Originally Posted by
StandardBrief
I honestly think that most people enjoy it, too. I believe the reason most people leave is because they feel that a career at the airlines is more secure because contracting can "go away over night." Well, history has shown several times that the airlines can too. Nothing in life is secure. That is why you see constant openings for PICs. People leave to get the job that others tell them they should have and not necessarily the job they want. However, for the foreseeable future, I don't see many pilots here jumping ship unless they all ready have a retirement. Contracting has been around for a long time too. Long before the war on terror. Just need to know where to look. The demand might ebb and flow with the pace of operations but I don't ever see it going away.
I think the NEED for the series will always be there in some form or another.
What seems to change are the number/names of the companies in the pool for that contracted work - and like you said - one companies contract goes away when the next bid cycle comes out; and with that comes a little bit of 'is this a long term move'.
Even the guys I know coming right out of the military at some point down the road get tired of the 'deployed lifestyle' too.