What Would You Do ?

[Pocono Pilot]

You are not a real Air Line Pilot till you've been furloughed...

OMG I am surrounded by morons.

You don't have to be furloughed to be an airline pilot. That might be the stupidest thing I have ever heard.

"I think I'm going to apply at CAL." is the stupidest ever though... LOL

 

[Fubijaakr]

If you move during an economic downturn, don't bitch if you get furloughed.

 

[AnimalTale]

OMG I am surrounded by morons.

You don't have to be furloughed to be an airline pilot. That might be the stupidest thing I have ever heard.

"I think I'm going to apply at CAL." is the stupidest ever though... LOL

Pocono,

===nevermind===have a nice night.

CYA

 

[waveflyer]

1- this is your career- play chess, not checkers- think long term.
2- realize not every major is the same- and the timing for one won't be as good as others.
3- you don't have a choice until you have a choice.
Ie: if you might want to work at a company, realize there are 20,000 others who do too- 5000-10000 who are as qualified as you. Go after it now- w/ everything you have- get the job - then you have a choice. If you're on the fence- don't show it- if any interviewer sees that... You'll get denied and this is really a moot question. Ie again- don't wait to start the process... Keeping your options open means updating apps and staying on top of the process. Don't make your choice by default.

4- in the end YOU make the choice. Don't get influenced. No matter what opinions you hear or how forceful they might be- it's your choice when you get it. If it goes badly- you can live with a choice that YOU made- it's tougher when you get swayed. (speaking from experience)

 

[Alcatraz]

It sounds like you like where you are... which means you can be pickier about where you go next. That's an enviable position! But you don't have to decide until you actually have a choice (IOW a job offer). In the meantime, fall back to your "other choice" ...just staying where you are.

However, I don't think enough have mentioned that where you are now may not be as stable as you think. Regionals are getting whipsawed against each other more and more now, and I don't think this will get better. It's a lousy industry... just ask the senior Air Wisconsin guys who were in ATW or ORD that have to commute now what they think about their seniority. My point is, "staying put" where you are may not be as good an option as you or your senior friends think.

Either way, good luck!

 

[aa73]

Yeah, sure you did...

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Pocono got owned.... again! Nice one, 1900!

:laugh:

 

[pilotyip]

What?

OMG I am surrounded by morons.

You don't have to be furloughed to be an airline pilot. That might be the stupidest thing I have ever heard.

"I think I'm going to apply at CAL." is the stupidest ever though... LOL

never furloughed, you fit into a a very select group, I know guys who have had it done 3 times in the last two years. They keep the averages up.

 

[Fugawe]

When you started flying, what was your goal? Majors, regionals, corporate, other?

Will you have regrets if you don't try to meet your goal?

Are there any guarantees you'll get exactly where you wanted? No.

But, most likely you'll be disappointed if you don't try.

If you choose to move and you can do so w/o resigning from your first job, do it (leave of absence). Many have played that card wisely.

It is a crap shoot as many have mentioned. Once you have your squares filled, it is luck and timing.

Side job (mentioned by another poster)? Probably some of the best advice I ever got from an old senior fart almost 20 yrs ago. No job is secure.

 

[whymeworry?]

I had a good job with a corporation flying as a Captain on a Jetstar making good money. I was 35 when I quit and went to work for a west coast small airline flying 737's for 700 per month. The fourth month I got furloughed for eight months then came back at the same pay for another 8 months. Everyone thought I was nuts but I wanted to fly large aircraft full of people, not 10 execs to business meetings and golf courses in San Juan etc.

It was the best choice I have made in my life. I retired as a captain flying wide bodies international at MIA 25 years later. Ended up with a good retirement and bought in the Keys when it was cheaper. Getting ready to get in the boat tied to my dock and go enjoy an afternoon at my favorite Tiki bar watching my favorite band. Six years after retirement I have not regretted my decision once, not even when I got furloughed. Do it.

Obviously a VERY smart man who knows how to enjoy life after the airlines. How many age-60+ pilots will drop dead right after they retire only to have missed the best years of their lives.

Living in the keys with my boat on my own dock? Mmmmmmm.... heaven!

Anyway, back to thread topic. Make the move and NEVER look back. I know a gentleman at my airline who flew WBs all over the world as Captain and then came to Continental in his late 40s. He's never regretted it. Flys as FO on the WB now but has 20-22 days off per month and I'm pretty sure he's at the 12 yr rate already, so he's pullin more coin that he did as a contract pilot, sans the taxes. I upgraded early in my major career simply because more senior FOs wanted a better lifestyle. There are opportunities you might not have imagined that becme real possiblities after only a few years at a major. The variables at a legacy carrier are much more capacious due to the extensive flying and subsequent equipment that is offered. With the regionals you simply hit a ceiling due to limitations on route and equip. Be careful of that big fish in a small pond trap. I don't know any pilot that regretted leave their regional for a major. Sure we all had our gripes, our ups-and-downs. But grass is always greener... all humans always look at life that way. Once things got a bit better with seniority at the majors, we quickly realized how fortunate we were to make the decision to break out of our comfort zone.

Do you want to be playing up against that proverbial ceiling at the regionals, more or less bored, for the next 29-34 years? Or would you like to open up your world to possibilities?

Just be sure to save up as much as you can before you get to the majors. You'll need it to get through those first 1-5 years (5 if it's CAL, 1 if it's DAL). I know it ain't right but that's they way it is for now.

Hope that helps.

 

[CaptJax]

Also Consider Foreign Carriers

Two acquaintances recently left a legacy for CX as DEFO 777 LAX-HKG-LAX.

CX has pending orders for more WBs.

 

[flybynav1965]

i was in the same boat, and decided to try to get on with a major. at skywest, i was a 10yr guy, enjoying holidays off, and pretty much the pick of schedules. i honestly thought i'd retire there. but, after much discussion with my wife, i elected to at least try, knowing that i'd never look back saying "i should have applied at..." thankfully i passed muster at LUV, and i'm thrilled to be here. now, i'm at 3rd year pay, making more than a 10 year captain.
but, there is something to be said for flying at a smaller company, at a smaller domicile. i always knew who i was flying with, about their life, and their was a natural bond that grows after flying with someone multiple times over the course of years. that is gone flying at a huge company like LUV. that being said, the quality of life, work schedules, pay, and efficiency make the decision a no brainer.

good luck on your career.

NAV

 

[Chairman]

Spend the next 5 years getting yourself in the position to make the move. You won't know if it was right or wrong until the day you retire. I left 100k Regional Captain job for 26k at UAL. I thought I was in the begining of the next hiring wave being in one of the first few classes run in 7 years. Age 65 passed, and oil when through the roof. Now I am enjoying a very long furlough. Not bitter because made sure we were set up financially with low overhead if things hit the fan to buy us enough time to find something else. Not sure if there will be much of a job to go back to but I made the decision with my wife together. As we will when the recall comes, back to first year pay to commute to ORD. Good luck Either way

 

[stb]

Look back at the other regional airlines during the time when you were hired by your current airline. How many of those are out of business or severely smaller today?

Regional airlines have the same business problems as legacy's, but the regionals are also at the mercey of the major airline they feed. (Comair, Atlantic Coast, ExpressJet) In addition, regionals airlines are low bidding to feed the major airlines. Who would have thought Mesa would have 50+ airplanes looking for a flying feed.

Send out the apps, get the interview, get hired then decide. I'm sure you wont look back.

 

[igneousy2]

Be selective - but go!

I would be in my 11th year at Eagle now..instead, I'm furloughed from my airline...and the truth is...I would STILL rather be furloughed from Alaska than be a Captain at Eagle. The pay potential is obvious, especially for someone in there 30's. What others have said is true...a major on the worst day is still better than a regional on the best.

It's not just the schedules either...

The dispatchers are better, the rampers are generally better, the flight attendants...okay never mind.

Additionally, even though there are ******************************-bags at every company, and not that there aren't any great pilots at the regionals...but there is a HUGE leap in average experience and knowledge when you make the jump. You learn a lot more by flying with a 25,000 hour Captain that has seen some things flying then you do with a 500 hour liability in the right seat.

And...if you are interested in doing something on the side...the ideas have gotten way better. Subway franchise owners, McDonalds owners, apartment buildings, commercial real estate, Trailer parks, web design consultants, antique car leasing to movie studios, fishing charter, house boat rentals, mortgage brokers...There are a lot of pilots - none seem to be posting on this board - that have really turned flying into a hobby...there seems to be a lot more of them at Alaska then at Eagle.

 

[spacecadet1]

Remember as a kid at those Thanksgiving gatherings when you had to sit at the little kids table? And you wondered what it was like to sit with the adults? Well now is your chance. Don't f--k it up!

 

[PHXFLYR]

I don't know. Having sat at both "tables " during the course of my career, I would say that sitting at one or the other was "six of one and half dozen of another ",especially with the cut in pay, benefits and in most cases the elimination of the pensions for future new hires that the legacies experienced over the last several years. But if youre the kind of pilot that has to define your self-worth by the size of the airplane you fly ,then by all means ,go for it.....


PHXFLYR

 

[glasspilot]

This is the single most depressing thread ever. "Come on over. It was your goal as a kid right? Sure the pay and retirement are gone and we're worked to the bone...but it's what you used to want...right?"

and..."I'm a 10 year regional Captain. I made the move and am all the better for it. Sure I'm furloughed now...but it's still way better"

Why don't you all just stab yourselves in the throat? Do you realize what you've become? I swear to God!

Pathetic!!!!

gp

 

[CLARKGRSWOLD]

And how is being furloughed way better than making 85k ?

 

[General Lee]

And how is being furloughed way better than making 85k ?

You could be hit by an airport tug tomorrow and die too. 85K is good pay, but you will make that by year 3 at a Legacy, and then go up from there. Think of it this way. Your wife wants new boobs. On your salary, you can afford 1 now, and then another later. At a legacy after year 3, you can buy her 2 new boobs, so other people can look at them while you are on your 10 day trip to Asia (where you will be looking at other boobs). Overall, going to a legacy will give you as many boobs as you want, while you turn into one while eating first class meals across a big ocean. It's a lot better than 5 or 6 legs a day to places you have already been to hundreds of times. EXPAND YOUR MIND A BIT.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Pocono Pilot]

OMG, I am soooo laughing at anyone who leaves a $100k plus regional job to get furloughed at a major and says they made the right move. LOL yeah right. Try again Alex, for $100. LOL

Serouisly, is everyone on this topic braindead?? LOL.