Former 3M driver here. Spent nearly 4 years sweating my ass off for miserable pay bouncing through the weather in their 1900s and Saabs. Never upgraded, got caught up in the DEC mess, finally got frustrated enough to bail back in May for XJT. When I first started, it wasn't too bad, based in EYW, living in base, things ran smoothly. I actually enjoyed working there.

As time wore on and mgmt. botched the expansion with the Saabs, things started to turn to crap. It finally got to the point where I could reliably make triple-digit credit on reserve thanks to the lack of staffing, and I was the senior reserve FO in the entire company that month (deliberate bid for days off), ergo the last to get called. Things eventually got to the point where CS didn't even bother to pick up the phone when you were getting reassigned mid-trip as a lineholder, one of the rampers would simply shove a release through the whiskey hatch with your name on it. After spending 20+ minutes on hold with CS to actually find out *** was going on, they would act like they didn't have a clue what you were talking about. Yet, they would also leave 2 urgent voicemails while you were in flight telling you to call them, only to be told your schedule for tomorrow was exactly what you'd been expecting it to be since your line was awarded over a month earlier!

Couple all that with aircraft that were frequently carrying around half a release page worth of MELs, that were brutally hot up front even when things were actually working, and a near-total lack of air carts throughout the FL system, and you have my definition of Hell. After just over 4 months at XJT, I can tell you that the grass is indeed greener on the other side. I can't believe the difference! APUs, air carts all around, FMSs that actually work on EVERY bird in the fleet, most of which have 2, planes with packs that actually work as advertised, longer legs at higher altitudes above the weather, an actual variety of destinations instead of the 24 usual suspects all over FL and the Bahamas, it's like I was blind and now I can see! I haven't been this content with my daily work environment since my early days in EYW. My only complaint is that they stopped hiring literally my second day of class. I only wish I'd made the move sooner.

All that being said, there are many great people working the line at Silver. I made many friends, and not seeing them every day is a bit tough to take sometimes. But every now and then, I run into one of them in a terminal or hotel somewhere, and it's great to catch up. Life goes on, this career is supposed to be an adventure. Sometimes you need to step out of your comfort zone and expand your horizons. If you really want to stick it out at Silver, then I wish you the best of luck! The experience I gained there is invaluable to me, and I will carry it with me forever. Always try to listen and learn as much as you can, there are many great people there to learn from. Being in the trenches together forms bonds stronger than steel.