Depending on your desires, a tough call. If you want to move to management and have the skills, corporate aviation directors can, and will continue to be able, to name their price. 300k-400k is no longer out of the box. I know several approaching that now. One turned down recall at UAL and another turned down FDX interview.

OTOH, if you just want fly and be on a seniority list, go airlines.


GF

At 34, I would not blink an eye. DAL, UAL, AAL, UPS, FDX, SWA should be your main targets.


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I personally know more than a couple pilots who were flying super-mid or large cabin jets in their mid-30s who are now at UPS, FedEx or SWA.

If you leave let me know. I wouldn't mind to have your job.

I am looking at the same situation, only everything on a smaller scale. Everything seems to be as the original question, except I am early in my career at 33 years old. Over 5,000 TT working on degree. I fly corporate/captain and make NBAA wages on a "under 20k" jet. Recently, I have been offered interviews at NetJets and Spirit, but my boss is incentivizing to stay by hiring another PIC and awarding hard days off to pilots. It's not bad QOL and am only gone 9 nights a month on average. With another PIC I'll get days off when needed. I'd love to hear from the guys that jumped from 91 to 121.
Goals are simply best QOL and fair pay. In the long run I don't want to work 20 days a month as household income is no problem. Suggestions?

I went from CP of a NBAA Jet II department to a major cargo airline a few years ago while in my early 30s. I loved my corporate job - airplane wasn't the biggest and pay wasn't the highest, but my boss was great and my QOL was exceptional. I worked about 14-15 days per month, of which maybe 10-12 were flying and the remainder were 2-3 hour "days" at the office doing paperwork and/or the hangar doing database updates. Rarely flew weekends (maybe 10 total weekend days per year), every holiday off, family was welcome to come along on trips if seats were open.

I had the opportunity to take an airline job that happened to be in the same geographic area I was already living/working, and it was an absolute no-brainer from a long-term security and compensation perspective. QOL-wise, I knew I was going to be junior for a while and being junior means working crappy schedules...but I ended up becoming a "professional reserve" and generally working 10ish days per month. Sure I was on call, but that was pretty normal as a former corporate guy and I was at home vs. a crashpad. I have not worked a major holiday - been home Christmas, New Years, Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Memorial Day, and been home almost every Valentines Day and birthday. Now I generally bid out-and-back trips; report around 2-3am, fly two or three legs, duty off 1030-1130am and do 12 of those a month (Tues-Thurs every week, or Tues-Fri three of four weeks). Home every day with weekends off.

I can't speak for Spirit or NJA, but living in domicile has afforded me an even better QOL than I had flying corporate - thankfully no more late-night or short-notice phone calls from the boss and the ability to easily make more money if I want by picking up open time. I don't accumulate hotel stays/points, and rental cars are on my dime, but having hard days off in advance and not having to stress about a broken plane and how to accomplish the mission has been nice.

IMO, early 30s, making the leap from 99% of small-cabin operations to a legacy or major cargo carrier is a no-brainer; a fractional or ULCC may require exploring the value proposition a bit closer and I'd put heavy emphasis on location if QOL is a driver - commuting sucks.

That is exceptional information and a very similar situation to my current employment. You hit the nail on the head about being on call, worrying about trips and "extra duties". Thank you for giving me some insight into the transition for you. Unfortunately I haven't had a call from a legacy so Spirit (Frontier offered interview as well) is the only option at this point. I believe that call could happen with time, but wanted to position myself best today.

Thanks for taking the time to give insight.

You need a four year degree for a major airline. It's not 100% required but it's over 99%, and possible 99.7% to 99.9%, in the recent past.

Fully aware and working on it. It will be completed either way. Probably 1 year left. Then masters. Already accepted to M.S. The question was more geared to QOL differences from guys that made the switch.

How long do Chief Pilots typically stay in their position? A few years, a decade, until they retire?