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Was I just lucky, or is there a conspira

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LA Confidential

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 20, 2002
Posts
64
Just finished the corporate to major thread, peaked my curiosity so I did a search of the forum archives, found more of the same. Backed out to go elsewhere to see the latest thread about a company going belly up and floating to the surface.

I’ve been in corporate aviation for a touch over two decades, I’ve worked for my fair share of companies but I left each one on good terms for a step up the food chain, eventually arriving where I’m at today.

Looking back on my career I still see those very same companies operating those very same flight departments, some have bought new equipment to replace the old, others have done the same as well as expanded all still kicking.

I’ve never been furloughed, layed off, fired or cut due to an economic down turn. I’ve never had to hear about my job going south from Lou Dobbs on CNN or showed up at the company hanger to find a for sale sign swinging from the nose of the company jet.

So what’s up here? Am I just blessed, did I win the aviation lottery of life or something?

And why all the vitriol and underlying loathing for corporate ops in general… I’ve noticed one thing, both the fracs and the airline drivers seem to have a single opinion of us pure corporate jocks. Why?

What did we ever do to you?
:( :( :( :(
 
....and then those airline guys call you up dying for you to get them a job at the same corporate gig they laughed at you for keeping a few years back!....

go figure...
 
I can think of one: Tyco.

Aside from being arrested this week on a number of charges, and changing the well respected AMP name to the same name as a 1960's toy company, Dennis K. closed his flight department a few months ago.

I too, don't understand the angst about corporate. It looks like a fine career to me.
 
Yes, I know what you mean about the airline pilot bit. However it’s real funny when the same airline pilot that ignored you in the hotel bar shows up at your office looking for a job because they were furloughed or the airline closed.

I’ve been lucky, only had one job go south on me and that was due to a huge downturn in the oil/gas industry. I found another job right away and twelve years later went back to work for the individual had to lay me off.

The airline types give me a real strange look when I tell them that I left the left seat of a B-727 for the left seat of a Sabre 65. It’s not what you fly, it’s what you get paid to fly.

:cool:
 
con-pilot said:
It’s not what you fly, it’s what you get paid to fly.

:cool:


And I always had thought it's not wait I get paid to fly, but who I'm flying for, and how I am treated. Compensation is secondary....

But I had it wrong all these years..geez!!!!! :)
 
Your lucky if you can make corporate flying a career and retire from it. My personal opinion is that the corporate sector of the aviation industry is very unstable, one minute you have a job the next itÕs been lost to a fractional or they, the corporation, gets out of it all together. The uncertainty of the job is why individuals will take a job with the fractionalÕs or the airlines, job stability, work rules, etcÉ Granted 9/11 has changed the equation to some degree, however, given time the airlines will bounce back.

Additionally, the lack of a union makes the corporate job perilous. Safety concerns can and will get you fired -- then you read about them in a pile of dirt at the end of a runway. In situations like these who do you turn too, quite simply your on your own and you become the others personal heroÕs.

This combined with the inept department managers and chief pilots at some of these corporations make you want to puke. Why wouldnÕt you want to hire a former airline pilot or someone with various type ratings and a boat load of time, they bring to the table a tremendous amount of experience and knowledge, oh, I just nailed it, because these department managers and chief pilots are insecure about themselves. They also have to continually show the boss they are keeping the expenses down. Why own a multi-million dollar plane if you canÕt hire, train, and provide a good quality work environment. Well, because the industry is fraught with idiots.

What about loyalty...I get asked this often. I have yet to see a corporation, large or small, make decisions to its own detriment based on "loyalty." The best workplaces get acquired, the bosses get replaced, and the nicest environment can change overnight.

So, if you can make it through the minefield of business aviation, my hats off to you.

King Nothing
 
That well may be true K N. But before one gets too carried away with the joys of airline flying ask the pilots of Braniff, Eastern and Pan American to mention a few.

And just how safe are the folks at U.S. Air feeling right now?
 
I agree.. or ask the unfortunate 10,000+ other airline pilots who are out on furlough with no recall in sight.... and a lot of them had "Furlough Protection" in their union contracts.... Didn't hold much water....
 
No job is totally secure anymore

Realistically, there are no totally secure jobs out there anymore.

If you're a pilot with airline asprations, you'd better hope you were born at the right time to hit the right hiring peaks while in you're prime and miss all the furloughs.

If you want to make it in the business aviation sector, you'd better get on with the right company at the right time and be willing to go through the highs and lows. I know several who have put in their "20" or "30" and retired with the waterfront home in FL. I also know others who have had five or six different flying jobs in their careers. Proper timing in a cyclical industry is paramount.

The advantage of working for a corporate operation, (in my humble opinion), is that you can select the underlying industry you wan to be involved in. You don't have to depend solely on the flying public for your job. You can work for a pharmecutical company, in the food industry, finance, energy, or larger conglomerations of many industries, the majority of which cannot function without their own flight departments.

LA Confidential, to answer one part of your question, you are probably one of the luckier ones. I don't know of any empirical data that has been compiled on this subject however I do know that most of the corporate pilots of my acquaintance have been displaced at least once in their careers. There are also some pilots who just end up in harms way. Recently, Global Crossings and Enron are good examples.

Unfortunately, there are pilots of all venues who like to project a "superior" attitude to any other pilot, even corporate pilots... Most of the corporate, airline, charter, and frax pilots that I've met are kind, courteous, and overall, fine people. I hope you won't allow a minority of egomaniacle individuals to stereotype other groups.

Corporate, Airline, Charter, Frax... we are all professional pilots. Some just don't act as professional as others.

Best of luck,
 
King Nothing










Additionally, the lack of a union makes the corporate job perilous.

Perhaps this attitude is why you've had such a hard time in the corporate world.



Why wouldnÕt you want to hire a former airline pilot or someone with various type ratings and a boat load of time, they bring to the table a tremendous amount of experience and knowledge

See quote above for the answer. We'll take the knowledge and experience, but leave your union card at the door.
 

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