Airbum

I've always been interested in corporate ops, probably because I have never done it. I fly for a freight hauler currently.

I don't understand GF's post. 12 year pay for the 757 at AA is what $123 an hour? So that's around $120,000 a year I am guessing. Is that really half pay for a halfway decent 91 job?

EXTW

Guys being recalled now are not on 12 year pay. Most are on first year pay which is $40/hr, plus the added benefit of completing probation that was never finished before being furloughed 12 years ago.

EXTW

Airbum

IC First year pay at AA is less then the half pay part 91 reference. That makes sense.

galaxy flyer

Years ago, 30 or more, airline total compensation was several times the best non-airline pay--2 or 3 times more depending on exact comparisons. I was a Sabreliner captain at KHPN, went to EAL and matched my pay as a B727 F/E. Years of bankruptcy, contract givebacks while the non-airline operators reacted to losing pilots to the airlines resulted in a fair degree of convergence. The relatively few B777/744 captains are making, maybe twice the 91 top pilots, but that's about it. The median "bubbas" are fairly close. I had a AA squadron mate who nearly matched his B757A domestic pay while on AD, after deductions--take home for take home. Tax-free trips into the AOR made it happen, but medical and retirement deductions made a difference.

Mink

That would be me. Glad my current corp flying job allows me the option NOT to go back to AA food stamp wages.

ETOPSOK

I've seen both sides of the fence. I started out very young with a great corporate job as CP flying Falcons for an excellent family-owned company and then was blessed to have had a very lucky 121 career at arguably one of the most desired airlines - currently a senior Triple Seven CAP.

My son is a freshmen in college and wants to follow dad's footsteps and work at my carrier. He will pass through corporate or regional on the way for sure. I encourage him to do either. What's important is that you love what you do. Work shouldn't feel like work. When I was flying an A-36 and building hours as a kid, it might as well of been a 777. I ate that sh%% up. Back then to fly a BE-200 was my dream. Then when I became a captain on a King Air my dream was to someday fly a DA-50 and make "50 grand" (too funny). Well, then the day came when I would see the 121 "heavy iron" rolling down the runway as I flew my Falcon; then I dreamed of being "that guy". The corporate experience was so much fun. Looking back, If I had never left my part 91 job and gone to the airlines many years ago, today I would be flying 2 DA-900EX's (not bad for a small family owned biz, btw). Hard to believe the kids I used to pick up in the jet are now running the company.

Anyway, I didn't suffer from "the grass is greener", I just always kept setting new goals and striving to reach them. There IS about to be a pilot shortage at the airlines. It is very expensive to learn to fly and with the new FAR's I don't know where today's kids will get 250K for college and 1,000 hrs.

I think the opportunity for corporate guys to go to 121 will be better than ever in the next few years. 5 years ago my company hired PAX River and Edwards test pilots, Shuttle Commanders, Blue Angels, Thunderbirds, etc. I joke with my peers that I couldn't get hired today. But, at the last meeting I was at, there was talk about removing the 4 year degree requirement due to the all the 121 hiring that's about to happen. It was said that we had 15,000 applications on file...but those SAME APPLICATIONS are on file at EVERY 121 carrier! When the hiring starts (oh, and it will), that pool of qualified applicants will be gone in the blink of an eye...with little back-filling due to training costs. There is no question who you know plays a major role in getting the coveted corporate and airline jobs, however.

ETOPSOK

Update on 121 hiring:

A fellow pilot at my carrier has done interview prep for 10 years and he just posted this.

"...At the same time, indoc folks at UAL are being told classes may jump to 110/month, and Delta invites are going out. Southwest is adding 200. American is going to start hiring again in November. "...In the 10 + years I've done interview coaching, I have never seen the hiring like this".

"...I'd be applying everywhere. Even had some two-fers call me this week (interviews at United AND Delta....) Things are starting to (finally) move in the industry".

Like I said...the wave is about to begin. If you ever wanted to fly for a major airline, dust off your resume'.

Irishish

At some point the money doesn't really matter anyway, so you have to look at every other factor in making the 91 vs 121 decision. Domicile, days off, benefits, etc. These things are readily available online for all the airlines, but a little more difficult to figure out for a 91 department, but not impossible. It's the intangibles that are important in corporate (management style, off duty expectations, department culture, job security) that are so darn difficult to pin down before one actually starts working for said department. Don't be fooled by the size/number/newness of the planes, the size/name recognition/stock price of the company. You will never know what you have gotten yourself into until you are there. At least at the major airlines you have a pretty good idea of what to expect.