So...
 

I have the degree. The CFI. And I just got an interview!!!

And the state of this industry turns my stomach.

I can't believe I'm thinking about taking a job that pays nothing. AND YES I MEAN NOTHING compared to what has been put in. Then when you start looking at what it is going to COST ME to be an FO (crash pad, parking, food and oh yeah, time away from home) and the picture gets worse.

Something starts to feel very wrong here...I can't believe I've come this far in pursuit of a career that seems to offer so little in the way of security, especially for my family.

Maybe I've been reading too many of Skyhigh's post...but maybe he's right.

And another thing...the idea of being a number on someone else's stupid seniority list is insane the more I think of it. Imagine your family's security being attached to your seniority number.

This stuff has gotten me worked up lately. Thus my posts in the "Leaving the career" section. And my career with the airlines hasn't even started...if it ever will.

Welcome to the suck. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

http://www.deltapress.com/images/WS-3.jpg

Accept your fate as a slave (to money), it makes your life easier.

:confused:

How did you think this was going to work? You got this far -all the way to an interview- and now realize being on a seniority list isn't right?

Good luck to you - abandoning hope now may be the way to go.

Jughead I knew it in my head, but u get this close and it all starts looking different.

The fall always looks higher once your toes are on the edge.

The seniority list at your particular company is a necessary evil. It certainly has its negatives but it has positives as well. You have a few too many sick calls or mx write ups and you could find that your upgrade is taking longer than your peers. You will see close friends of management upgrading before you, you will see furloughing out of order etc. It is not perfect but there is a reason it has been around for so many years....for lack of a better alternative.

Now is your time to GET OUT then with as little damage as possible.
You'll find your family's security tied to something out of your control no matter where you plant your flag.
Don't let that confuse you.
I'm curious though - - you seem pretty new to trying to break into the industry; how is it that you are just now coming to realize these facts?

USMCFLYR

Alas! A smart one. Get out while you can.

It also sounds to me that the starting salary is what laid the groundwork for the rest of the disappointment.
I suppose we can all tolerate a little more inconvenience and abuse if the money is right.
Hard to swallow it though when the job structure is just the insult on top of the injury.

Sky Knight, do you have kids? It seems like it's not just you in this equation.

The fantasy
 

The fantasy of a flying career always is sweeter than the reality. Don't forget to add that flying for an airline is boring as heck. You fly the same plane on the same ILS over and over and over again. Your life begins to blur into a replication of the same days onto eternity.

Up until now aviation has been rapidly changing for you. From this point on all challenge and creativity in your flying stops. As an airline pilot you are merely an automaton. A human computer that regurgitates the same actions as everyone else when promoted by the situation. Your goal is to be average.

As an airline pilot you go to work at the factory and manufacture approach and landings all day long.

Seriously if the reality is hitting you early I would take it as a blessing and as a sign of superior intelligence. Go back to college to get a business degree.

Surrender hope all ye who enter here.

Skyhigh