Originally Posted by Blackhawk

Older guys such as myself do have problems with the “volunteer” stuff.
Home off a trip, fixing things around the house, driving kids to lacrosse, soccer, music. Doctor appointments. Volunteer as a coach for their team. None of that counts in the eyes of HR. Hey want Hanitat with Humanity. The young person with no responsibilities had plenty of time for that.

Like I wrote earlier, I’ve had my app looked at 3 times or more. Attended job fairs. Heck, even there as soon as you walk up and they see your age they try to get rid of you.

Originally Posted by Flyboy68

Prior military? Seems to be the only ones they'll take at that age.

Which doesn't make that much sense as far as age is concerned. A guy in their early 50's can only fly for a dozen or so years, and will never make the big bucks that a guy in their late 20's or early 30's will make after a dozen years of service. Seems like it would be cheaper for them to hire older pilots to save on the very high salaries of pilots that will have 25-35 years of service.

Originally Posted by Flyboy68

Just curious. I'm sure you all know several lifers at your regional. Of those lifers that cannot move up and are not a lifer by choice, what are the most common characteristics and flaws that most of them share? What are the main reasons you think they can't get on with a legacy or at least a good LCC/ULCC?

Are they socially inept, weird, a-holes, slobs, unprofessional, not likeable?
Training failures, incidents/accidents, DUI's, criminal record?

Is it their personality holding them back more than their flying record, and or, their personal history?

We can use this thread as a cautionary tale. Thanks.

Originally Posted by FlyingMaryJane

Lots of guys including myself have side businesses, investments etc and when you combine the flying with your side gig's you make as much or more than a legacy pilot... That's what I did, I enjoyed the 16-18 days off, living in base,mainline travel benefits and medical benefits. Sometimes and especially in the airline industry you need a plan B or even C because its a crazy industry, I was lucky that my plan B has turned out better than my plan A! That is a big one that isn't mentioned much about lifers, there are alot that DON'T NEED TO MOVE ON

Originally Posted by Counselor

For these guys/gals who don't move on because flying is more of a hobby to complement the side gig, what kind of retirement flight benefits do they get when they retire from a regional? Mainline travel benefits?

Originally Posted by SoFloFlyer

Just out of curiousity, would getting a masters degree help any? I’ll be 25 this year and want to start setting myself up for success.

Originally Posted by chrisreedrules

I think a lot of the posters on this thread miss the mark completely...

The airlines weren’t doing too great in the year or two leading up to September 11th, 2001. That event in many ways set in motion a downward spiral for the legacies. Then age 65 happened. And then the financial crisis / housing crisis of 2007/2008. Essentially what the industry was left with was a, “lost decade”.

Pilots were essentially “stuck” where they were at. So this begs the question... Do you put your entire life on hold to wait until you make more money? Or do you go ahead and marry your wife and have kids? Buy that house you and your family wants? No career is worth putting your life on hold.

So the natural byproduct is that many pilots who often suffered from nothing other than bad timing went on about their lives. And it wasn’t until a few years ago really that entry-level wages at the legacies improved. So for most pilots with mortgages, kids in college, etc it simply was not feasible to make the jump. And now that perhaps it is feasible they have less than 10 years left and don’t think the juice is worth the squeeze for the twilight of their career.

There are those who have other issues, but I have ran across far more who fit the mold above than those who have personality conflict and training/qualification issues.