TC,

”Negative tower”….all pilots are home-based, just as it was at XO, FE, NJ, FJ. No stress (even with yesterday’s stoppage).

1. Notify 24 hrs prior to where plane is parked
2. Use company credit card to purchase refundable airline ticket on any of the majors
3. Collect the points and ride in the back (biggest ++++ from a 13 yr former “commuting” 121 pilot
4. Land, Uber to aircraft (company credit card) and start rotation OR Lyft to hotel or have the CA pick you up in the rental (when appropriate on company credit card).

That's pretty sweet except for the part about having to use the airlines to and from work. Just a personal thing with me but I loathe hanging around in airports. TSA, lines, crowds, ATC delays, all of it. Are you flying FC or Steerage? Pos space is nice, but I am sick of going through the hassle of flying to and from the plane. If I had to, of course, I would. But being able to drive to the local drome to start and end my trips is fantastic. I will gladly earn less to be home more. That's why I retired after all.

Everyone has to find their own happy spot. If it makes any sense, my job checks just enough of the boxes I want to have checked without requiring me to deal with other boxes being checked. Of course, my daily pay rate reflects that. For example, 70-80 percent of my flying is day trips and some are less than 6 hours Duty. We might Airline DH once or twice a month and when we do they're always in FC. Rental cars await us at the FBOs and are returned to the same. Very nice hotels, etc.

Jet Edge has been acquired by VistaJet and has a newly appointed Kiwi Director of Ops who is well known in the 135 world. I wouldn’t be surprised if it suffers the same fate as XOJET

Good info on Jet Edge? Run!

A general rule of thumb for pilots—avoid all things Vista. They manage from an office across the pond and are disconnected from the pilot market in the US. They don’t accept feedback and are deaf to other points of view. XOJET currently has over half of their Challengers parted due to pay/QOL decreases as well as firing pilots who they (Vista) viewed as being paid too much. It’s not a completely terrible idea to go to Red Wing for a type rating. However, I would caution against any long term plan with any company that Vista owns: XOJET, Red Wing, Jet Edge.

Bat

Congrats on finding the kind of job that checks so many boxes, great analogy. I wish everyone would be so fortunate and honest with themselves about what they will or will not tolerate.

Many folks fool themselves into thinking “this or that doesn’t bother me” “things will get better”.

How does that work out with picking a spouse? Usually not well.

Job choice is about comprises but how many as well as what irritates a person about a specific job. Some don’t care, others do.

Again, glad the “happy place” has been found for you and for me. I hope others do also.

cheers and God Bless

I flew at NetJets for 12 years before bailing (medical). Take a look at the large Fractional Operators. NJA has pretty good 1st year pay, there's lots of "soft" money depending on how busy your fleet is. Haven't heard from anyone making less than $100K first year, and many have made close to $150K. One downside is NJA got congress to implement an age 70 retirement that applies to only NJA right now. Too many older pilots were milking the sick leave system. NJA is the only fractional that has a union.

FlexJet & Fly Exclusive have decent pay and home basing. FWIW I enjoyed flying the private jets a lot more than my airline flying. I passed recall to USAirways to stay at NJA.

Remember, you'll be doing a lot of stuff you didn't have to do with the airlines. Loading bags, arranging the catering, cleaning seats and vacuuming the jet. Lots of info in the Fractional Section of APC.

Can I give you a call in the next few days for some career counseling? I get back tonight.

TC

Buyer beware of Jet Edge / Vista....