Originally Posted by
azbulldog
I am new to this board, as you can see this is my first post, and want to say that each of you has some valuable insight. But I have also been giving Gulfstream consideration for a very specific reason, this is a career change for me.
One of you said previously that if someone has a family to feed then they should just keep that job. This was spoken like someone who has very little corporate job experience, is generalizing way too much and has no idea about how things happen in the corporate world.
My dream to fly has always been with me but life just happened and I took a different route and work in an office. I have a good career but things are different due going through a private equity acquisition. This isn't for me any longer and the stress is way too much, I want to make this career change. I am 42 with a wife and three kids and do not have the luxury of time that several of you have. I will have 21-23 years, at best, left after training while many of you have time to tow banners, instruct, or however else you plan to get your hours. Don't get me wrong, I am all about getting the proper experience but I just don't think I have the time to instruct for many months.
I want to get good experience in the fastest amount of time and with that this type of training seems like a good fit and I don't see where I would be paying any more for this training than somwhere like ATP.
Ughhh...some of you just don't get it!
. First of all, the last paragraph speaks VOLUMES about what is wrong with the Gulfstream concept. It is NOT training, no matter how they market it. You are flying PAYING passengers around in a high performance aircraft doing a job that most PROFESSIONAL pilots would DEMAND to be paid for. Yet you think its ok to write a check for $30,000, effectively eliminating what would ordinarily be an oppurtunity for a PROFESSIONAL aviator to make a living while at the same time advancing their career. You talk about the need for you to find a quick opportunity to get into the airlines...well you my friend have just ELIMINATED one of those entry-level opportunities and replaced it with a "lets play airline pilot" program to the tune of 30 of YOUR hard earned G's. Congratulations.
You might get it after you've been in the business for a year but at that point it's too late. You've already paid your money and killed an otherwise rewarding pilot job. This is NOT an expensive flight sim game or a chance to chase a dream and play airline pilot for most of us. Some of us choose to make a living flying airplanes and whether or not you want to accept it or try to understand it, what one pilot group does affects the rest of us. So when other airlines like Commutair, Great Lakes and Big Sky might pay their pilots $16,000-23,000 to fly similar equipment, you are saying I am worth NEGATIVE $30,000 to do the same job. But you say "this is right for ME", "this will help ME", "this is the best thing for MY career", "MY timeline is shorter than most"...my, me, mine... That's great.
But you are doing it at the detriment of hard working PROFESSIONAL aviators throughout the industry.
Just to add food for though, here are some appropriate definitions of "professional"
pro·fes·sion·al
-adj
1. following an occupation as a means of livelihood or for gain
2. undertaken or engaged in as a means of livelihood or for gain
-noun
1. a person who earns a living in a sport or other occupation frequently engaged in by amateurs