MEMFO4Ever

I'll add this much to the dislikes column:

I never feel like an employee, associate, team member, etc. at my company, merely a contractor.

The company you work for is only as good as the last paycheck that clears the bank. Freight companies included. They'll ditch you in a heartbeat if it saves a nickel.

There are plenty of trips that I say to myself in the middle of the night, "What am I getting out of this?"

dojetdriver

I guess this one could be interpreted various ways. When I was in high school/college I worked retail. I WAS an employee, nothing more. I was expected to show up on time, not be late, wear a name tag, not call in sick, do a good job, do OTHER people's jobs for them, etc. You know, just like any other employee at at any other job, just like a pilot job. Granted, I actually reap satisfaction from the job of being a pilot, but some stuff is just the same. One example payroll jacks up your pay check. Calling them and playing phone tag has NOTHING what so ever to do the fact that you are a pilot as well as the most expensive and highest trained employee for that company. You are just another employee.

At least a contractor would be able to negotiate things that may be more in their favor.

proskuneho

Wow, you guys have all given me some great feedback and I have a lot to think about. On one hand, I think I would always regret it if I don't push forward and at least taste airline life for myself. On the other hand, my kids are so young and I don't want to be gone for so much of their youth.
Keep the comments coming; I need wise counsel...

ToiletDuck

Better to do something and find out you don't like it then spend your life wondering. It's like that woman you saw at a bar...........

usmc-sgt

As far as being gone from home alot that will depend almost entirely on whether or not you commute.

For an example I work at a regional and have not gotten lower than my 3rd pick bidding and yet I typically leave my house at 4:00am on day one to catch a 6am to commute and then I am gone for day two and three and then I walk in my door on the 4th day anywhere between 4:00pm and 5:00am the next day if I miss all commute and am lucky enough for it to be a night that Fedex is running. For the most part though I typically am gone 4 days and 3 nights of every week.

proskuneho

You are gone 4 days and 3 nights commuting? Has your schedule always been like that, or was it much worse when you started? What about being on reserve? Would I not have to start at the bottom of the pecking order again with bidding schedules whenever I earn an upgrade? Even if I get lucky enough to be hired by an airline that stays strong, I am still looking at 4 times (at least) to be the rookie and junior man in scheduling (FO regional, captain regional, FO major, captain major)? Right? Then what happens if my company folds and I need to move elsewhere? I start again at the bottom with scheduling again. I'm not against paying my dues, I just would like to hear from those did it while having young kids at home.
Would any captains for majors care to chime in on what it is like to pay dues so many times?

dojetdriver

Yep, you got it right.

I have been a junior FO, then moved up to to the number 2 FO. Then went to upgrade, got downgraded back to the number 2 FO for two years. Got furloughed, went back to being a junior FO, moved up to about the top 10% of base/seat seniority, then upgraded to guess what? A junior CA at the bottom of the base/seat list. Now, getting downgraded AGAIN. The upside? I STILL have a job and am bidding now in about the top 8% for seat/base as FO. The downside, the career stagnation/regression.

As far as the schedule goes, that can vary drastically. But a 4 on 3 off is very typical, especially if you commute. It keeps commuting to 4 times a month, and if you can work it out, no crashpad/hotel. When I commuted to the east coast, it was pretty much standard that NOTHING was front end commutable. Meaning I ALWAYS had to go in the night before, but could always get home on the last day. Usually meant being home about 2 1/2 days a week, 3 nights in my own bed.

If you live in base, you QOL is way better. The reason I never moved to base was I've had 5 of them close on me. Not one of them lasted more than two years.

YMMV

Oh yeah, another thing I dislike about the job;

WAITING OF FREAKING HOTEL VANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

rickair7777

OK, I misunderstood and thought you were saying there was an large impending reduction in military manned aviation which would put a bunch of pilots on the street, that was unkown to the rest of us.

Civilians will always have to compete with military pilots, but there's no reason to think the current demographics are going to change in the near future (prior to 2025).

rickair7777

These sentiments are not uncommon, but it's useful to understand WHY things are the way they are....

The FAA, the company, and other organizations are concerned with CYA in the event of an accident. Our regs, rules, and procedures are designed to help steer us away from previously identified pitfalls, but more importantly, they are designed to protect those above us in the event of investigations or lawsuits. This protection takes the form of trying to account for every known or conceiveable thing which could go wrong, and directing us to avoid it.

Regulators and managers can always think up something new to require of us, but they essentially never REMOVE any old requirements. They are also not real good about streamlining convoluted documents which have grown over time with input from many different folks. There is no personal incentive to edit/remove existing requirements, so nobody bothers.

I fully agree that our rules are usually excessively cumbersome and confusing...there are often many possible interpretations of a given requirement, and the only correct answer is what the particular fed in your face happens to think.

About the only thing we can do is realize that the best pilots in the world could get in regulatory trouble on a bad day and just accept that as a risk of doing business. Avoid the obvious gotchas, fly safe, and do your best. I do believe that good piloting and judgement can avoid accidents in 121 about 100% of the time (not counting mechanical failures)...121 has enough layers of redundancy that we should be able to avoid peeling the whole onion.

BigFellor

HA! Come dispatch and sit in a room with them for 10 hours a day. Your two minute phone call will seem like the best part of your day.