I had a beer today
 

I was thinking about my 430am wake up, crappy hotel, 5 hour sit, living out of luggage like a Gypsy, working weekends and holidays and the joke of an outfit (with a union) that I work for and decided to proudly have a beer in uniform today after my last leg (I did remove the made in China zip-up-tie and shiny plastic alloy wings from the make believe left pocket of course). It tasted really good and I've also decided to grow a beard. So far this month scratch lottery tickets have provided more than my paycheck. Good thing I went to college and have a business degree to fall back on. It seems like most guys that stay with this for awhile do so because they have railroaded themselves into it and have never developed any useful business skills. Also, the world will not end in 2012 as the Mayans predicted. It will end when Tony Romo says so.

See ya! Don't let the door hit you in the a** on the way out.

Words of wisdom straight from Mesa.

Tony Romo sucks.

I had a beer when I got home today too. I thought about the fact that I've never worked a holiday, haven't done an overnight in 6 years, work an average of 10 days a month, and should make around $120K this year. Yes I work at a regional. Its all about where you work, what kind of contract you have, and a little luck. Yes you have to be pretty senior for this to be your story, but hey, it was worth the wait for me. I should go to a major, I'm young enough, but man this makes it tough. This is why its so sad to see Sh*tty companies getting larger because people are willing to go there and make less because "hey, its just a regional. You have to get in, get your time, and get out". Enjoy the race to the bottom newbies! I'm sure this career is going to be excellent in 10 years by the time you get your "dream job".

So your solution is to come onto an internet board and post that you had a beer?
Have you railroaded yourself into a position that you can not get out of or have you had enough of the "430am wake up, crappy hotel, 5 hour sit, living out of luggage like a Gypsy, working weekends and holidays and the joke of an outfit..." and will be leading the charge to leave the industry that has not met with your expectations?

USMCFLYR

Hmmm. I've been doing this for seven years and find this very hard to believe. :cool:

Its all about when you get in. If you get hired during massive movement you aren't junior for long. If you get hired when things are barely moving, it could mean years of reserve, awful schedules, and terrible pay (stuck in the right seat). I'm sure I don't have to tell you about it though. All I'm saying is if you're in the right place at the right time, it doesn't have to be THAT bad. Living close to the airport doing day trips is awesome if you have a family.

Are You skywest ORD based?? There is a guy there who goes around telling everyone exactly what you are saying.

I was looking forward to a detailed review of the specific beer the OP consumed when I saw the title of this thread. I guess this is APC though, not BeerConnoisseurForums. My bad. Then again on the regional board I guess we're limited to favorites such as PBR and Natty Light until we get some better contracts (or upgrade?).

All that said,

I'm drinking a Heineken right now, actually. Cheers, guys.