Originally Posted by Raidr17
Duke,
I am nearly in the same situation you are. 10 years active in Marines flying herks and am getting out. I am looking for new challenges on the outside, and I have done everything I wanted to do as a O-3 in this service, those are my reasons for leaving.
The thing that gets me about leaving though, is that I will be on the sidelines when another 9/11 happens and my brothers go off to war. I am going to stay reserves, but am torn between going for "the show" with the airlines or just settling down and doing engineer work in the realm of UAVs.
For now I am pushing both paths, and when I get home from this 7 month deployment that I am currently on decide with my wife what the right choice will be.
Can anyone answer which company excels in quality of life for its people? I have seen NetJets alot on thie website wrt QOL, what about CAL and SWA?
Raidr
Raidr,
I retired from the USMC last July when I was hired by CAL. I finished training in Oct 05 and have been flying a line since. Cal seems to be doing well at the present time and most Cpts I fly with seem happy. The hiring should start back to 60 a month in Sept and continue through next summer. Having spent 21 years in the USMC this is really a cush job. I could not be happier.
The atmosphere here is great.
I am on the 737 and expect to upgrade to Capt within 3 years. I have the opportunity to go to the 757/767 (FO) at the next bid next Sept if I choose. I commute to Newark from Maryland (just south of BWI) 4 imes a month for 3 and 4 day trips. I fly an average of 12-15 days a month. My situation is a little differnt from yours in that I have an active duty retirement check every month. One downside of the job is the small paycheck. The money is not good, especially the first year but this is standard at every airline. Upgrading to Capt is the brass ring, a four year capt is aprox $140 an hour. Not what it use to be but still not bad for doing something you love to do. I am still in my honeymoon phase but I can honestly say I could not imagine making a living any other way now. The planes are new and well maintained. I have never been on a cancelled flight for maintenance reasons.
The only other down side of this job I can think about is the 3 hour commute (drive) to Newark (but I only do it 4 times a month), and being away from home aprox 10 nights a month. I have never flown for any other commercial carrier so my whole experience is CAL but I can honestly say I have never been happier. Hope this helps.
BTW there are a lot of bitter and unhappy people that post on this forum. I am sure they have their reasons to be negative but don't let them convince you that a civilian aviation career is terrible, it's not. If CAL falls apart tomorrow I will still be glad I had the opportunity to fly for them and then I will move on to something else. Bottom line, I am as happy as I could be here at CAL.
Rusty737