I agree. It's nice to be able to walk away and keep your standards high. You also need to provide for your family, those who give you support on a day to day basis. You always need a fall back position when things go unexpectedly bad. I think Chris Campbell and Steffen Schmidt are being creative in their attempt to gain attention, or at least I hope that's the case. All said, this is a tough business to be in.

 

I was 36 years old with 6400 hours of mostly multi-engine jet or turbine time by the time I was laid off. I was married with two kids and one on the way. I needed to replace my job with something that offered a similar wage, future and standard of living as the job I was laid off from.

Hindsight is 20/20. Looking back I suppose I could have taken a job with Skywest and been able to make it work however at the time it was difficult to see where the path lied. I have a family to support so commuting to an FO position that payed 18K to start was a huge step back that I was not prepared to risk my families happiness again over.

Every flying job is a risk. When you are in the trenches it is not easy to tell what the best path is. At that time we were on the ropes financially. I had a young family and had endured years of low starting wages by the time I was laid off. Many regional jobs that are superstars today are often dead ends tomorrow. It would not have been a reasonable thing to virtually abandon my family and commute across the country to take another risk on another regional job. I was at the age where I needed to be at a career objective major airline. I needed an Alaska Airlines job however few were hiring at the time.

Instead I moved my family back home into a two bedroom apartment on $1300 a month of unemployment insurance and started over. In a few years I was able to build my family a dream home on acreage thanks to my new career. I miss flying and wish that things had worked out differently. It is a lot easier to bounce back in aviation as a single person. However my position is that if this profession was worth much a pilot with experience and education shouldn't have to keep starting over at nothing every time there is a lay off or furlough.


SKyhigh

 

Currently I own and manage a fleet of rental homes that I personally built over the years since being laid off. They provide a good living that meets our needs and offers a better future for my family. We also are developing a few other small businesses that bring in some extra income as well.

As a 757 first officer after nearly three years in the seat I made $42,500 a year. Not bad however not good either after almost two decades of sacrifice and investment. I do much better then that now.

Skyhigh

 

Had I been able to get hired by a career destination major airline before I was 35 and had a family to think about I could have made it work. However when you have to start over yet again from zero with responsibilities it is a game changer.

I love flying and am the right man for the job however it became difficult to continually make the sacrifices needed to extend the possibility of reaching the majors to only make 60K per year as a FO. Pilot wages have reduced to the point where it is difficult to justify all the risks and sacrifices when there are jobs advertised in the local paper to work at the dump for 48K. No commuting, no college education, and no flight training.

The path to the airlines has become a war of attrition. If you can not transition to a good job while you are still young enough to absorb the sacrifices you will get pushed out. It does not mean that we were not right for the job just that the cost to getting there is becoming to high for people with responsibilities.

Skyhigh

 

Skyhigh, I commend you on your foresight and initiative. Thanks, also, for answering my question. I have been in aviation for 36 years, and it is nothing like what it was when I was green and google eyed to get an airline job when I first started. Two years ago I was hired at RAH at the young age of 54 for FO. Boy, was I disillusioned when I saw what was happening, and for the money they were paying to fly a $15mil jet. I have my own business, pays the bills, am home every night, and I still fly and instruct on my own schedule. Good luck to you!

 

You are exactly right. Sully said exactly this before Congress. But nobody cares. People only care about who has the lowest fare to Omahangeles.

The really sad part is...you're exactly the kind of person that our profession needs if it is to ever rebound. And now you're gone.

Carl

 

I hope to return one day but the job market has to come to me. I am not going to chase it anymore.

Skyhigh

 

I hate to say this, but I don't think our profesion will ever rebound... Flight schools are spitting out commercial pilot pilots like crazy... the message I'm getting from airlines and some flight departments is 'If you don't want to fly this airplane for this amount of money, one of these guys will', and there are thousands waiting in line.....

There is no easy fix... a young guy will do anything to fly a jet, (we were ALL there once)

 

If only more people shared this opinion, maybe aviation jobs would actually pay money. I laugh at many of your posts, but for this, I commend you on making the right choice.

 

Thanks,

Skyhigh