Fellas,
There was a poll a few pages back about leaving a major airline for Netjets. I am new to APC and wanted to add my thoughts to the NJ/Airline debate.
It is extremely difficult to tell another pilot what he should do in regards to leaving one job for another. In this case both jobs have their individual merits and drawbacks; however, seeing as how I left NJ (5 year Ultra CPT) for an airline a couple of years back I think I have a good perspective on both. I won’t rehash all of the arguments for and against but will highlight the ones most important to me since they helped me to pull the trigger. For others my reasons are not that important and will be discounted, that’s fine. We all do that.
(Disclaimer alert! I work for SWA which I believe to be the best of the airlines and I actually haven’t flown under any of the new contracts at NJ.)
Number one reason for leaving NJ: the schedule. Plain and simple. I started with NJ when I was 33 and left them at 38 and frankly did not like the prospect of 7n7 for the rest of my life. But, some will argue, you as a junior FO are still working as much as me, in terms of the number of days in the month. Well, some months yes and others no. The one part that is missing is that I can give away my trips, or I can trade for better trips with the company or other pilots. Much more flexibility. At NJ forget it. You are on for a week, off for a week. You can work more if you want, but the bottom line is unless you pick up a 17 day sked it is set in stone. Even with the 17 they will pick the days for you, you won’t have a say in the matter. Now, assuming my seniority continues to rise I will bid better schedules, for example, many of which for May have 19 days off a month and even one with 20.
Another huge drawback to the 7n7 is that you will always work half of the weekends. I have been at SWA for less than two and can now get every weekend off, though some months it requires bidding a reserve sked. When my kids were younger and we homeskooled it really didn’t matter, in fact, it was great because we could take that week off and go on a mini vacation (though at the old pay rates we couldn’t take too many!). Now, my kids are in school and if I didn’t see them on the weekend I would miss a lot of time with them, not to mention missing ball games and such. Plus, attending church with my family is important and I can do that now.
At NJ we bid quarterly, how am I going to know what days I will need off 3 months away? Now at least I have until the 10th of the month to find out what I will need for the following month and bid accordingly. I don’t always get them all but at least I have a shot.
A couple more points on the schedule. Seven days is a long time to be gone in a row, especially when family crises arise. Believe me, after sticking with me in the military for all this time, my wife is fully capable of handling unexpected events. Inevitably, though, on the FIRST day out a major meltdown will occur, its standard murphyology. Now, at the most I know I will be home in 3 days, and this is in contrast to NJ where it could be another 6 days. Finally, I never really seemed to get a full seven days off because it took me at least a full day to recover from a week on (the NJ guys will understand how scheduling coincidentally seems always to get you in just before midnight on your last day) and a few hours to pack for another week away.
As for the “job” being harder at NJ or SWA, I believe a person will have consistent behavior based on their character and some will work just as hard at a job such as NJ as they will at SWA. In other words, much depends on how much you CARE about the customer and their experience. I had a NJ captain tell me once that I worked too hard and the problem was that I CARED. Obviously, he didn’t care and had he been hired at a major airline I doubt he would have cared there either, too. So I work hard and do extra things, like I did at NJ, at SWA. There are a couple of things I don’t miss though about NJ. Falling flat on my back at 4:30 in the morning on an slick ramp in Martha’s Vineyard in December on an “Ice Station Zebra” level cold day and having a sandwhich tray spill all over my chest. Or starting the day number 15 for deicing in LaGuardia and at the end of my duty day shooting an NDB circling to land at mins at night to an uncontrolled field in Texas hill country where I had never been. Good times. Now I know well in advance where I am going and with some certainty know what arrival and approach I will get. Boring to some, fine with me.
As far as the job benefits are concerned, my health care is the same (United) but it is $60 a month. The dental and vision are excellent and are a few bucks a month. The flight passes are outstanding on SWA and my family and parents, who can fly unlimited, take full advantage of them. In addition, we get 16 round trip tickets per year, space available of course, to give to family and friends. We also have ZED agreements with most major airlines and can get space available passes, unlimited and the price is VERY reasonable. For example, I live on the East Coast and my folks could fly round trip from California on Delta for $90 each way per person. At SWA I can earn as little (with some minimums) or as much money as I want. Most of my coworkers fly between 100-120 trips a month (we are paid per trip, one trip is roughly 1.1 hours block). I average around 100 because I like my time off.
Don’t get me wrong, Netjets has become a career job and I have helped several guys from my reserve unit get hired by them. But, for me it was the right move. When guys from my reserve unit ask how things are going I tell them “twice as good as I thought it would be” and that is the truth.
Ezplt
P.S. I sure miss getting crew food, especially from Rudy’s in Teteboro. Sometimes I dream about it while I am eating “Pilot Pellets” i.e. peanuts, on a cross country. And you still get per diem after jamming your pie hole with that great food. What a scam!
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