Originally Posted by
SSlow
My take on this is that you are focusing on all of the wrong things. Unless you are hitting age 65 within the next decade you should really only be concerned about two things:
living in base (above all else)
flying as much as possible - safely of course
You need to be looking to set yourself up for beyond the regionals before you even step foot into the training center on day 1 of indoc. Things like quality of organization, business ethics, 401k benefits, and long term stability are all trash and have no relevance at the regional level. Nobody cares and most of those organizations behave like runaway trains on a good day.
There will be a time to focus on those things that you listed but now is not that time. The best advice is to live in base and DO NOT GET COMFORTABLE...EVER!
Now apply, get an offer, and get out there and fly son!
Solid and blunt...I like it! Makes sense for sure. I'm a second career guy, so i'm probably a little overly concerned about the financials. I work oil and gas and we have our share of "creative financial engineering" that definitely leaves a bad taste. And thanks for the comment on career length....I'm not young (45), so I am a little ways off from mandatory retirement. From reading here and talking to some friends at majors, seems like FO at a LCC is definitely achievable in my early 50's. Hope so, want to stay humble and grind it out till I get there. Thanks again for input.