tallpilot

It looks like you are already passed the denial stage of grief and have moved into despair. That's progress.

Dual piston time isn't worthless and it sounds like you still have a job. That puts you in better shape than many others.

Does it suck that you were a month or two from getting an ATP and a type rating paid for by a desperate regional? Of course it does. Nobody is happy that the world changed overnight but now we need to adapt.

Keep flying whatever you can. Grab some additional qualifications if you can afford them. Keep networking. Look for a second job outside of aviation so you have some sort of backup.

Many people in your shoes will give up. That's what sows the seeds of the next shortage. I was like the fighter dbag above (minus the F-18 time) in 2001. I couldn't find a job shining shoes at an airport and I tried. I even got turned down to be a ticket taker at an aviation museum but I went to the interview because a friend arranged it for me and I needed a job.

So I went back to school and did other things until I returned to flying. Unlike thousands on this board you still have a flying job. That's not nothing.

neverposts

"not everyone can just uproot their lives"

I never understood this. Wifey poo is gonna move or wifey poo can find someone else to pay her bills. And don't give me the i don't want to uproot my kids from school. Public school is a joke. Also do you have a flying job in this market? That is a GODSEND Do whatever it takes.

TiredSoul

Entitled much?
This is called Life and it truly sucks sometimes.
This is your first set back in aviation and by the sound of it maybe even in your life.
Many of us have been through 9-11 and 2008 and COVID is our third black swan event.
Now we have people that started flying anywhere between 2010-2015 and have only experienced the upswing and with minimal experience went racing up the steps.
That was an exceptional period in aviation and not the norm.
It became the norm for you guys as you’d never seen a furlough or an overnight bankruptcy.
Welcome to the real world of aviation where the music stops every 7-10 years.
Maybe you should be glad you still have a job and the term “useless piston time” is a slap in the face of the people that don’t.......
You have my understanding but certainly not my sympathy.

tallpilot

Divorce is cheapest when you are unemployed but it is never cheap.

neverposts

divorce costs money because tis worth it. you mean i can get married and then divorced and lose half my stufff AND pay child support AND pay alimony to a fully grown adult thats more than capable of getting a job? marriage doesn't sound like a scam at all when 50 percent of marriages end in divorce. and then a woman asks me if I'm gay because i refuse to get married.

captive apple

Please stay out of instructing. These people are not paying their money for you to have a Forrest goes to college moment.

VegasChris

Same spot. I am sitting just below R-ATP minimums. Was supposed to be at one of the regional classes right now. I never left my other career in the fire department, so I am holding onto that now for the forseeable future....and definitely valuing the career security I have by working for local government.

I see regional guys with PIC jet time fighting for the flight instructor spots here. Not even worth applying to the 135s when any 30 year legacy guys that took the early retirements are still looking to fly.

I sold my plane that I was using to teach in and build time- so its back to renting

I could care less about the 90 day currency for take-offs and landings- when am I going to have a passenger anyways? I am thinking I will just rent every 6 months with another CFII to do our 6 approaches to maintain instrument currency. I have to do a FIRC by march of next year- so at least this thing put me on a good 6 month cycle.

When it comes back, I am not sure I will even be competitive with the current times.....but right now its not worth investing another penny into gaining more hours because I will be the one paying for them.

Cyio

Seems a little jaded to me or someone who clearly doesnt have a wife or kids.

1. What if the wife is making more money and cant move due to job? Are you saying the "mans" job is more important?
2. What if the kids have been in the same school system their entire lives and have friends, relationships, sports participation, jobs etc? Really going to totally uproot their lives just to go fly some podunk caravan? No, no I dont think so.
3. Divorce is great when things are bad, but what if you actually love your wife and family? Dump that for another cargo job in western Alaska? Yeah no.

Your post is so ignorant and dismissive I probably should have just ignored it but I cant stand it when people fail to recognize that we are all different and have different priorities.

񹙋񹙋񹙋​Yeah this is what people are not seeing or choose to ignore. The market is flooded with pilots and there simply are not enough jobs going right now.

I will admit, if you are single, no kids, no pets, no close ties to anyone or any place, you can indeed find a job working for very little. Most either dont fall into this category or simply cant justify it simply for the "i was born to fly" sentiment.

SystemB

This thread reminds me of how good people are at projecting their own life situation onto others and then thinking “why doesn’t he just XYZ?” Common life situations such as having a child can makes things go from being a good option to impossible. Add, any number of other variables: aging parents, divorced and co-parenting, financial obligations, and on and on.

CantTaxiToACS

I don’t know why but I guess it’s a normal reaction people had to my post to tell me in varying ways “welcome to the world.” Trust me, I’ve already been welcomed. You don’t know me and I don’t know you.

I’m looking more long term for the pilots in and around my situation. Not qualified to jump onto something else (cargo, p91) before furloughs and certainly not qualified after the majors furlough. The writing is on the wall for guys like me. When I said “there is literally nothing to do” I don’t mean I’m gonna sit in my room and pout. I’ve done a lot since March to better myself. I mean I don’t think there is a viable way out of this in a positive direction for CFIs or Commercials with the mins. As far as being told to be lucky for my job. I already see the reduction in students happening at my school.

Right now, it seems like it’s either bleed out for years as a CFI, or just tie off.