Hoss,

I marvel at guys like you. Your career story reads like a fairy tale. I am sure that you can not relate or understand how an industry that has been so good to you and your generation could be so harsh to others. During the mid-1990's I was flying in rural Alaska trying desperately to get out of there and into a turbine of some kind. The recession of the early 1990's really slowed things down. Most of my graduating class from college never even got their first job.

I have a clean record. I never flunked a check ride or been fired from anyplace. I took the best jobs that were offered to me and have a file cabinet full of letters of recommendation and accolades from past employers. Every year I dutifully applied to every legacy, regional, and commutter airline that I knew of. I spent a fortune on application fees, job fairs and trade shows. I kept in contact with every pilot friend I got to know.

I do not know what the magic formula is however there are windows of opportunity that come along that seem offer easier pickings. I do not know all the details of your story but it seems to me that perhaps you hit the market at a good time. If that is the case I wish you could have some empathy for the rest of us.

You might be an expert on how to get hired in the late 1980's but I believe that my experience is more relevant to the challenges that pilots are facing now and in the future. New CFI's today have an uphill climb ahead of them. Is it their fault that fate has dealt them a harsh set of circumstances? My generation of pilots did not have it easy at all. Very few of the pilots I came up through the ranks with made it very far. When it finally appeared to be my time 9-11 came along and we were all tossed out. Are you really suggesting that it was all our fault? Do you really want to label me and my peers as losers? I can not accept that. I was there trying my best every day until it became to hard on my family to continue.

I know that I have made different choices than some here, but I can not agree that they were the wrong ones either. My career may have not worked out as I had planned but my personal life has. I don't think it was my fault but rather an industry and profession that is changing. People need to evaluate where the industry is going and if they really want to be there.

I would love to pick you up at the airport next week, share hunting stories and have lunch, however my wife and I have a baby in in the hospital right now. My wife is there with him by his bedside and I am holding things down at home with our other sons. I do not know when they will be back. Hopefully after that of you are available we could try again?


Skyhigh

 

Great post, Albief15. I don't know how many times I've had to switch to "plan B", only to find that the outcome was even better than my expectations for "plan A". But that never led me to disparage "plan A" or those who continued to pursue it. You never know if that bus might come by again, just when you need a ride.

 

Skyhigh, you could still be living in the Northwest and making good money as a Captain at Horizon had you stayed. That's right, I said good money. I make more than most of my "professional" friends. How much money do you need? Plus, I've realised a boyhood dream of seeing the world. I don't want to be home every night. Boring. Your comment about flying in Alaska is telling. You should have been loving that experience and having a blast if this career was for you. I loved my 135 experiences. Sure the pay could have been better but somehow I always knew that gaining experience, developing my piloting and decision making skills, and the freedom and joy of that type of flying were all part of the compensation package.

It seems like leaving was a good decision for you. I'm curious why you can't just walk away.

 

Hopefully your son is OK!

 

You are suggesting that since I was not having the time of my life as a bush pilot that perhaps I was not meant to fly? My reply is that I did not want to be a bush pilot. I did not ever want to be a regional pilot either. I wanted to be a respected major airline pilot who was well taken care of by my employer and was I willing to climb the ladder to get there.

Flying to me was a profession and not a vision quest. I loved it just as much as anyone else here but my main focus was in making a good living and not in adventure seeking. I am not alone either. Everyone in my college graduating class expected to get a better life out of their flying career as well. In the late 1980's the term "regional airline" did not exist. Horizon air was just a dead end fledgling airline that most of us were hoping to avoid.

Flying is for me. Poverty, long hours, constant moving and decreased financial security is not. Professional aviation has changed considerably since I took my first lesson. Had I known what the future held I certainly would have dropped the yoke long ago as most of my classmates did years prior.

I don't know much about you however given your attitude it would not surprise me if you were not a single guy who was married to the job. To that I say you are in good company. The path to success in aviation today seems lie in the maintenance of low expectations. Don't get married. Don't expect to have much of a home life. Don't plan on anything other than mailman wages and a life of managements choosing. If you are comfortable with that then you are in the right place. I however have a family to support and a life to live.

In answer to your question "why I can't just walk away" :

Just like you flying has been my dream since I was a kid. After spending most of my life trying to make that dream come true those urges don't just go away overnight. The best analogy I can offer is that I quit smoking over 20 years ago and still occasionally want to light up. I am sure that my aviation dreams will perpetually haunt me. After more than 20 years of effort you guys are all that I have left of my flying dreams.

Skyhigh

 

Thanks,

He has been on a breathing tube in the ICU for a few weeks now but is expected to make a full recovery. No fun though...

Skyhigh

 

Oh man, how painful to watch!

Awesome to hear he'll be OK.

 

Thanks again. The last few weeks have been difficult.

Skyhigh

 

SH,

Your kids health is far more important to me than a petty argument over something as trivial as flying. I hope that all goes well you and your family are in my thoughts. Let us know how this turns out.

 

I really don't know what there is to look forward to anymore honestly. Maybe just a few pipe dreams. Maybe ask the Midwest pilots what they have to look forward to?

As I watch my own company grow and consume, I watch my career expectations dwindle too. Sure would have been nice to be flying for Continental right now, but you can't control the hand you are dealt. Its all timing, good and bad. I seem to have caught things in the middle.

Unforunately, the future doesn't look very bright. Just look at the last 10 years, wages and working conditions have gone nowhere but backwards. There's no predicting the next 10 years in this industry, but one thing I've discovered is that spending so much time away from my wife is only going to get harder when we have our first child.

I've recently gone back to school and I'm hoping to make a career change out of this industry. Like Skyhigh, I think I'm coming to the realization that the sacrifices to fly metal just aren't worth the reward.