Otto,

Stay in the military and get your 20 years. No doubt about it. The military pays more, has better benefits, treats you with respect and offers a better QOL. Even if you deploy, it's still better than the airline QOL.

If you're in the ANG/USAFR. Get on with an airline and then take a few years of military.

I've been in your shoes. All I ever wanted was to be a military and airline pilot. I was able to do both.

I've been an airline pilot for 12+ years now. I've been hired, bought, stapled, furloughed and rehired. It's has certainly been interesting. I have never felt so negative about the future of this industry as I do now. It's only going to get worse before it gets better.

I've been an ANG pilot for 14+ years and have never been "furloughed". In the military you will earn the wage, and respect, you deserve.

The first year pay at most airlines is so low that it takes many years to catch back up. That is provided some unknown roadblock doesn't appear, like age 65.

Look around at the airlines. Look at this website and see how many people just bitch about this job, myself included. There's a reason. So many pilots thought they had it made only to be merged and then put on the street. Many have lost there retirement, something that will never happen in the military.

Aviation still has potential. It's just that flying at a pax airline is at the bottom of the potential list right now. That could change, who knows.

Either way, stay in the military and enjoy the security.

 

[Way2Broke]

I honestly feel like I am chasing a pipe dream some days, but other days I think, "hey, this is great."

But, to answer your question the best way I know how, when I first took my first lesson, I never imagined that the industry would be this screwed up, or making it would be this difficult.

With that said, if I ever wake up and think that I would be better off behind a desk I'll either take a header or switch careers. I haven't came anywhere close to that yet. Flying seems to be one of those careers that if you stick around long enough eventually you'll get lucky and land that "dream job." The question is, will that job last and once your there will it be all you imagined it to be?

Good thread, let's try to keep it that way. We're all just "Living the nightmare."

 

[WNC Flyer]

20 years of active duty isn't for everyone; it certainly wasn't for me. I have no arguments about the benefits; it's one of the best benefit packed retirements left. However, it wasn't worth the cost to me.

The day I saw a friend get notified on Thursday that his 6 month desert vacation left on Sunday, I knew it was time to get out! This fall I made the transition to the USAF reserves and have no regrets. The flying and pay are great. Plus, there is little chance of me being deployed unless I choose to do so.

If 20 years of active duty isn't in the cards, consider the guard or reserves.