Originally Posted by
The pilots wife
Scoop...He isn't sure. Quality of Life is very important to him ie:...being able to coach soccer, having holidays off, driving to work, bidding for whatever days off he wants. Are you guys able to drop trips, trade trips and or pick up trips too? There is no question the pay is better, the benefits and retirement are better but the big question is really about QOL where he would be based and for how long? EWR at first...but how long would that last...with integration happening soon who knows if that will help or hurt his chances of moving to another base closer to home. What is life like when you commute to EWR and are on reserve? I can only imagine it would really suck and I'm not the one that would have to do it!!!
Originally Posted by
cadetdrivr
Yup.
And in five years when that "stable" regional job is no longer stable because the feeder contract was underbid by another carrier and his current regional airline won a contract out of LGA the UAL job will look pretty good.
Of course, there will will have been 3000 pilots hired at UAL in the interim senior to him forever, presuming he can even get an interview.......
Pilot's Wife, listen to what cadetdriver is saying. The security of your present quality of life is an illusion. I can't tell you how many times I've heard the story of guys passing up the majors for the exact reasons you've given only to have the rug pulled out from under them a few years later. An airline with the stature of UAL hasn't gone Chapter 7 since the Lorenzo days in the 80s and is ridiculously unlikely now. Two of the larger regionals have gone under in the last seven years. This isn't major airline pilot arrogance, it's just reality and I hate to see people make bad decisions when the choice is so black and white. You have the chance to get in on the front end of a hiring curve which may make the difference between furlough and upgrade and literally hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of your career. Change is tough, but the choice is obvious to all.