[quote=Mrsmith42e;361068]Stap Weining girlyman!

I am in the Air Force stuck in a cublicle. I cant even quit my job to go and follow my passion and fly due to my commitment to the Air Force. You can ALWAYS quit your job! I cant or I go to jail!

Plus, there are tons of opportunities in aviation. Just look for them![/quote]

Been staring at that lcd screen too long have ya? Lets see, going on 8000 hours, almost 3200 pic, 6000 turbine...legacy hasnt even called, have four letters of rec at DAL an two CAL...yep jobs are there...oh wait, I can always fly corporate...hmmm where to look; where to look?

I believe I have the insight on what to do, problem is I am looking and applied, and begged, but no such luck. We all know it takes luck as well. I am thankful to have a job but does that mean I have to love the conditions have been given or be discouraged by what has transpired in the recent past? When I applied and was hired by this airline, three contracts ago I was employed under certain work rules and salary that were alledgely protected by the contract and our faithful union. Surprise....S##t happens, I can accept that but only for so long. What Saab was saying I believe there comes a time when you begin to wonder if AFTER all the years of chasing the pot of gold was worth the QOL and financial expense not too mention marriages? One can only answer that after the fact unfortunately.

As for the Air Force, I too was there, and guess what, you can leave after your term as well which btw is defined when you reupped. So you have knowledge and can plan as well when the term is up. As for the cubicle position, well, I believe the AF allows for you to pick the career you wish when you enlisted if not cross train.

Looking back would I follow the same path, answer to that is no. Am I preparing for the future outside of avaition, yes. In the meantime, I enjoy the flying and co workers but disgusted with the industry and how all pilots and FA's are treated.

SAAB!
After reading your bashing of colgan for many months now! It puts a smile on my face to read how worn down your getting. Shoulda just stayed put at Colgan and ate crow like the ones before me and those many years after me! Folks this is what happens when somebody gets SJS!:D

no im not @ Mesa, never sat reserve, held a line from day 1, single and dont live with mommy, been doin it a year...lucky maybe, but did my research...you all knew what you were getting into...complain about how smart it was for you to do the airline thing not about the ones who like the job. I love flying with guys like you who just complain the whole time while i sit there with a smile on my face... no matter how hard u guys try, it gets under your skin that someone likes being up there.

Sometimes I just hate my job I also hate the fact that I have the bug and hope it will get better although i know it won't. The sad fact is that it can be changed overnight if we had a pair. The industry has no respect for pilots from the pax to management gate agents to rampers. What needs to be done is we need to take some time off just a day or two to remind the flying public management and congress who makes things happen. If you think a couple of md-80 flights made the news I would love to see Wolf Blitzer and Bill discuss have our unscheduled vacation on his talking points.

I was just discussing with my wife yesterday the possibility of leaving this profession for better pay and quality of life. One relatively easy career move would double my salary and allow me to be home for dinner every night.

I stay in for two reasons: 1) the time and money I've invested to be here, and 2) the prospect of opportunity after the dust settles from the current industry downturn. But with the goals of buying a house and starting a family in the not-so-distance future, a choice must be made...

Hang in there Saaberino! I know I can be a bit negative w/ my outlook re: the industry too. It sounds like you've reached an important crossroads here in your airline career that I think many of us are going through right along with you. That is to say, pilots are stubborn, they don't like to give up and they'll pursue their flying goals to no end because they're so goal oriented. We can only envision ourselves flying airplanes. That's what we were meant to do. Yet you have to be a realist as well, so you're considering your options outside of aviation, which quite a few more people are doing these days. This is healthy and means that while you're frustrated, you're well grounded and you are thinking ahead, as every good pilot should be predisposed to do anyway. Keep flying for now, just keep thinking about what you might possibly want to do outside of aviation should things worsen. Also, ask yourself how you could market yourself as a former airline pilot. I'm sure you've learned a whole lot while @ CoEx, you definitely know how to perform under pressure and you've got a sense of humor, so you are doing alright.

On a sidenote but sort of mirroring what you're talking about here, I knew a Mesa CRJ captain out of PHX several years ago who went back home to Australia to get his law degree. He was a commuter out of Santa Fe, NM. I remember talking to him before he left, he told me about his next door neighbor in Santa Fe. His neighbor was a municipal bus driver for the city of Santa Fe, turns out he made more money and had better benefits than this guy who was mostly flying the CRJ 900 out of PHX. This guy spent a portion of his career flying crop dusters in South/Central America in order to build up his flight time. He tried to climb the ladder as best he could and wound up being out-earned by a bus driver. I think that was probably the "moment of clarity" that convinced him to hang up his aviation hat. I realize most people will say "Well, that's Mesa for you!" But it is still a sad commentary on a job that is so under-appreciated by society.

Good luck, you already know it, but many of us are right there in the same boat w/ you.

The Duke

And why do you compare a blue collar job to a job where most of us invested 50K plus a 4 year degree?

If airline flying is anything, it's blue collar work. Especially at regionals. Regardless of how much money you spent on learning the trade or how many degrees you have.

Sitting ready reserve for 20 hours in the past two days has got me thinking a lot about cutting my losses now and pursuing other opportunities. It'll definitely be a tough decision, but I'm about to be in my third base in the past 5 months. I have some interviews with some other regionals out there which I will probably do, but within the next couple weeks I'll have to decide whether it'll be worth staying in for in the long run.

what's wrong with being the bum husband?

my wife's an engineer turned lawyer (still not sure how i managed this...) and we enjoy most of my job. i'm gone for 4 days (she gets to sleep and hog the bed), then i come home, play house-husband for a few days (cooking dinner and trying to clean to her standards), and my paycheck goes toward the fun stuff (new car, cruise, etc.)

yes, the stupid crap we put up with when we leave for the airport sucks, but it could be worse.