Mink

I hope the AA pay catches up - it's about time. As for my situation, LOS in the negotiations is shaping up to be a joke (not surprised) so my 12 years away will likely get me nothing. And I'm pretty sure APA will make the integration with USAir as painful as possible for the junior nAAtive guys (like they do with everything), so I plan to stay far, far away.

RI830

I fly about 600 hours a year. I would go nuts only flying 7 trips a year.

I know of a 777 guys who lives in Spokane. He bids reserve and flies to DFW every 90 days for landing quals.

To each his own!

aa73

APA does not have too much influence as to the outcome of the SLI...all in the hands of an arbitrator.

However, I'd venture to guess that their proposal will be heavily slanted towards natives - just like the USAir proposal towards their guys - so not sure where you're going with your statement that the junior guys will get screwed by APA.

If we (junior guys) do get screwed by the SLI, it will be due to the arbitrator's ruling, not APA.

And yes - my vote will depend largely on LOS, among other things.

Finally - if I had a great corporate job and was happy with it, I'd probably not come back either. All depends on your unique situation. I've got friends who either have really crappy corporate jobs or really great ones: no middle there. The great ones are great indeed: all holidays off, usually weekends off, stock options, great pay, the works. The crappy ones sometimes make some regional jobs look good.

KiloAlpha

I'd rather have more time at home as a husband and father, but if you'd rather have more time in a airplane seat more power to you. I"ll be at home enjoying a glass of wine with my wife.

Mink

True statement. There are a lot of rotten corp jobs out there.

Mink

Arbitrator, APA, company, Santa ...whatever.

It's going to be ugly.

Rocketsurgeon

I flew for a regional for about a year but between the awful pay, sleeping in the crew room and commuting, I said enough. The job is completely different if you're living in base but I don't have that option at this moment in time. That being said, I worked for a 135/91 operator for 4 months doing a vast array of different things; office work, charter, air attack, etc. Super fun and exciting gig. In the end I could not see eye to eye with the company owner and am now in limbo between possibly flying for the aircraft owner as the manager and pilot or doing aviation part-time and diversifying my skills in a different field.

The takeaway for me was that you know your schedule with the 121 operators, you know what is expected of you. The FOM is constricting but at least everyone knows and adheres to what's in there. A lot of 121 is a pain but if you live in base, it's not that bad.

Part 91/135 in my experience has been er...interesting. I worked for a micromanager that got upset over minuscule things like where to write the weather and clearance down on the log sheet, what type of pen to use, scrubbing bugs when they had already been scrubbed, taking the adds out of the paper as a hard rule but then not worrying about using checklists. Or, telling me I had to have more ownership of the operations after the cruise power table was unavailable in the airplane, after it had been taken out by him. In the end I got to live at home, didn't have to commute and got paid better and was able to get last minute time off most of the time. Plus I was home almost every night.

If I could find a good 91/135 gig, I think that's the ticket. You have say in the operations and the reward of making it flow well. I think it totally depends on the owner(s) both aircraft and company.

smails

I have one of those great corporate jobs. I have worked 1 holiday/weekend in the entire 9 years a my current company. My total compensation package is over 150k. I have made every event at my kids schools and fly 8-10 days a month. All sounds great, but the simple fact of the matter is that aviation is not my companies primary business and it can go away at ant time. As my children start getting older and approach college age, my greatest fear is that the CEO/board decide to close the department. For that reason alone, I will go back to AA at some point. Seems like the best choice for my children's future, because we all know I am irrelevant. A good 91 gig is the best thing you could ever imagine, but you have to be prepared for them to close when you least expect it. There are many factors to consider and everyone will probably have a different decision. As the wisdom of aa73 has said, there are some really bad corporate jobs...really bad! So know what you are getting yourself into before you jump. I wish you the best and good luck.

galaxy flyer

KA,

I do likewise, doing so moments ago, but I'm a pilot, I like flying and don't relish getting paid and not flying. If the recommendation for airline work (I've been there, EA) is based on not flying, why even be a pilot?

I work about 12-15 days a month, not always gone that many; enjoy flying a Global and the trips are like a vacation--mostly several days off not usually in at 9pm, out 12 hours later.


GF

lavdump

Any advice for 91 pilot making the move to 121. Seems most carriers want prior 121 time. Not sure if going to a ULCC would be the best move or just waiting it out at 91 job with fingers crossed in hopes of a interview with Legacy carrier. Thanks for any advice!