Guard

Just saying, if you live near a base I think a major is a good job, if you gotta commute to a crash pad it sucks! Commuting is the only part of working at a major I couldn't stand and my wife makes more than me so moving is not an option, plus my Country Club initiation is paid off, going to be good to finally be able to use it on my 7 days off.

GeeWizDriver

TM was talking about how silly the meal deviation program is.

If you call in fatigued just to have time to use your meal deviation, you’ll probably get fired.

OhSnapAF

Yea if you want 7 days off in a row consistently, you’ll never get that at a major. Not considering reserve, even with a commute, you’ll work around the same amount of days off than you would on the 7/7, and several days more than the CC76, and make more doing it. I totally get the added stress of commuting and all that but commuter clauses at all the airlines it’s really not that big of a deal unless you gotta do a 2-3 leg because you live in nowheresville. To each their own, that’s for sure.

Guard

I live in a place where you show up at the gate and commute air's flight is suppose to be at 4PM and its delayed till 8 or 9 at Dulles. I drove the 120 miles for years but the I-95 traffic finally broke me, 5 hours to go 100 miles both ways was the end for me, loving the paid airline ticket to get to/from work, and sadly with three kids we could never non-rev except to Europe on Tuesday's! The Dummy ticket at NJA is a pretty nice benefit to get to my place in Key West during the winter!

su2099

This is the root problem I think with NetJets pilots. It’s the attitude that most pilots here will settle for less so they will always be behind in terms of the going rate for an ATP rated pilot. It’s truly sad because NetJets pilots deserve better and so much more. It’s a unique job and it demands better pay due to the quirks of the business. We wish you guys and gals all the best.

Guard

It's important to remember that in my 50 years we have been here at the Majors 5 times with decent pay and living the good old life only to see it collapse time and time again. Deregulation in 1980, late 1980's when Lorenzo reared his ugly head was probably the worst and change the industry forever, ending Pilot Partnership with Management to "glorified bus drivers" (Lorenzo's own words). Then in mid-90's, 9/11 and 2008. Glad to see everyone doing well but were all one recession or plane into a building for it all to crash down again. Save your money and always always have a plan B!

OhSnapAF

Well said. Nobody is immune to the next recession. The ONLY saving grace is age 65. The amount of attrition at the top could easily translate into furloughing at the top. Outlook wise, the airline industry is in a very good spot. There will be a bit more consolidation but look at how many airlines have been absorbed in the last 10-15 years. Dozens of airlines are gone and or merged but the demand for flying is high and growing, and everyone is at capacity. But it is all good until it isn't.

GeeWizDriver

Another area where Part 121 is light years ahead of us. In what parallel universe is it a good idea to have 75 year old chowderheads flying customers for hire?

60 was certainly too young. 65 might even be too young given the advances in fitness, nutrition, and medical technology. 67 seems about right.

But the people that apologize for NetJets missing the mark on contract improvements are frequently the same people who claim mandatory retirement is “arbitrary.” What is no longer “arbitrary?” 78? 91? 103?

OhSnapAF

Well I’ll tell you from experience, having to tell the guy with 4 bars not to takeoff on a taxiway 4 times before he even understood what was going on, sucks. Being paid less than half of what those dinosaurs make, and having to be responsible over them without them even knowing, was not sustainable for the 15 years it would take to upgrade. Certainly flew with amazing people but the concentration of oddballs and pilots who should have their wings clipped was higher at NJA than I’ve ever seen. Although I suppose that’s 135...

I have yet, in 2 years at my airline, to fly with somebody that shouldn’t be in that seat. Where at NJA probably 2 out of 10 captains shouldn’t have been captains.

Few things in the airline world are arbitrary. 117 is a great example of that. 65 didn’t come out of thin air, and 67 is certainly something I expect to see in my future.

NJA is a large holdout of guys who were in financial ruin and some wont ever recover. It’s not surprising that they are fighting the hardest for no retirement, their only option is to work until they die because they didn’t plan.

tm602

You miss the point. If you are fine with having to fatigue to eat, I don't know what to tell you. Fatigue calls are for fatigue, not to eat.