DAL737FO said:
Falcon Cpt,
I would love to know what flight department you work for. This is not being sarcastic at all either. It sounds like you have a great job and love it. (And that is what counts) I have flown military, fractional, part time corporate and airline. So far, up until furlough of course, the best job I had quality of life wise was the airline job. While flying for EJA we would augment some of the best/premier flight departments out there and I have never found one that has the retirement benefits that you just described. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you are lucky but not the norm for corporate aviation. People ask if I would give up my seniority number for a job right now. I say yes and describe the job you just laid out but they are few and far between and usually you almost have to have the slot given to you in a will or something.
DAL737FO
DAL737FO....
While I won't give out my employer online, I will tell you it is a Fortune 100 Company.... I was hired at 29 (I am 34 now), and have a Pension, Profit Sharing and 401k plan (which the company also contributes to quite nicely) My retirement numbers are projected out to 60, I can (as of now) work to 65 if I want, but I am elgible for retirement with full benefits at 52 (my pension will be smaller of course, but still pretty heafty).. I plan to stay until 60 which will dramatically bump up my Pension and FAE (Final Average Earnings) not to mention my 401k...
I plan to retire here, I will be very comfortable in retirement (financially)... There are a lot of good Corporate Jobs out there... but usually you only hear about the really crappy ones (bad news spreads faster than good news can ever hope to)
What I am trying to say is everyone stereo-types a Corporate Pilot as being married to his pager, making peanuts, flying junk equipment and having no life.... With some jobs, that is 100% accurate, with a lot of other jobs, it is the furthest thing from the truth...
I don't have the perfect job, I doubt anyone does... I have a job that suits me, my desires, my lifestyles and my career aspirations... I am having a blast doing it, and life has been pretty good the last 5 1/2 years... I can't complain, they don't beat me up too bad.... There are guys in the Corporate world making a lot more than I am... there are guys making less....
The key (in my mind) is finding the career route you want to take, getting on it and never wavering from it... if you jump back and forth you are always starting over at the bottom and are going nowhere, fast... I chose Corporate, and stuck to it... So far it has done well for me....
Just like not all airline jobs are the same (there are good and bad) not all Corporate Jobs are the same (there are good and bad here also).. The key is work for a large company that has the financial ability to do things right... stay away from the small operators and especially the Private Owners (TYPICALLY these jobs are the worst, but before someone flames me, there are exceptions, hense I said "TYPICALLY")
I merely posted to give a counter view of the gentleman who implied that only the airlines fly nice equipment, pay well and offer a good lifestyle... Which is not true... and before someone says "Yeah, but when times get tough, the Corporate Jet is the first thing to go" We laid off more than 45,000 employees in the last 18 months... the Flight Department has remained untouched... for our global business it is a necessary business tool... even more so after 9/11...
Fly Safe and Good Luck!