msp
 

i'm writing this message from the hotel in msp right now as I'm sitting on five days of out-of-base reserve for my regional airline. my family and I just bought a nice house last week so I could stop commuting to work every week and could spend more time at home. the irony of having to leave immediately and be gone for an entire week just like as if i were still commuting is painful. if it weren't the fourth of july week when my family is going to be grilling and having a good time together with my two year old daughter it might be just a little better. yes, i'm a fairly junior pilot with this company and i'm sure things will get better, but I'm with SkyHigh in the sense that I can see this isn't going to be the dream job I imagined when I got started on this path. i find myself wondering if my airline would file suit against me for the training pay they said I'd owe them if I quit in my first year. i know the grass always seems greener, but as I waste away in this hotel yet again, I can't help but wonder if just maybe this gig isn't for me. i can do more than twist the little knobs over and over again. and answer to foreign teenage dropouts in crew scheduling telling me how i'm going to live my life. well its time for another nap, good luck to everyone and happy fourth.

My father was in aviation for 38 years - 14 AF, 24 civ helo pilot. As he put it the dream job ended the day he left the AF. After the military (late 60s - 79) pilot lifestyle / culture it was like driving a cab. My father was punjabi so it really was like driving a cab except he couldn't accept tips...

-LAFF

with an 80% divorce rate and widespread alcoholism


Really? I always thought this was a myth. Is alcoholism a problem in aviation? You'll always have a few problem kids in every profession but not institutional alcoholism....

-LAFF

I do not feel that alcohol is a problem in the aviation industry. Sure, there are some pilots out there who are alcoholics,however, I would bet that the vast majority of pilots do not have a drinking problem. In my opinion, I have not seen very many cases of alcoholism; within the pilot group that I have worked with. Both of my neighbors are doctors, I would say that they both have drinking problems. My wife is a surgeon, and she does not have a drinking problem. Like you said, there will always be a few problem kids in every profession. I do not think that alcoholism is more prevalent in aviation than any other industry. I would concur with the 80% divorce rate. I have many friends who I work with; who are on their second, third, and fourth marriages. I have been fortunate to have a wonderful wife, who I have been married to for the last 30 years. Sorry for the long and probably worthless post. I am just sitting in a hotel room(Paris) and very bored right now.:rolleyes: Just my 2 cents.
CO777Driver

Wow
 

WOW!! So much hate. I hope all the examples that you have just given did not happen to you. I am sorry that it did not work out for you.

Nightmare
 

Last night I had an unusually frightening nightmare. In the dream I was forced to return to Horizon Air and had completed ground school and was home for a few days awaiting a sim date. My wife and kids started crying when I put the phone down and told them that I was to report to the sim in 4 days. We all knew that upon completion it meant a return to poverty and moving from our beautiful home in the country back into a crummy two bedroom apartment in an urban hell hole. Back to the life of wasting away in miserable hotels a thousand miles from home while my family needs me. I remember thinking about all the money I would loose and how bad I felt having to take my kids away from their safe school. It was a horrible nightmare.


SkyHigh

Man
 

You must be from a well connected aviation family because these things have happened to most everyone I know. By my estimation perhaps as few as one in ten or twenty ever make it to a good job at a stable major airline. The rest of us slowly sink in poverty and despair.

SKyHigh

That story is as heartbreaking as it is common. What a life...

Some did some didn't. No hate, just like to give the young guys that havent commited thousands to flight training some insight, that if you don't get on with a major and marry a doctor you may have to worry about things like money, food, and electricity.

I'm 100% Indian - Punjabi Sikh minus the turban / beard - I'm on active duty - USAF these days...

I've been to Assam - beautiful place. I visited there many years ago. My father was stationed there for a few years in the early 70s.

-LAFF

WHAT TRIBE?

You're thinking about the wrong kind of Indian.

-LAFF

First off, I have worked my tail off to get where I am at today. I started out in the AF and then worked my way up the ladder in the civilian world. I have had to work as hard as anyone else in this business. I had nothing given to me; so, dont make ignorant assumptions. I have known people who have been furloughed, however, no one I know has the attitude of Skyhigh. Sky, you sound miserable man.

Hard Work???
 

Congrats CO777Driver on your accomplishments in the avaition/airline industry. But dont be mistaken...there is absolutely nothing hard about becoming an airline pilot. Yes it takes a lot of time to study and train, but hard work? No. Its not hard work. Ive had 3 other careers and becoming an airline pilot pales in comparison with respect to how hard the work was. And I am not a brainiac or a prodigy...far from it. SkyHigh used to irk me on this site but the more I read, the more I agreed with him. As for me, I am out of the flying for a living business. It is a great job but a crappy career, as they say. I have found flying my little Cherokee suites me just fine. And, with my new career, I found that I made as much last week as I would have in one month with the regionals.

Good Ole Boys
 

I feel confident that I can make such an assumption. In a previous post you mentioned that you come from an "aviation family". That much good luck doesnt just happen to such a small group. I am sure that all of you went to the AF and each one got a pilot slot in the equipment of your choice. I would also bet that it wasn't long before you got on at the majors. Often guys in your position cant recognise the help you have received since you assume that everyone has an uncle who is in command of an air wing of brother who is on the hiring board at CAL.

As for me you assume that I am miserable. I am sad that my dream failed me however I am very happy to be outside of aviation now and feel obligated to tell as many as I can that life on the outside is very good. For most the regionals are a painful dead end. Those who made it without help are humble and respectful of those who didn't see their dream come true. Your smug arrogant attitude is unattractive and gives you away.

SKyHigh

It is better to be lucky than good in regards to aviation.

Never give up on a dream...You have started another dream...Being in Business for yourself...Don't give up on this one SkyHigh...Hopefully it will work for you this time...I know a guy who sells hotdogs...He also owns a CE550...lol...So anything is possible...All I wanted out of aviation was to fly the L-1011...I not only flew it, but flew every model from the -1 to the -500...Everything I do now in the airlines is just for fun, even though I get paid for it...I agree the regionals are a dead end job if you paid 100k to get the job, but I also know guys making ok money flying for the regionals too...And they have a good family life with no reason to go to a major...So I don't agree that money can't be made flying for the airlines...It's all about being smart with your money...I know a shop clerk in Atlanta who is an hourly employee with my airline...This person also has over 800K in a 401K...Dang...Now that's smart money in any book...lol...Cheers

Thanks HD
 

Thanks Heavy Driver !!

SkyHigh

[QUOTE=SkyHigh] Your smug arrogant attitude is unattractive and gives you away.

Arrogant attitude? I was not trying to be arrogant Skyhigh. I apologize if you took it that way. Maybe sarcasm but not being arrogant.;)

Thank You
 

[QUOTE=CO777Driver]Thanks CO777Driver,

Sometimes humor and sarcasm are difficult to interpret through writing.

SkyHigh

I really needed this thread today! I left the airlines a couple of years ago when we had our first kid so I could take care of her (wife does the Navy thing). I have been piecing together a so-called corporte career ever since at two days a week while my daugher is in school and it hasn't been easy.

For some reason I can't let flying go altogether, but it has in NO way been financially or socially rewarding to me. The only good thing is that I never expected it to be, just as Skyhigh said. I just enjoy the flying.

On the same note though, I enjoy being a Dad and we have one more on the way now. It's the last one, so I know these monents are precious, but sometimes I get the itch and start snooping around for what I COULD be doing if I was willing to sacrifice this time with my family and go back to the airlines or solid full-time corporate.

That's why I say this thread is good timing. Sometimes I get really down at what I have left behind and the fact that I will have to start at the bottom again in seven years when the wife retires, but then when I see my daugther this afternoon and she makes me laugh and I get to feel number two kicking in my wife's belly I get angry with myself for feeling that way.

Now I forgot my whole point, but I feel much better!

Right On !!
 

Well written !! I feel the same way. I miss flying but do not miss all the heartache that came with it.

SkyHigh