how about
"some crappy cargo company"

Now THAT made me laugh. Thank you. 😀😀😀

Probably a good point that I don't have a job to brag about in bars, and thus play the mystery card. Still think it's good advice, though. Less is more.

I like to tell them I failed the PA+50 test - it’s a test to assess one’s ability to talk to large groups of people on the aircraft’s PA system and well , I got a bit nervous and started to stutter a bit , and failed. You can only take the test once every 10 years , so it’s cargo while I wait - someday I’ll be a commercial pilot ! Chances are they’ll tell that to 10 people and look like a complete doouchebag.

I fly cargo to Asia and South America. The people are really great in those countries, so are my wives.

I have a non-pilot friend who’s very good at laying down a line of BS. In our younger bar years eventually some woman would ask what he did for a living. He’d start with, “I don’t like to talk about it because no one ever believes me.” They’re immediately intrigued and of course have to know. Eventually he gives in and tells them he’s a contract blimp pilot. One weekend it might be Goodyear, the next MetLife. It was a thing of beauty to watch him spin his yarn about all the beautiful places he’s been and events he’s seen. The women ate it up.

Lately I’ve had great success with, “I fly for a contract company that carries cargo for DHL and Amazon.” Then...

Insert:

“I thought they went out of business?”

And

“Oh cooooooooooool. So do you ever want to fly commercial?”


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This is also my backup


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Nevermind.

Regardless of ACMI details - Amazon is painting these planes in their colors PRECISELY so the average person thinks of them as amazon planes. That's the consumer facing branding.

If you say you fly for ATI, no one will have a clue.

If you say you fly for the company whose branding is all over the plane - people will know what you are talking about. Amazon is advertising lots of jobs for this "Startup Airline" is what they are calling it.

And pretty young / green folks at ATI are making pretty good money a few years in. I'd be curious what the age was of the youngest ATI captain.

BTW - same issue with regional airlines - if they didn't have to say operated by XXX on the travel listings NO ONE would know who was actually flying the planes - and many folks still have no clue.

Someone is interested in you and what you do. Speak or don't speak. You might make a friend or you might take a nap. What's the big deal?