To jump ship or not to jump ship that is the quesiton?

[GARFF]

Jr. XJ. FO...about 40-50 from the bottom after the next lay off(Aug.).

Is this just the storm? Will it actually get better when all the crizzap is done? Or will there just be another Tornado soon after?

Wait till i'm layed off or get out of the Redtail family while I only have 2.5 years in there?






Oh yeah..and buy some shirts www.garffshirts.com​

 

[Prop2Jet]

Don't know, do what your gut tells you to do. Good luck and know that whatever decision you make will always be the best if you trust yourself.
P2J

 

[Gator1999]

Thats something you'll have to figure out, but I can say that I was in your position a few years ago and was optimistic about how things were going to be at XJ and decided to stay. That lasted for a while because I enjoyed working there and I was comfortable on the Avro. After about 5 years of being in the right seat I decided I was going nowhere and made a move to something else...and as it turns out, it was the best thing I could have done for my career.

I personally know a few people, very senior people that are leaving Mesaba for greener pastures in the next month. I would say that if you had a good opportunity somewhere else, explore it and all your other options. With being so close to the bottom of the list, you may find yourself on the chopping block for the next round of layoffs. If I were in your position (again) I would be ready to interview and pursue other offers. Good luck with your decisions!

 

[PunchTheClown]

. . . .

 

[PunchTheClown]

Thats something you'll have to figure out, but I can say that I was in your position a few years ago and was optimistic about how things were going to be at XJ and decided to stay. That lasted for a while because I enjoyed working there and I was comfortable on the Avro. After about 5 years of being in the right seat I decided I was going nowhere and made a move to something else...and as it turns out, it was the best thing I could have done for my career.

I personally know a few people, very senior people that are leaving Mesaba for greener pastures in the next month. I would say that if you had a good opportunity somewhere else, explore it and all your other options. With being so close to the bottom of the list, you may find yourself on the chopping block for the next round of layoffs. If I were in your position (again) I would be ready to interview and pursue other offers. Good luck with your decisions!

Great post man!

Ever heard the saying "we make plans and life happens"? I think that really is a true statement and about the best way there is to describe this industry. Its VERY hard if not impossible to plan this career for five years down the line. I would do what is best for you right now and work for/hope for a good future. Try to make a decision that you think will benefit both. Try to live in the now as much as possible.

 

[4fanman]

After 4 years and some change...

I convinced myself to give it a little more time, just a little more and things gotta get better, right?

About a week before the pathetic new contract was signed in '04, I walked away from it. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner. I left for a so-so 135 operator and my QOL still improved significantly. You don't realize how bad XJ sucks until you get away from it and look back. You can only go to work pissed so many times until it starts to seep into other areas of your life.

Even today when I tell coworkers about XJ in casual conversation they have a hard time beliving me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not bitter about it (really) and I did enjoy most of the crews I flew with, but man, cut your losses now.

Trust me, 4000 hours of AVRO sic time won't open many doors. Get out of there and go fly a King Air or Conquest and get some PIC time. Good Luck!!

 

[Guitar Guy]

Just one more thing to remember: you must look out for yourself because no one else will.

 

[YourPilotFriend]

Great post man!

Ever heard the saying "we make plans and life happens"? I think that really is a true statement and about the best way there is to describe this industry. Its VERY hard if not impossible to plan this career for five years down the line. I would do what is best for you right now and work for/hope for a good future. Try to make a decision that you think will benefit both. Try to live in the now as much as possible.

It's probably impossible to plan any career out five years these days, at least in aviation you can see it coming. In the engineering profession one day when you arrive at the door, they may hand you a box and say you have 30 min to leave the property.

 

[Rabble]

I disagree that you can "see it coming' in aviation. Ask any of the pilots who were hired by the majors in the 1990s if they could see it coming. (i'll admit that 09/11 accelerated the process)

We make decisions based on the information we have at the time. You wouldn't execute a missed approach before reaching minimums would you? No, you fly to minimums and then execute a miss if required.

This is no different. Unless you find something considerably BETTER than XJ, hang in there. You cant jump from commuter to commuter everytime things get scary or you'll spend your life as a bottom seniority FO.

Good luck

 

[SkyNation]

if you want to stay in the regional/121 world, SkyWest plans to hire 70 every 3 weeks for the rest of the year. that would put quite a few under you. it would be hard to start over, though, if you've been at XJ for over 2 years.

best of luck

 

[LoveGun]

I have met many pilots that left one regional job for another, none of them are better off for switching. I'm not saying that would be the case for you, but you would be in a small minority if you find that switching regionals actually improves your life.

I've stuck it out at a crappy regional for many years. I've thought of side stepping many times. However, looking back I can say I am glad I stuck it out. Here are a couple crappy cliches that perfectly apply to regional flying: "The grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence" "It's always darkest before the dawn." "Whatever can go wrong will go wrong."

Your career will be full of setbacks and also lucky breaks. Some things you will be able to control and other things will be beyond your control.

 

[utahpilot]

I have met many pilots that left one regional job for another, none of them are better off for switching. I'm not saying that would be the case for you, but you would be in a small minority if you find that switching regionals actually improves your life.

depends on who you ask. I am one of many, many FOs at SkyWest that came here from another 121 regional (AWAC for me, but we have many from XJ, Mesa, Lakes, TSA, etc.). I've never talked to anyone who wouldn't say that things got much better when they came here. for me, everything is better.

I think it comes down to where you want to live, if you're married or not, etc. seems like lots of young, single guys can move around without upsetting their life as much as married types with kids.

 

[GARFF]

Thank you all for your input!! I really appriciate it!!









Oh yeah..and buy some shirts www.garffshirts.com

 

[wmudriver]

Good luck with whatever decision you make. I was in your position for a little before I got furloughed. I got on somewhere else and I'm hoping it pays off. No one has a crystal ball for the future and anywhere you go will be a roll of the dice.
If you do decide to go elsewhere, remember it takes a while to get the ball rolling. It takes a little while from when you turn in your resume, get a call back, arrange for an interview, do the interview, get results back and start class. Again good luck and hopefully XJ will pull out its funk.

Furloughed/former XJ'er

 

[WMUSIGPI]

yup, I was content to collect unemployment for the summer, but a job came to me... really, completely unsolicited on my part to be a Citation pilot, all because I had to put my resume online to collect unemployment and because I had the CE-500 type already. I don't think my QOL is better than it was at XJ but the pay is much better and it's jet PIC time... even if the thing is slower than some turboprops.