wow, you guys are delusional. Do you guys think you can opt out of aviation and go be a nurse, or a real estate agent and boom a year later you make $100,000.00/year? Get real! our economy is garbage, we have become a country of lazy self-entitled cry babies. I have no doubt I can make more money doing sales, I am personable and I am pretty good at manipulating people, but I actually like what I do (good and bad). The problem is commuting and working for a sh*t company. I know I will never have it as good as I have it now (especially in the fall when the furloughs come), but grossing 50k as a 2nd year F/O, weekends off and 17 days off total is AMAZING. Have fun with he spreadsheets, or the numerous amount of phone calls for stupid work-related stuff.

It is amazing to me that some of you are calling it quits after only such a short time in the industry. Stop crying, grow some balls and be an adult about it. IF you thought you would hold CA at a regional after 2 years then be left seat at FedEx or CAL a year after that. you are more naive then the people that think the are paying too much for an airline ticket.

The amount of crying I am starting to see is a clear indication of that whole "self-entitlement" problem. If you have a family, no doubt they come first you need to keep those relationships strong and put food on the table, do whats right for your family first.

I am 27 poor (although $50,000.00/yr puts me above the national average), and it makes me somewhat bitter that my delinquent friends make a lot of money and own houses, but I don't want to do what they do, and I don't envy their careers, maybe get slightly jealous of their financial situation. The industry is terrible and I think this time around the cuts will be deeper and longer then 9/11 (pending any crazy drop in fuel). Anyway enough of my ramblings, but I want to leave you guys with some food for thought.........

Pick which company (airline) you want to work for very very carefully, most importantly keep your commute easy if you must commute and work for a company that has great work rules. Life here at XJT is a world away from my time at Colgan. Yes I would have PIC turbine time by now but I would not have lasted that long. I feel for those who are stuck at places like MESA where they treat you like a slave..........

Wow, where can I make 50K as a second year regional FO!?!?!

The point
 

SAABaroowski

I think that the point is that the brass ring really doesn't exist anymore. Why go through all the BS at the regionals only to face making as much as a big city garbageman at the majors? Why not stay at home with your family and enjoy a new profession that offers a similar wage but more security and a better quality of life?

Pilots love to hold up the ten year captain pay scale at their dream airline as justification for all their sacrifices but the problem is that by the time you get there there has been pay cuts, mergers, layoffs and shutdowns. We all have seen how aviation has been in decline over the last 20 years. Just project that trend into the future and see what you get.

It is not whining but common sense and an interest in self preservation. You have only been in the profession for two years. You don't have a wife and children at home who depend on you. Until you reach that point you possibly can not understand what myself and others are concerned about.



SkyHigh

Expressjet. Heres how though

1) Must live in base (Day trips and ability to pick up some great trips that pop up in open time at last minute)

2) Work the system as much as you can (30/7 drops, RA days that they cant use you and musty work on vacation)

3) With two weeks of vacation I was able to get paid 130+ hrs for Jan, and 140+ hrs in Feb


SKYHIGH

After reading all of your posts I actually respect your opinion very much and I think you have some great points. I agree with 90% of what you say, the problem is I am still willing to take the risk and continue flying for a living. I also have a girl whom is smart enough to know that she can never rely on me alone financially for a family income ( at least at this point), so she makes her own money

Can't do it
 

If you had a wife and kids at home you could not do most (any) of that. Its Newark right?

SkyHigh

Newark yes, I live in Hoboken, NJ, its a 15 minute car ride, (8miles away)

Again I understand that most dont live anywhere near NJ................

[quote=SAABaroowski;426014]
Pick which company (airline) you want to work for very very carefully, most importantly keep your commute easy if you must commute and work for a company that has great work rules. quote]

The problem is if you get LUCKY and get on to the place with great pay/work rules, they could be gone in 10, 20, 30 years. I don't want to be 50 someday and find my dream company dissappearing or merging and then getting cut or stapled. It can happen in ANY industry, but in this one, if you're out of a job, you start at the bottom. With other industries, with some contacts and good past performance, you can at least sneak in somewhere in the middle.

[quote=AV8ER;426065]That is what I am worried about. As you make more money you spend it. I don't want to be making $150k when I'm 40, then have something happen (furlough,lose medical). There is no way I would be able to find another job making anywhere near that much.

If I get out now and get another job in a different industry. If I lost that job, then it would be much easier to find another job making around the same or more.

You have to take risks to make money. I'm not sure the aviation risk and lifestyle is what I want anymore.

[QUOTE=Spooled;426122]I hear ya, I respect that, its a very mature argument, and I cant argue with you. Its scary to think about this industry and the future. I know a few guys that left JB as CA's to go back to United, now look they will be back on the street again, I cant imagine the stress and heartache they, and their families are going through

I don't think we are delusional. I had the same attitude as you when I was 27. I'm 36 now, and have been in the industry since 21. I won't lie to you. I think about getting back into flying for a living EVERYDAY. However, i'm never able to pull the trigger, because the reality of it all scares me.

Now, on to something more important...........Is Arthur's Steak House still open in Hoboken? Go get a Filet, and a blue cheese crumbled wedge for me will ya?:)