Originally Posted by
Fourpaw
Hey all,
I've been poking around this forum for a little while now and have found a great deal of useful information.
A little about my current situation though. I'm a 24 year old married father of two little ones( 2 and 7 weeks). I work as a CFI,II,MEI and also a contract pilot. The pay is decent and so are the benefits( health insurance, 3 percent match retirement). I'm sitting at 1200tt and 130 multi...100 being turbine. I've also a got an associates/bachelors in aviation.
I know a lot of people that work at the regionals and talk about how great it is, but I don't know anyone with a family going through the process so I question this route a lot. I have heard of plenty of people getting furloughed. My thing is I can't take a risk at a new job with this possibility. I did get an interview notice from xjt but haven't replied yet because of my uncertainty.
For us, it just comes down to the bottom line each month. I have to be able to pay the bills. I would be leaving a 35k a year job for 20k hoping for better. We would move to Houston though, that being where all our family is. Im just not sure what it would take to get based out of Houston.
Any input would be great.
To help you out - IAH is obtainable. Some get it out of training some have to wait. I just flew with a guy advancing to IAH - he has been on property for about 9 months.
I'd take the interview to see what would happen. It seems like a decent time to get on to XJT, as they have plans to hire a bunch this year. Speaking to CAs around here most are itching to get out. There are a lot less lifers here then most FOs think. First year pay sucks (anywhere) but you can make it to 35K by year three. Living in base, training in base and having the wife like where you live are definite pluses.