Originally Posted by
ToiletDuck
Adolphus Coors which aircraft do you fly? Are you able to pick which one you'd like?
I flew the Excel. It was a reliable plane, but it was also a work horse. It is second in workload to the X. You maybe offered a choice of aircraft you may not. It doesn't hurt to ask. They may give you what you want but you might have to wait. The main reasons I left had nothing to do with the company itself. As stated before I really liked everyone I worked with. There was plenty of reasons to love NJA, but I left for the following reasons:
1. Pay- as I stated before the quick 18 month upgrade is over I had to come to the realization that 45 grand per year was my life for the next 4 years. After that I would still be trying to Catch my friends elsewhere.
2. Domicile- You can't move except to 4 other cities all of which cost way too much to live in. But of course most of the other guys can. Not to mention the amount of wasted time and money I have spent in the last 18 months for no reason.
3. QOL on the road- There is none. I got into this job to have fun and enjoy traveling. I can count the amounts of time I have enjoyed traveling at NJA on 1 hand. Lots of 12 to 14 hour days with 11 hours of rest.
4. Schedule- I hated 7 on. 7 off was nice but I found that I was less productive because I had to recover from fatigue, and my schedule was nothing like my friends. I also hated the inflexible schedule.
5. Equipment- I was not thrilled with the cockpit size and other ergonomic features. The thought of waiting 15 years until I could get the Falcon was too much. IF I WERE A NEW HIRE I WOULD ASK FOR THE HAWKER 800. I have not flown the 800, but I have flown aircraft of the same pedigree. The Brits build a solid aircraft and it seems to have a better schedule than most of the other NJA aircraft.
Again I am not posting things I dislike about NJA to paint a bad picture. The fact is I liked being at NJA very much, but in the end it simply wasn't the job for me. There are obviously a long list of things that are great about being a pilot at NJA.
To me NJA is less of a risk but with less risk comes less reward. I am young and not the sole bread winner in my family so I can take on more risk than most.
Good luck it is a tough decision.