Originally Posted by
GeeWizDriver
I'm in much the same boat. A little older. A little more senior.
Golden handcuffs are nearly platinum at this point. The better half loves the 7-7 even more than I do. 21 or 35 straight days off for a vacation can't be matched at an airline as a junior pilot without some seriously creative bidding.
I stay motivated two ways.
One, I don't give a crap about the success of the company anymore. I went from "owner" to "renter" to "caveman." I do exactly what the briefing says, avoid calling the brain trust at all costs, fly my tour and go home. I take care of my crew, myself, my airplane, my passengers, and then my job. In that order.
Two, I try to fly contract trips once in a while. Make a little extra cash, remember what it's like to NOT have a schedule, and maintain contacts in the corporate world just in case.
Just wanted to point out at 5 years at Frontier I was able to pull off over 45 days off with 2 weeks of vacation (bid for the last 15 days off of one month- July and used my 2 weeks to get all of August off and then I would have bid the first 12 to 15 days off the beginning of September butto be creative I bid for a COLA (company offered leave of absence) and haven't touched an airplane since July 22 and I'm scheduled to go back October 13th... Just saying.