Airline Pilot Central Forums - Cargo job/lifestyle questions

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Stimpy the Kat (Post 2576369)

Try this for a week:

- Monday - Get up at 3am. Go to bed at Noon. Get Up at Midnight.

- Tuesday - Stay up until Noon. Go to bed. Sleep 4 hours. Get up and have dinner. Go to bed and get up at 3 am. No, wait...the phone rang. NOW, get up at Midnight.

- Wednesday - Stay up for 21 hours. Double crew so you get a nap on the plane. Get to destination. Take 24 hours off- But, plan sleep/naps carefully- things will probably change.

- Thursday - Randomly get up and go back to bed every time you think you should or shouldn't.

- Friday - WHATEVER...You get the picture. I can guarantee you won't continue this past Friday because you are tired of feeling like Dog $h!T all day everyday.

OH...UNLESS it's for The God Almighty Dollar...Then you will do this to yourself for 16 days in a row.

Lather, rinse, repeat, and destroy your health so that you never make it to 65 anyway, and then you can leave large chunks of money to others that you will never have the time to enjoy.

:)

Yay!

Seriously, get on with any of the Major/Legacy pax carriers, MOVE and live in base, and maintain a much healthier lifestyle so that you may enjoy all the rest of the days you have left on the planet.

ACMI IS a Blast...and some of the best flying I have done but, it is a young man's game. Don't be doing this to yourself when you are 55 years old!

The only reason people ever did is because there were few alternatives for many decades and they got STUCK.

You have options in the current hiring situation that have NEVER been present before in the history of the Industry here in the USA.

Good Luck and Godspeed whatever you do..!

STK

If you have a generally unhealthy lifestyle and eating habits when you're at home and not working, of course you're going to feel that way when you're working. I'm over 50...I've been doing ACMI flying for almost a couple of decades now and I don't feel anything like you're saying when I'm at work. Of course, I try to eat well, exercise, not drink 43 beers at every layover, and not spend my time and $$$ at every *****house in Wan Chai either. But hey, that's just me. Thanks to our new contract I'm making around $300k a year; money isn't everything to me so I'm saving most of what I make into my retirement. If I want to take my wife to Europe on vacation I find biz class seats and buy them myself. What am I missing out on? This place (K4) is a decent way to do my job, fly with nearly 100% non-dickheads, and refill my ATM.

Everyone is different...I love this job and the lifestyle and I plan on staying.

Yup.

Diet and other healthy habits ( LOTS of water, go for a LONG walk on layovers , etc.) are even MORE important when constantly changing the circadian rhythm.

And agreed, Wan Chai should be a " One Time Only " experience.

I started ACMI at 52 and made it ( so far ) the better part of 7 years. We'll see what happens next...FAA Medical "Pending".

Here's one difference between Now and Then:

- PILOT SHORTAGE / STAFFING.

Prior to 18-20 months ago your footprint over 16-18 days would be nothing like I described in my previous post. Fly a day and then plenty of rest and circadian acclimation was more the Rule. So, that in a two week tour you might fly 25-60 hours and, feel quite decently doing so.

Now, what I previously described is almost the norm for many of the people in this segment of aviation. Go, Go, GO !...min. rest and go fly.

Here is a posting a friend made regarding his last 16 day Tour:

" Baltimore Cincinnati Dover Leipzig Afghanistan Bulgaria Germany Dover New York Anchorage South Korea Malaysia North East Africa Belgium Kuwait Belgium Cincinnati Dover Germany Cincinnati Baltimore. ... I’m done with that."

Do the math and fit that series of flights into 16 days...OUCH.

LOTS of money...But, at what cost ?

Jus' Sayin'

Stimpson

Quote:

Originally Posted by Atlas Shrugged (Post 2576366)

Is this a joke or sarcasm?
:D

Agreed lol

Quote:

Originally Posted by FmrPropCapt (Post 2576297)

Retirement, more like 12k a month for a lt col

Lol this is ridiculous... we wouldn’t be hemorrhaging military pilots across the board if you got that kind of retirement. That’s more than an O-5 makes base pay full time...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Globemaster2827 (Post 2576435)

Which contracts are you better than?

I'd take the legacies, UPS, FedEx, Southwest, Spirit, ATI, and Omni for sure ahead of K4. I suspect I'd take JetBlue as well. That doesn't mean that I'd leave K4 for all of those if I were a Captain though...

And the reason for taking Omni, ATI Spirit and Jet Blue over K4?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Globemaster2827 (Post 2576435)

You mean jet blue who has no contract or OMNI who has K4 pay rates but worse work rules? Ok!!!! And ATI, I think I just spit milk out of my nose!

Quote:

Originally Posted by maxjet (Post 2576639)

And the reason for taking Omni, ATI Spirit and Jet Blue over K4?

Omni... The new rates will be higher. Similar work rules. Better retirement.

ATI.... See above but also you could move to CVG and be home more.

Spirit.... See above except you get more than 3 times the retirement of a K4 pilot and the work rules are FAR better. Tons of bases to move into.

Jet Blue.... This one was the closest. The retirement is more than twice yours and they're in negotiations for a new contract so since the compensation is similar, their work rules are better and their retirement is much better I'd go Jet Blue.

The best of all of those is Spirit. Look at what their retirement goes to at the end of that deal - 15% Direct Contribution into a 401k. You don't have to be gone a ton if you move in base. If I were a Captain at Spirit I'd probably stay even if FedEx or UPS called, but that's just me....

Don't get me wrong... K4 is the reason ATI and Omni got better deals so it plays a huge role in things. Spirit was the contract that really changed things for the best of the worst because they get the retirement. The rest of them are similar jobs in my eyes, but I'd give a slight edge to Omni and ATI. I also should've mentioned Allegient...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Globemaster2827 (Post 2576911)

It is all in what you are looking for. The big difference I see in all of these other airlines is quality of life. Before we had the new contract, people didn’t leave K4 because of the way they were treated by the company or the work rules. They left because they didn’t feel they were compensated well enough or they just couldn’t handle the schedule due to legitimate conflicts in their lives.

My point is, in all of the above examples you have given except Omni the pilots are generally considered the enemy of the company are are abused at most times. A lot Omni Pilots do not fly much and are at work a lot. Translating into lower wages.

If it is all about the benjamins, Atlas is the long term place to be. IF they are successful in their contract negotiations. They eventually will have the money, benefits, and size and will again be the top tier ACMI airline.

However even when that happens, Kalitta Pilots will still have a way better quality of life. If you want to chase the money, then chase the money. If you want a career that you enjoy and enhances your total quality of life, look to work at quality employers like Kalitta.

Quote:

Originally Posted by maxjet (Post 2576945)

Except they are still an ACMI carrier...

Huh? The new ATI rates are way behind K4. The Omni rates are better to the tune of a few bucks, no one breaks guarantee, and your 16 days can turn in to 18. I'm not suggesting that K4 is the answer to all of life's problems, but your assertions are...confusing.