Corporate Aviation Lifestyle?
07-26-2016, 03:54 PM
#21
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Joined APC: Oct 2015
Position: Gear slinger
Posts: 2,895
Originally Posted by Lagoon
Legacies meaning in the regionals?
3rd year regional guys should be CAs making 65-70k... Unless you chose one with stagnant upgrades then it'll be 40k as an RJ FO.
07-26-2016, 05:08 PM
#22
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Nov 2008
Posts: 1,498
Originally Posted by Lagoon
I was speaking with an instructor at a famous flight school that prepares students for careers in commercial aviation and he said that he chose to focus his job searches on regional airlines since the corporate aviation lifestyle was not to his liking.
He said that at least with regional/major airlines, there is a schedule. But with corporate aviation, they could call you in the middle of the night and ask you to fly someone to Beijing.
So I focused on commercial aviation and talked to some folks in the business. From what I heard, between being on reserve for 18 days of the month and commuting back and forth to home, sleeping at crash pads, and seeing your significant other 4 times a month if you're lucky and earning about $35K for the first 3 years, I decided that aviation may not be the career for me.
Mind you, I started training a while ago and got my private license and I am very passionate about flying. I love it. It makes me happy and makes me feel fulfilled. But when I looked deeper and spoke with enough people, I felt that commercial aviation didn't look like the right career path for someone in his mid 30s.
So are there aviation jobs out there that are worth investing training time and ratings to get a good return on your investment and lead a decent lifestyle, with a normal or semi-normal social and family life?
I mean this from both a financial perspective and a lifestyle perspective. Sure, we would all like to have weekends off, but to be home once a week is a little too much of a compromise just to follow a dream.
He said that at least with regional/major airlines, there is a schedule. But with corporate aviation, they could call you in the middle of the night and ask you to fly someone to Beijing.
So I focused on commercial aviation and talked to some folks in the business. From what I heard, between being on reserve for 18 days of the month and commuting back and forth to home, sleeping at crash pads, and seeing your significant other 4 times a month if you're lucky and earning about $35K for the first 3 years, I decided that aviation may not be the career for me.
Mind you, I started training a while ago and got my private license and I am very passionate about flying. I love it. It makes me happy and makes me feel fulfilled. But when I looked deeper and spoke with enough people, I felt that commercial aviation didn't look like the right career path for someone in his mid 30s.
So are there aviation jobs out there that are worth investing training time and ratings to get a good return on your investment and lead a decent lifestyle, with a normal or semi-normal social and family life?
I mean this from both a financial perspective and a lifestyle perspective. Sure, we would all like to have weekends off, but to be home once a week is a little too much of a compromise just to follow a dream.
07-27-2016, 05:19 AM
#23
New Hire
Joined APC: Feb 2016
Posts: 9
Originally Posted by Lagoon
So you invest time and money and take the risk knowing that it may or may not work out the way you had expected?
Sure there are no guarantees in life, but perhaps I can work a regular job and in the meantime earn my ratings on my days off and then see if I can find a good corporate gig. The only problem is I'm in my late 30s so time is of the essence.
Sure there are no guarantees in life, but perhaps I can work a regular job and in the meantime earn my ratings on my days off and then see if I can find a good corporate gig. The only problem is I'm in my late 30s so time is of the essence.
I think we are missing one important part here. From reading through this thread it seems like you are only looking at corporate or legacy jobs. If you value time at home and still want to fly there are a ton of jobs out there. Flight instructor comes to mind, home every night and I know some who make 60-70 doing that but granted are working their butts off. Smaller 135 cargo outfits such as the feeders, lower end corporate gigs can still pay decent. Medevac, charter, banner towing... The list goes on.
All I'm saying is you have to know what you want to do. If it's fly, there are a ton of ways to do it that aren't just big company corporate or the airlines. And there are a lot of ways to have a good QOL and not be flying a shiny jet.
I think everyone can throw their opinion in here but ultimately its up to you and what you want to be doing day in and day out!
07-31-2016, 04:21 PM
#24
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Feb 2013
Posts: 131
Originally Posted by Lagoon
So you invest time and money and take the risk knowing that it may or may not work out the way you had expected?
Sure there are no guarantees in life, but perhaps I can work a regular job and in the meantime earn my ratings on my days off and then see if I can find a good corporate gig. The only problem is I'm in my late 30s so time is of the essence.
Sure there are no guarantees in life, but perhaps I can work a regular job and in the meantime earn my ratings on my days off and then see if I can find a good corporate gig. The only problem is I'm in my late 30s so time is of the essence.
I'm your age now and couldn't imagine starting from scratch. I made a career change at age 30 and felt old then.
It's interesting that almost a decade ago we were almost in the same position today (high real estate values, low unemployment) except for the high gas prices. In 2008 gas went thru the roof, housing bubble popped, age 65 rule, and jobs were no where to be found.
I slaved away as an independent CFI, made pretty good money although I worked my butt off. I'm now PIC at a good 135 (after working for two other crappy ones), make good money but schedule is less than desirable. I figure I'll be in the running for a "good" Corp gig in another couple years.
I'm not sure what your expectations are but plan to spend the next decade of your life until you make it to a "good" job whether it be at the airlines or Corp. You may get lucky or you could be like my neighbor who has been stuck at the same regional in the right seat for 8yrs and finally upgrading. He has his app at every major and hasn't heard a peep.
I'm not sure what you do now but hopefully you have other skills/education to fall back on if you decide to continue on the aviation path.
Best of luck.
08-01-2016, 10:36 AM
#25
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Joined APC: Feb 2013
Position: BD-700A
Posts: 210
After a year of 21 day trips, 14 will seem like a overnight
Originally Posted by galaxy flyer
4 or 5 days away is a problem? Wow, you'll have a tough time in much of aviation. How 'bout 14 or 15 days away?
GF
GF
08-01-2016, 09:51 PM
#27
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Joined APC: Mar 2011
Position: Left seat on a kite
Posts: 1,884
Originally Posted by galaxy flyer
Yeah, but I've seen 16-day trips that were too short and 4-day trips that were 2 days too long! 
GF
GF
Or Manhattan, NY and Manhattan, KS
08-09-2016, 04:09 PM
#30
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Joined APC: May 2013
Position: CEO
Posts: 193
Originally Posted by Lagoon
I have a PPL. How is it that a CFI at my former school got a $60K job fying right seat on a corporate jet with about 800 hours of logged time?
Originally Posted by Vital Signs
Its a sign of the times. This is and is going to happen more and more assuming no major setbacks.
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