I love it when obtuse people start crap just for the sake of starting crap. And are not even smart enough to know the difference between a complaint and an experienced criticism. I readily admitted I was venting and being complaintive and I'll add even whiny about my career...but you just had to chime in with your own brand of whining didn't you...

For all I know Compass is a great place to work, once you get through the ridiculous starting pay ( I made more my first year flying a 37 seat TP)..In that regard I have no experience, but my crits are legitimate. I work for a wholly owned and I won't do it again. And a big sign that an air carrier is being competitive within the race to the bottom is one that won't even put trainees up in a hotel.

My number #1 priority is upgrade, plane size and such things? Really, I didn't realize one could have more than 1 #1 priority. And thank you for thinking for me, since you seem to be so completely in tune with my mindset then would you mind flying the four day for me I start tomorrow while I stay home and drink beer?

My NUMBER ONE PRIORITY is Quality of life..perhaps you in your infinite experience have come across that term before. FYI Mr. Telepath..I could care less if I'm flying a Piper Cub or a fracking 747 as long as I am paid properly to do it. And for anyone that wants to pretend upgrade isn't important to them may want to consider a career in used car sales. I want upgrade for the PAY! If I could earn a livable wage that will enable me to retire before I'm crapping dust as an F/O at a company that treats me like a human being tell me who they are and I'll shoot'em a resume. Being a Captain comes with a whole new level of BS and liability that is simply not worth what you earn as a jr. regional captain.

I want to work for Cathay because I am very fond of the Asian culture and have had a long time desire to live in Hong Kong as I have been there many times and LOVE that damn dirty city! Cathay also pays one what they are actually worth for this insane career...

 

Doesn't that mentality just aggravate the hell out of you? Flying single pilot IFR at AmFlight, I.e. is far more complicated and demanding then flying a "push button" jet with an automated glass cockpit...Me, I look at it like this: If an employer has that "jet snob" mindset, that tells me everything I need to know about them. And says I do not want to work for such an outfit. Talk to a truely professional and objective heavy jet pilot that has been flying nothing but for years and they will tell you they wish they still had half the stick and rudder skills they used to have when they were flying TP's. Once you adjust to everything happening much faster and the touchy pitch sensitive nature of a swept wing aircraft, flying a jet is typically less demanding. Now obviously that goes for modern aircraft vs. something like a DC-8, 727 etc..I got a little bit of Hawker time..jet's are cool at first, then once you've seen the altitude and speed tape high enough a few times they loose their wow factor and suddenly it's once again about pay and QOL!


From my experience I'd say it's actually more about crew and command experience, such as what Cathay wants, in transport category a/c vs. jet time with most employers. Thankfully most of the jet snob CP's are in the corporate world vs 121. Those guys for some odd reason seem to have forgotten that it does actually take some skill and competency to fly a TP especially an analog one with no auto-pilot. Flying the Dash with an autopilot, I'd never win a contest in holding precise altitude and heading against a 1900 driver...Those guys end up with a scan like a cyborg.

 

Isn't true that only the second officers are based in Hong Kong. Everyone else is based in the states like KSFO, LAX, ANC, ORD, ATL, and JFK. If you want to live in Hong Kong you have to be an SFO.

 

I don't know. I wouldn't think so considering Hong Kong is the company's main hub. But it's possible I guess. If so, that makes Cathay less desirable to me.

 

thank you one of the best posts I have ever seen....FO's and future 121 pilots pay attention to this....

 

this job is all about timing, networking, and luck. Hang in there and keep pluging away. And remember, you got to love what you do in the first place

 

You are 100% correct...again..I was just doing some venting but thanks for being encouraging vs. snide such a couple have been on this thread. I suppose some good words of encouragement was what I was really wanting to get out of this discussion.

 

From one Dash to another, go find that job flyiing boxes and work your way into a turbine PIC spot. I know what you're going through with the shrinking regional thing. If you absolutley must get PIC, Cargo is the way to go. Good Luck

 

LOL!! Me neither!! Good stuff "DashGirl"..and I feel your pain. Hopefully some opportunities happen for a lot of us at some point soon.

 

If you are one to believe in the coming hiring boom, then that would probably get you into the left seat of your regional at some point. But I don't think it would guarantee anything after that. While I think hiring will continue in the future, i don't think it will be as rosy as people make it out to be. Just look at the hiring over the last 10 years as your guide going forward. Yes there are probably most airline jobs today then in 2000, but look at the quality of the job. Compare the number of pilots at United, Delta, Northwest, CAL, USAir, American versus the number of pilots today. There has been no growth in jobs there but massive losses. The growth at the regionals will continue like the last 10 years, so some real increase in jobs but lots of just swaps of one mainline job gone for one regional job created.