Originally Posted by
de727ups
"What we are experiencing is not just a simple downturn. There will always be pilots however the time when they were respected members of the upper middle class is almost over" Skyhigh, today.
"No one can really say what will happen...." Skyhigh 5/20/08
"i've always been in the wrong place, at the wrong time! All my peers in this business (well most) are at least Captains, and I have three friends at Southwest alone. It was very hard to watch them excel, as I sat idle for one reason or another."
It happens. There are no guarantees in the biz. Some reach relative success sooner and some it takes longer. Skyhigh quit the biz with 121 757 F/O experience and considered Southwest not worthy of his time.
Many would not make the same calls he did.....I know I wouldn't....
I did not quit. I was laid off. I tried for a year to get another job but after 911 there were few options. I was on unemployment for a year. I had to move my pregnant wife and kids out of our Las Vegas house and into a two bedroom apartment where we lived without health insurance waiting for our baby to come.
The middle quote is not mine. I do not know anyone at SWA.
SWA does not fit my goals or lifestyle needs either. They do not have a base anywhere close to my home. Besides all that I still have yet to have met a SWA Captain and as I understand it you need a recommendation from three captains. Other companies did not meet my financial needs.
I understand that you would not have made the same choices. I have a wife and small children to think about. Perhaps if I were single I would have jumped back into another crummy regional and would have been sucked back in for another round of disappointments. Just about every company that I was interested in has either gone under, is about to furlough or is about to furlough and then go under. Had I stayed in I most likely would be facing another lay off and more financial hardship. Now however I am much older and it would be even more painful.
As far as I am concerned being laid off one for the best things that ever happened to me and my family. It forced me out at a time when I was still young enough to start over. Not everyone will make it. By my success standards most will never get there. No matter how long and hard you try there just is not enough room at the top. It is a fallacy to think that by continually throwing your hat into the ring that eventually you will make it to someplace good. That kind of thinking belongs in fairy tales and Disney movies.
SkyHigh