A Question about the hours...
 

I am currently in the Human Resources field and I am working on my flight training. The question I have is from a realistic standpoint, can I work a part time professional job with flexible hours while I am a "poor" regional FO?

With a monthly maximum of 77 flight hours, how many hours will I actually be putting into the job? With my HR background, I am hoping to be able to work as a recruiter P/T with every free hour that I am not working at the airline. The hours are completely flexible and all I need is my laptop, so I could easily work a little while I am on the road.

Can I also be doing a little CFI work? What other options have you financially challenged "rookies" been doing to make ends meet??

Obviously, getting into a pilot career for the love of the job, NOT the $$$$

Thanks in advance!!!

I think most airline pilots hold second jobs, especially in the beginning. It is possible to CFI on your days off, assuming you don't violate your airline's GOM and exceed the flight time limits.

You will probably hold a crappy schedule at your regional, working weekends and having days off in the middle of the week. This could be an asset, allowing you to maybe work 3 days or so in the HR field.

Excellent information!!
 

That's exactly the answer I was looking for! As either a Human Resource Consultant or an outside Recruiter, my hours can be completely flexible and the wage can be quite good. Who knows, maybe I can find my way into some HR work in the airline biz!

A little CFI work would be fun as well! My current viewpoint is a bad day in the cockpit is better than most good days in an office or cubicle! Getting by with a professional paying "side job" is the way to "power" through the downside to starting out as an RJ FO.

:D

Definitely possible. When I have early duty ins (the past three weeks) I am in the hotel by early afternoon. If you can work on your computer then you can in theory work the HR job 7 days a week because (depending on your regional) you WILL have plenty of downtime in hotels. I keep busy on my computer doing student records for the flight school I worked for. Not the most fun job but it's extra income while on the road. Plenty of opportunities.

Bad day in the cockpit can be a reallllly baadddd day...You kidding me?

Dedication to your goals Organizational Skills to not waste free downtime will come into play.

Atlmsl: sounds like your are doing that perfectly.

77 flight hours per month...How many hours are you actually putting into the job? Is it 8 hours a day when you fly?

Bad day comment...
 

Bad day in the cockpit can be a reallllly baadddd day...You kidding me?

Referring to boring aspect of a bad day...Not the technical aspect of a malfunction or error or worse....

The picture of a CRJ cockpit on my laptop is telling me that this is the "office" of my dreams...and I will gladly accept all of the ups and downs that it will entail. I relish the opportunity to become a professional pilot. Chasing the $ has given me nothing but short term satisfaction. I am recently divorced and have given up the big house, S class MBZ the Viper and now want to do what I love for the rest of my career.

more like 12 to 14 hours a day, 4 days/week minimum as a newbie. And you wont be at home after your shift, you will be in a hotel god knows where for 8 hours.

good information...thanks...better to know and be prepared up front.

Here is something to conisder when you are thinking about the hours.

At some places your flight hours that you get come at a price Time Away from Base.

I have some months that my line is worth 90 hours and 180 or so TAFB, other months I do a 70 hour line with TAFB close to 300.

Sure you will have plenty of time to work from your laptop in the hotel, but there are also times that it is hard to be home for any amount of time at all.


I agree that the theory of have a second job, an HR job with flexible hours and whatnot, you might find it hard to work it for both jobs.

Just something to think about

I wouldn't count on CFIing because many companies prohibit any other "for pay" flying .

It will be challenging. I see it as a means to an end. Technical recruiting is the perfect P/T job that I could manage from my laptop and hotel room. With a 20 or 25% placement fee and a 40% cut from the house, I could easily see myself placing one engineer a month on a totally P/T basis. At 125K engineer salary, a 20% fee would be 25K and my cut would be 10K. Even one every 2 months would work ok..

Doing contract technical recruiting or even compensation consulting would both work perfectly as a flexible, work on the road, job that will fill the bill. I am sick of the work, but I am good at it and can bang out product from a hotel room while listening to Foxnews..

Loving flying around in a 152 is one thing, loving 121 regional CRJ FOing in the current industry is another. By the time you finish groundschool, sims, and get off reserve, it WILL be a job, and it WILL be a grind. Just don't waste your money on a jet course at least. And don't fly for GoJet.

It is exactly this attitude that is keeping us from earning a good living. Your attitude will change and you will realize you can have both, hopefully some day we all will.

Some of us would like to make a good living doing what we love.

I got into the industry for both thank you, I'd like to improve the $$$ part. Please don't keep bringing this industry down with that attitude.