Taking suggestions...
 

Gentlemen, Im thinking of droping the whole Airborne Law Enforcement thing and applying to the Regionals when things start to pick up again. The flying is fun but its always local and mostly in circles! You that are out there, give me some advice. What do you think?

The regional world to be honest with you is not for everybody. There are pros and cons but mostly cons just like with anything else. At the end of the day it all depends on what you want and you have the final decision to make. The pay is really crappy as you might have already known, you will be giving up you bed for random hotels. If you have a family, it will be one of the hardest thing for you wife or husband to get use to. If you dont live in base you'll have to deal with commuting which is time you'll never get back.

Some positive things: You'll meet some of the nicest people, get to see other cultures..

That's about all I could think of right now.

Thanks...
 

I see what you mean. I am very familiar with the crappy pay because as we all know, cops don't make much money. I have been working nights for 5 years, so being home at night is not something I am used to. I do feel like the airline business is for me and i would like to give it a shot. My wife and kids are supportive of the idea but I have never really been away from them for extended periods of time. Its the benefits, retirement and job stability that keeps me around. If i medical out, I can always go back to work on the streets. But I feel like my aviation career here will never go anywhere.

At the regionals...you fly around in circles just bigger ones. In seriousiness...depends on what you want in life. Me I rather be here  rather than . But if you are after the big shiny  and travel the world  by all means give it a . But in the end it will drive you too  maybe  never have time to  never have any . Think and seriously  before you decide. Good luck

Mufaza, what city are you currently working in? The law enforcement guys in Southern California are probably making more than I am as a 9 year RJ Captain.

Not to mention way better benefits and retirement.

Those guys in Cali are makind a fortune compared to us Fl. guys. Here in Florida, your a cop first, then a pilot!! So we get paid like cops! I have to admit, the retirement and benefits are great! Thats why I have stuck around. But a big part of me still is willing to make some sacrafices just to able to say, been there done that. If it doesnt work out, I can always be a cop! I might never be able to get back in the Aviation Unit, but I'll still have a job!

I think you should put down the crack pipe.

Seriously, I will trade you a regional job for your LE flying right now.

The airline lifestyle can be brutal at best. Many of my friends have always said "the flying is fun, the lifestyle is terrible." It'll extend from not seeing your families on holidays and birthdays, to not seeing your friends since you'll work weekends, and be off a couple days during the week. Friendships with other pilots tend to grow pretty well, especially if you're living in your domicile. If you have to commute, life will be worse than it typically is, you can expect to spend a couple extra days a month away from home because you start work to early in the morning, or finish to late in the evening to be able to make it back home. When you're doing that, the expense is on you, so find a cheap crew hotel, or a crashpad for a couple hundred a month, and have at it.

First year airline pay is pretty pathetic, you can look at the boards to see just how bad it is. Remember, we're paid for flight hour, limited to 100 hrs a month, and 1000 hrs a year. Some companies have different work rules as far as pay credit goes, which can help out. If your pay is 23/hr expect to make around 25k/yr, if it's 30-33, you can expect 35-40/yr, you'll make mid 40's at the better regionals that pay around 37/hr. Perdiem is on top of that, however, it's not part of your pay, and is used for expenses on the road, sometimes you can justify that it's in addition to your pay,but that all depends on how you live.

All in all, you won't know what it's like until you try it. I'd hate to tell your horror stories and scare you off, especially before you even got started. Same time, i wouldn't paint a bed of roses for you, and tell how you great things are, so you can be disappointed. I will venture though, that as far as pay goes, a cop, even in Florida, will make more than an airline pilot, at least for his first couple years. Things might equal out after that, and pilot pay will probably go up faster than police pay. I was making around 62k as a regional CA during my second year at the airline. I then got bumped back to an FO, making 35k/yr and am trying to get out of the industry. I wish you the best of luck, just be sure to look at everything from both sides...At this point, i'm really looking forward to playing some Microsoft Flight Sim, vs the real deal.

I really appreciate the feed back and taking the time out to give me the low down. I was laughing at the crack pipe comment, I remember how many times i said that on the streets!!! I know that at the end of the day, a job is a job. I feel that there are many pros and cons to giving this a shot. I guess I had a different view of what my job here was going to be like. I am grateful for what i have and finding that missing 4 year old, brings me bigger joy than you can ever imagine. (not to mention catching the scumbag who just murdered an elderly couple after a home invasion!) I value my job but like everything else in life, it isn't always peaches and cream. I know the regionals arent either! All i can do right now is take some time to weigh out my options. But, thank you guys for the feed back. Im glad to see some brother/sisterhood within the industry. I have been flying for ten years and its always been a dog eat dog world!

Mufaza: I tell anybody who will listen that if you can get a job with a defined benefit (pension) from a government entity that it is worth its weight in gold. This is true for teachers, fireman, town administrators. The pension will be there every month (as long as the government entity doesn't go bankrupt, which is possible but not likely except maybe CA) no matter what. The peace of mind that can bring to your life is almost impossible to overstate. The airline job will always be there, and chances are your lifestyle right now, while your family is young, will be much better than as a junior commuting regional (or major for that matter) airline pilot.

I did 20 years in the military. Sometimes I fly with Captains much younger than me and I wonder if I should have made the jump sooner. Then I think about the looming furloughs and displacements at even the "best" carriers out there (including mine) and I thank my lucky stars that I stuck it out and got the retirement before jumping to the airlines. Having that back up takes a lot of the worry and fear out of the airline world.

I have discovered that flying for the airlines (FedEx) is an ok job. Its probably one of the best flying jobs out there, but it still is only an ok job. There are a lot of downsides to go with the upsides. I don't mind doing it for the 18 years I would have had to age 60. I sure don't want to do it for the 23 years now to age 65. I'd rather have that check coming in every month instead of another 10 years of seniority here any day. You can lose your medical at any time, get displaced or furloughed, but you will still have that check coming every month.

I wish you well in your decisions, keeping in mind that this is probably one of the worst times in modern history to try to get an airline job, but I strongly encourage you to stick it out and nail down that retirement before jumping ship.

Best of luck.

Im glad to hear from a person with so much experience and I thank you for your advice. I think you are right. For me to leave a secure position with excellent benifits and retirement, just to pursue my desires, would be very selfish! I have a wife and two small children who also depend on me. I really have a strong desire to fly for the airlines but im afraid that might have to wait. I am 28 years old now and I already put 5 years in the department. Another 15 years will put me at 43 years of age and maybe it wont be too late to pursue it then. Its like you said, at least i will have some financial cushion when that time comes. Thanks for helping me get my head out of my a**.

Hey, MUFAZA, even in California, we are cops first and pilots second!!! We just get paid better than in most (not all) other places in the USA. I've got almost 32 years on with my Southern California agency, the past 11 years with our Aviation Unit. As a "Flying Sergeant" - Sergeant with flight pay differential, plus my longevity pay, etc - I make about $145K/year, without overtime, and there is plenty of that if I want it. (Keep in mind the cost of living is fairly high in Southern California) I get to fly both fixed wing and helo, and am generally having a great time in the twilight of my L.E. career. Let me tell you a couple stories:

First story: About 30 years ago, I faced the same dilemma you are now facing, at almost the same age as you are now. I was working patrol in South Central Los Angeles, having the most fun anyone can have with their clothes on, working the inner city crime filled streets, but I was also working as a part time flight instructor at a local airport. I had some previous scheduled Part 135 experience and about 2000 hours of multi engine before getting out of flying full time and becoming a cop, and I heard through the local airport grape vine that United Airlines was hiring. It was, I believe, 1980 or so. I applied, and after going through all the stuff, interviews, invite to Denver to fly the DC-10 sim, etc, I got a job offer..... but eventually turned it down. I had originally left flying full time (right before I became a cop) because I was bored with "gear up, autopilot on" and didn't like being away from home; and in the end, despite the potential major airline pilot job, it was those same reasons that caused me to re-think the airline job decide not to take it . But I had a couple of buddies that DID get hired by United, at that time..... and, as I recall, their first five years went something like this: they were hired in 1980, furloughed in 1981, back to work in 1982, furloughed again in 1983 and then not back to work again until 1985. After that, I think they were ok, and were Senior enough come 9/11 not to take a hit again at that time. So the truth is, even if I had gone with United in 1980, the likelihood is that I would have been begging for my cop job back come that first furlough in 1981! And, as I am now close to retirement, I am certainly VERY glad that I have my cop retirement benefits to look forward to, and not a United employee's retirement plan.

Here's the second story: About 10 years ago, one of my buddies, another cop/pilot at my Dept, who had always harbored the dream of being an airline pilot, applied for, and got hired by SkyWest. He decided that rather than retire from the Dept (which he was eligible to do at that time), he would take all of his accumulated time off (vacation time, comp time, etc) - I think it was about 8 weeks off - and then just go through the initial training at SkyWest....... so he left himself the option of coming back to his gov't paycheck and his airborne law enforcement job. And good thing he did. Turns out, that he was not all that thrilled with the regional pilot lifestyle. The final straw occurred one day when he was assigned to ride jump seat with an EMB120 (I think) crew, and he ended up talking to the Captain, the FO, and the FA about his previous job as an airborne law enforcement officer. And the Captain said something like this to him: "So let me see, you want to leave a government job, where you get the excitement of chasing crooks and putting them in jail; you get - generally - whatever time off that you want; you are home most every night; you have a great retirement plan; AND you make more money than ME (the Captain), and the First Officer, and the Flight Attendant, all put together !!! - and you want to leave that job to come do this? Are you crazy?" And that was when he realized that yes, he'd have to be crazy to do that, and he left SkyWest and came back to his airborne LE job. He is, finally, retired now, and has a job flying jets for some cargo outfit, I believe.

Take these stories for what they are worth. And you can always fly part-time while still being a cop...... I always have, and am still doing it.

Feel free to PM me if you wish.

Mufaza, there is another option for you if you want a 'change of pace' - Customs Border Patrol is hiring pilots too! I have got a friend there and loves the job. He is also one of those 'cop first, pilot second'. I'm waiting on my application to CBP right now and hope to get called soon. One thing with CBP is that there is the opportunity to go to other places and do more than what you are doing right now. Just my .02 cents that have been devalued to .0000000001 something in this economny...