One wonders....

Is it an FBO crew lounge if there’s no NJ’s pilots in it?

Uniform blazers, Fox News, crew meals. Thats what is in every FBO across the country as we speak.

Indeed. I know it well.

Thanks for the replies, everyone.



Anyone willing to go deeper down the rabbit hole with me?

I’m currently in the 121 regional world and it’s... not been great. I have 2 children under the age of 3 and with my whopping 11 days off + commuting, I’m legitimately surprised when they actually recognize me upon returning home. That being said, we have been told that there are improvements to scheduling and other little things coming “soon.” However, “soon” might not be soon enough for me.

So, my uiltimate questions are:

1 - For those of you with children, do you feel like your schedule at the fractionals affords you more time at home than anything else?

2 - Would any/all/none of you recommend making a move from the regionals to a fractional right now? Not wanting to give away too much about me, but I believe that I have competitive times and likely could do it.

One thing I’m not extremely concerned with is pay, but feel free to throw that into your argument if you think it’s important enough.

I found that I worked 17-19 days a calendar month, and was a whipped dog on my first day home.

Something close to home basing may make it appealing to you, but you also need to know that you might be pigeon holed into the right seat of something very small for years, and spend a lot of your life stooped over cleaning, stocking doing lavs and throwing bags. It’s hard work.

On the plus side the airline and hotel perks generally paid for at least one vacation a year.

Depends on what your end goal is. If you are ultimately looking for a major airline, then I would steer clear of NJA. If you want a reasonably predictable schedule (7 and 7) then it could be a good fit. I've done the regional thing, NJA and now at a major. I can tell you that my on the road QOL and time at home is the best it has ever been where I'm currently at. It will only improve as commuting comes to an end in a month or two.

Your mileage may vary.
BT

BT,

It only gets better and better.

Agreed 100%

All of this.

4thgen,

As others have said, fractional flying, specifically NetJets, can be a decent gig depending on the priorities in your life. The schedule predictability of 7-7 is good, there is opportunity to earn more if you work more, vacations can be awesome if bid properly, and benefits are generally good although the new health care provider is in a race to the bottom.

But only come to NJ if you are willing to be HONEST about what you’ll be getting into. Long days, short nights, inconsistent hotels, questionable crew food, schedulers who hate you, 8-10 year upgrade and into a micro barbie jet when it finally does happen, and a host of other minor irritants too numerous to mention.

If you’re good with that, send in your packet. Decent pilots are getting harder to find by the day.

Oh crap, I forgot that we’ve practically suspended hiring since the IBB put a few thousand pilot days back into the system...

Well, attrition should start to thin the ranks enough by summer to restart hiring.

Good luck.