Originally Posted by
Really
Songman, I'm coming up on 25 yrs at current job. Went from FO on a 1900 to current Capt on 737. I've gone through all gambits of this industry. 3 children (high school and college now) but, grew up with me doing this job. I ALWAYS lived in base which was not where I grew up.(So HAPPY I did that!) I aways stayed senior on equip (waited to upgrade!! Bid reserve in Dec so I could hold Christmas day off!!) since I wanted to see as many kids functions as I could!! And all this can be done IF you live within your means!!!!! Hard to do! A 747 Captain told me when I was at your stage ( I was a 1900 capt) you are probably living more within your means now than when you upgrade to 747 Capt. He was right!! Just remember, guys that get in trouble aren't the ones that don't earn enough, they're the ones that spend to much!! I just recently asked my kids if they hated me being gone 3-4 days a week!! They said not at all, since they haven't know anything different!! Hope this helps!! Good luck!
My dad got hired on with a legacy carrier when I was 2 years old. I grew up knowing that dad would be gone 3-4 days per week. Since it was all I knew, I never thought there was anything wrong with it. If you can make the relationships with your kids (and spouse) quality ones, they'll wait up for you when you get in from a trip at midnight, just like I did with my old man. I respected what he did because I saw what his career provided for our family. He wasn't able to catch all of my baseball games, but I understood. Those awesome vacations that we were able to take definitely made up for it.
