What would you do?

[LITCHAT7]

Alright, heres the deal:

I just got hosed by my previous employer.....dont want to get into it but lets just say they allowed me to quit before I got fired. Now I'm sitting here unemployed contemplating my next move. I have almost 6000 TT, 700 Jet pic, 4000ish ME, yada yada. The big question is: what to do now? I'm certain with my experience, I could go to any regional, yet think it would be foolish to do that. Even though I meet the mins for a lot of Majors, I'm very quality of life directed. I want to fly out of my hometown.....MSP. So, there are 3 games in town here. (2) will be hiring soon....March....Aprilish. And at one of these I have VERY good contacts at one. My plan was to wait it out till April yet my wife has proposed the question: what if that doesn't work out? Am I stupid to sit here hoping everything will work out as such, or should I join some regional, start the whole training process when I probably will end up bailing later anyway! I am enjoying the time with the kids right now and would sure hate to waste a couple months in a ground school for nothing! But on the same token dont want time to pass with nothing aviation related on my resume! What would you do?

 

[nfg2u]

I would be trying to find some contract work asap. Contract is a great learning experience and allows you a chance to make more contacts. Networking is the name of the game. Its good to have contract contacts when everything goes south and you need to make a living and it fills the resume void with something that looks like you were not sitting around waiting for something to happen.
Thats what I would do.
Working where you want to live is tuff sometimes but very well worth the effort and the quality of life. Good luck with whatever you do.

 

[mamba20]

Unless you want to go to a major someday I would avoid regional flying like I would avoid the clap.

 

[1flier]

I understand

Well I am sorry to hear that, my employer shut our operations down in Texas a week before Thanksgiving with the option to relocate on our dime to the company headquarters or get layed off, all the pilots except one decided it was too unstable to relocate with them. Well if you have the savings then spend some time with family. I actually had started a second fulltime office job because my flight schedule allowed for it so financially I didnt have to panic when we were given notice and it gave me time to spend with family out of state. Right now I have found that most compaines are not hring because the flight schedules are full due to the holidays so I am just hanging tight till January, but have a couple of offers to start up in mid January flying. Just put the resumes out to positions you want, not something just to fill in for a while and stay in contact with them. Just do not put all your eggs in one basket in plannig to get picked up by these other comapnies in March. With your experience picking up some contract work would be fairly easy depending on where you are located. Check out some of the air ambulance operators, alot of them are looking and the schedules seem to vary between 7-10 days on and 5-7 days off. I know its not a home every nite but a longer off time to be at home spending quality time with your family. Best of luck.

 

[LITCHAT7]

Thanks for the help guys. I find the contract thing an EXTREMELY enticing idea. Can anyone advise me how to get involved in this. Judging by some other posts i've read elsewhere, this contract thing is more popular than I realized. I've never heard much nor do I know anybody who does this. If anybody can relay any companies that hire contract pilots or direct me to any websites, I'd truly appreciate it. Thanks in advance. Hope everybody has a merry Christmas!

 

[BushwickBill]

You didn't let your CFI expire did you?

 

[Lear Wanna Be]

I think there are probably a lot of flying gigs around the Twin Cities, you might want to look harder unless you just have your heart set on one of these other two companies you mentioned. Also, it seems to me that there is a pretty good recruiter up there in Eden Prarie somewhere. You might want to ask some folks if they know what I am talking about and can lead you in the right direction. One other idea might be to checkout Menards down at EAU. They have a bunch of Citations now as well as the 1900s they have had for years. I would imagine they look for contract guys around the holiday season and perhaps other times of the year. Of course there are plenty of 135 operators around and if your spring time deal doesn't pan out, then at least you have an income source. One last thought, if the wife makes enough to support you, then stay home and play with the kids!

Good luck.

 

[Coool Hand Luke]

Alright, heres the deal:

I just got hosed by my previous employer.....dont want to get into it but lets just say they allowed me to quit before I got fired. Now I'm sitting here unemployed contemplating my next move. I have almost 6000 TT, 700 Jet pic, 4000ish ME, yada yada. The big question is: what to do now? I'm certain with my experience, I could go to any regional, yet think it would be foolish to do that. Even though I meet the mins for a lot of Majors, I'm very quality of life directed. I want to fly out of my hometown.....MSP. So, there are 3 games in town here. (2) will be hiring soon....March....Aprilish. And at one of these I have VERY good contacts at one. My plan was to wait it out till April yet my wife has proposed the question: what if that doesn't work out? Am I stupid to sit here hoping everything will work out as such, or should I join some regional, start the whole training process when I probably will end up bailing later anyway! I am enjoying the time with the kids right now and would sure hate to waste a couple months in a ground school for nothing! But on the same token dont want time to pass with nothing aviation related on my resume! What would you do?

What about the fractionals? Can't you live just about anywhere you want?

 

[Bryan D]

Alright, heres the deal:

I just got hosed by my previous employer.....dont want to get into it but lets just say they allowed me to quit before I got fired.

Quite honestly you should be contemplating how your going to explain your quitting your last job. What kind of reference will he/she give you. "Yeah, I caught Cool Hand Luke wiping his buggers under the left seat so I had to let him go or eeh..actually he quite"

 

[pilotyip]

While unemployed it will most likely be counter productive to make QOL your primary goal in pursuit of a job. The longer you stay unemployed in a fairly hot pilot job market while waiting for just the right job, the more future prospective employers will say, "Why is this guy still unemployed?" It is always easier to find a flying job, when you have a flying job. So my recommendation would be to find anything, almost anywhere, commute if necessary while looking for the prefect job.