Thanks for all the responses. Still waiting to hear back from Pdt. Thinking I should send out a few more applications to other airlines as well. I am within driving distance(2hours or less) of sby phl bwi and D.C.'s. What other airlines whorls you guys recommend me applying to? What I liked about piedmont was the pay, sby and phl bases, and the flow to AA.

 

Piedmont is hiring 25-28 per month - all to the jet. They may add a small Dash class if anyone is interested in flying the Dash, otherwise, everyone goes to PHL and the jet. If you haven't heard back from them, send an email.

 

LOL...In a similar boat...though, you guys go a little lower. We have the luxury of 500' AGL all day on pipeline patrol!

Though, I hope to get on with PSA...Maybe I'll make it past the 50% screen, since I'm a U Dayton grad and actually don't mind DAY?

 

Haha 500 feet is usually the highest I get. Good luck with your transition

 

Lock your memories of flying the airplane deep in your minds. The largest challenge will be the automation and descent planning. Secondary, get prepared to move or commute, for the rest of your 121 career, airlines are always closing and opening domiciles, and even chaining the doors shut. The only certainty is the continued uncertainty. If your relationship isn't titanium/rock solid, shop for a good divorce attorney, you will give/promise them lots of money. In 20+ years in the 121 biz, I have watched starry eyed f/os, come to work and over time watch the dissolution of long term relationships. Myself included, this job cost me a long term relationship and at short count, about 500k in lost real estate potential gains, due to having to sell jointly owned real estate in the SF South Bay Area, today those properties would have been worth several million. She couldn't deal with the me being gone for 4+ days at a time.

 

I didn't consider proposing to my wife until she went through a couple of six month deployments. 8 years later and a couple more long deployments she is looking forward to me only being gone for 4 days at a time if I end up going back to flying.

 

I'm basically gone all summer right now so 3-4 days away will be no problem. I might need to make some 5-7 day trip for my sanity haha

 

I've been in 121 for about a year now, previous 137 owner/operator.

I miss free flying a lot of days, since it all is procedures and following atc instructions now.

16 hr days, 7 days a week to this seems like vacation for the first few months. It does get monotonous some days. A lot of it depends on who you are flying with.

Good luck on trying to figure out what to do on your days off 😂

 

Tales of marital woe have no place on the forum. Why? Because the success or failure of a marriage has less to do with the culture than it does with the pilot & the spouse. Your marriage could very well have failed even if you were home every night. Or, had you chosen the right mate, your marriage could have succeeded no matter what your schedule was/is.

Being gone can be tough on a marriage. Being home often can be tough, too. The dynamics of any marriage depend more on the couple involved than the job. At least in my experience. Not trying to take away from your story, and to be sure, it takes a Good relationship to withstand being gone for 2-5 days at a time.

But until you have been married for a few and been gone for four weeks to a year at a time, I find it hard to believe that one can blame a divorce on the "airline life". It's a pretty cush life, if you ask me.

 

Yes they are, family is the integral center of the process, allowing pilots the freedom to pursue their quest, 6 year old kids dont fare well when left alone for 24 hours, much less 4 days, so if you have a family, the wife is part of the process.
As in life not everything is black and white. A relationship that might be a little shaky, but with attention and concern just might work out. My wife has known nothing but me being an airline pilot, 18 years worth. For those guys who say "it's OK, I am gone all summer", by definition you are back home for extended periods after. Airline flying isn't glamorous, nor amazing, its mostly about endurance, day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year, 25-40 of them, depending on your age.
My initial sim partner left after 3 years on the job, he said "this isn't what I thought it would be".
So by all means minimize the job, ask your kids after they graduate high school how they liked having Christmas on the 27th, their birthday 2 days early and missed soccer games, piano recitals and all the other life events you will miss because you were flying the line, simming ect.