gr8vu

Retiring in a year as a heavy (C-141 and C-17) pilot. I have built my resume and am working on submitting applications (Delta, United, Atlas, VA, and Spirit so far). I have a large family and live in NJ and can stay here for a few years but am willing to relocate to be near domicile. Down the road (2-8 years) I would like to end up in the West (SLC, DEN, SEA, PDX, LAS, etc). I am working the networking with my AF contacts and getting good info on pay, lifestyle, etc.

Since I will have less than 20 years to fly commercially--my question to the experts out there is "based on your experience in the industry, what would you recommend I focus on?"

I also have 1600 hrs in learjet (last flown in 1997) but seems like corporate is even more word of mouth than 121 industry. I also speak Japanese and would enjoy working out of Tokyo but can't afford to take family there (have read ANA cargo posts).

Appreciate your thoughts--great forum!

strikeagledrivr

Check out audriesaircraftanalysis.com for seniority forecasts....

Elvis90

NJ is near a very junior Delta domicile - NYC! You can bid SLC, LAX or SEA as you gain seniority. Get friends who currently work at Delta to write a recommendation for you on airlineapps.com. We're not very far from resuming hiring again.

gr8vu

Haven't heard of that one--good resource--thanks

xjtguy

Sorry, which ANA cargo job are you referencing? The guys I know are on a commuting contract with ANA and live in the states. Nippon Cargo (NCA) has U.S. bases.

gr8vu

Yes NYC area, PHL, and ACY are all within 1 to 2 hours. Delta has some great positives from my limited perspective. Good pay, domiciles, variety of acft.

How do current pilots complete internal recs? Do I have to send them something from airline apps? Some of my friends at Delta and United I flew with and others not. How important is this? What about external recs?

gr8vu

There were several different contracts I saw. The state side ana cargo was one through Hawaii aviation but believe you still have to do JCAB training in Japan for 6 to 8 months and sign a 3 yr contract. The others paid 2k to commute to Narita every month or free business class ticket. I had a tough time deciphering the pay structure since many of these offered a monthly salary plus other pay. Are these types of jobs just interim jobs or are you able to do long term employment. I have done the long hauls most of my career.

Atlas has one of the closest models to my current job. Show up and fly pax/cargo and go anywhere in the world. Pay is good without having to domicile but long trips and fair amount of deadheading. Like many strat mobility crewmembers I've landed on every continent and flown into hundreds of airfields big and small.

xjtguy

That's standard on a foreign job. Whether contract or direct employment. You have to have you ratings/certs converted to the local to fly the foreign registered aircraft. You go CX, you gotta get the HKAD, get a Euro job you need to convert to the JAA.

And yes, the others are contract jobs. But when you receive the T&C package, many of them auto renew at the end of term, usually with a completion bonus that can equal an extra month of pay. Some of them have also been known to let pilots out of the 3 years (or whatever) depending on the circumstances.

Search for username "TheDominican", I believe he's on an ANA contract. He could give you all the info.

Keep in mind, not all the contracts are the same as far as the total overall compensation package offered. There can be variances in the pay, retirement contribution, etc.

And again, most are commuting contracts with between 11-13 days off a month at home with transportation provided to-from.

Elvis90

All recs are done via Airline Applications. You fill out the application, and near the end it asks you for recommendations. You supply the e-mail address of the recommender, and they respond to the e-mail & submit. There are no more paper recs accepted.

Make sure that the guys who work at Delta use their "delta.com" e-mail versus their private e-mail accounts. First cut are recs from "delta.com" e-mails. External recs don't mean much because they are difficult to verify.

gr8vu

Appreciate responses so far. I renewed my CFII yesterday at FSDO. The examiner was a retired C 141 LM and said I could get an L-300 type rating if I brought in my proof of qual. Does it help to have multiple type ratings even if aircraft no longer exists. Will just cost me another 3 hours to schedule appt and drive to PHL.