Cool, thanks guys.

Anyone have any insights on whether any of these companies require a letter or resignation from a 121 company if you are out on furlough? Looking to make the move, but not willing to give up a line number. TIA

Do you already have a security clearance that is still valid? A TS can take up to a year to be granted.

That’s a negative, Ghostrider. However, if you get used to this job chances are you won’t want to go back to a ****ty 121 job.

I do ask that if you come to fly ISR you take it seriously. You’ll find yourself in situations where your actions or lack there of can have a direct effect on people outside of the aircraft.

Also, just being real here given the current state of affairs. If you don’t have an active clearance I wouldn’t expect a call back. The pilot market turned very quickly into the employers favor. There will be a lot of military folks competing for these positions who are already vetted. Yes, civilians have always been hired to fill voids but there might not be voids for a long time.

I've done both.

I'd rather do the 121 job. Coronachan has kind of screwed everything up.

L3 was the most stable, but keep in mind, a lot of those contracts go POOF overnight. Pre L3, I was always "I wonder if I have a job in 6 months" as we went into contract silly season. And seeing people run off because they don't get along with a site lead or lead pilot.

I remember a Lead Pilot (M. H) trying to get me fired because I had my crew rest interrupted twice, while already on a high flight time waiver, and my room was literally broken into by a bunch of Afghans while I was sleeping. Yeah, you ain't going back to sleep after THAT. (Crew was there to "clean the AC" allegedly)

Woken up out of a dead sleep by a bunch of people speaking Durka, IN MY ROOM, and tries to fire me for a "I am too tired to fly safely" call. Oh, and I did that hours before launch, it wasn't like I showed up to the brief and went "nah, not flying".

It's a good job, but it's not as stable over the long term as people would like to think either. For better or worse, there isn't senority, and there is no union. If a manager don't like you, you stand a good chance of being fired over some violation of a rule you didn't know existed. (and was likely made up by the manager). If there are cut backs, good chance the more expensive guys get let go too, even though they have been there for years. (Talking your PICs who have been there a decade, that aren't IPs and don't want to be)

In regards to this job going poof overnight, that is certainly true. However, the airlines would’ve gone poof overnight too if the government didn’t step in. There have also been several well established part 135 companies that immediately furloughed and shut their doors. I think all things considered, a pilot in every sector should never consider his job secure, ever, not for one second.

Just wondering if anyone that has been through the DFS quarantine could PM me a review of their experience.

What’s this?

A paid adventure on the way to real work.

Grab a few bottles of your thing at the duty-free. The hotel will charge you 300% above duty free prices. Ignore the "no alcohol" warning. They don't search bags.


You can choose meal plans as international (western), indian, and arabic. The meals rotate and all start to taste the same after a few days. You can change your meal choices, but it will take a few days. You can "turn off" a meal, but they still usually bring it. You can order from room service. You can order from out in town. https://www.talabat.com/uae & https://deliveroo.ae/


Standard coffee situation as all hotels over there. Hot water pot and those little tube packets. Bring an aero press if you are serious about your beans. All the normal names for coffee places deliver from a nearby mall.


3 pieces of laundry over other day free of charge.


Bring an HDMI cable unless you like BBC. Netflix works, but you probably want to stock up on shows and have a VPN account. The bandwith is such that your video chats back home will be glitchy. Connection drops frequently.


They have someone "on guard" so you can't leave the room. Bring exercise bands. Yoga mat. TRX.