Originally Posted by AirWillie
They say officially your not allowed to have a second job when you fly at an airline but I hear some still do work second jobs.
AirWillie is smoking crack (do you really work at ZW??). The only guidence AWAC gives pilots is that they cannot have a 2nd
flying job. As long as you report for your trips on time and can report within 2 hrs while on reserve they could care less what you do in your off time.
I know plenty of FO's that have second jobs. It ranges from the lower-tier pizza delivery specialists, to the mid-tier construction laborers to the high-end ex-professionals that use their prior knowledge or degree to earn extra income such as real estate appriasers, consultants, etc. Probably the most important thing about the second job is that it must be flexible enough while you are on reserve, to allow you to leave on a moments notice for up to 4-5 days at a time. You are still guaranteed 12 hard days off/month as a reserve pilot at AWAC.
Then there is Long Call reserve, basically a reserve where you find out at least two days ahead of time if you are going to work (around a 40-hr minimum callout period). The Long Call guys that get it the entire month are getting called out an average of 6-10 days/month for their 18 days of availability. It goes both senior and junior (even some reserves get it now and then) so its plausible you'd get it early on. That line will certainly allow you to get an extra job and make decent money at it. I work a second job and bid LC (now that it's available) and think its nice to be getting essentially two salaries.
Probably one of the biggest ways you can earn "extra" money is by taking a cooler along with you on your trips. I use about $50 of my $450 in per diem a month. That's a pretty good chunk of change, IMO. All tax-free.