10-15 Years Left to fly, Stay or go?
01-10-2020, 02:35 PM
#11
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Aug 2015
Position: Captain
Posts: 1,561
Originally Posted by viking1995
Appreciate any input you guys might have to my dilemma.
I am an older SWA FO with just under 1 year at the company and have about 10-15 years left to fly in the airline industry. I live in an area such that, I will always be commuting.
My goal: A balance of QOL and maximum pay in the short amount of time left to fly.
With my goal in mind my question: Is it better to stay at SWA or take advantage of the hiring at other Legacy aircraft?
Concerns I have with SWA:
- Longer upgrade times (If I stay at SWA, I would probably choose not to upgrade due to the upgrade timing and loss of QOL and with the little time remaining to fly)
- Lack of hiring with the MAX being down
Assume I have CJOs from all the airlines out there (I'm focusing on United and Delta).
Anyone have any thoughts, experience with this decision?
Any tools website out there to help me make the decision?
Appreciate the help.
I am an older SWA FO with just under 1 year at the company and have about 10-15 years left to fly in the airline industry. I live in an area such that, I will always be commuting.
My goal: A balance of QOL and maximum pay in the short amount of time left to fly.
With my goal in mind my question: Is it better to stay at SWA or take advantage of the hiring at other Legacy aircraft?
Concerns I have with SWA:
- Longer upgrade times (If I stay at SWA, I would probably choose not to upgrade due to the upgrade timing and loss of QOL and with the little time remaining to fly)
- Lack of hiring with the MAX being down
Assume I have CJOs from all the airlines out there (I'm focusing on United and Delta).
Anyone have any thoughts, experience with this decision?
Any tools website out there to help me make the decision?
Appreciate the help.
Stay and enjoy your family
SWA is an amazing company to work for and that’s well known
Money is not everything in life
Average life span of a pilot is 71 years old as per ALPA stats last year
01-10-2020, 06:25 PM
#12
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: May 2006
Posts: 983
Originally Posted by flyguy81
I just got done playing with widgetseniority.com. Take out NYC and it’s around 5-6 years to upgrade. Upgrade at SWA will prob wind down to 6-8 depending on DOH.
You’ll likely never see left seat in a WB. So do you want to retire as a NB CA or WB FO? The Max will be back this year. How long before they’re all back and we’re back to status quo is debatable.
Look at myseniority and widgetseniority and you can compare the two. I’d imagine UAL is pretty similar to Delta in terms of seniority progression.
You’ll likely never see left seat in a WB. So do you want to retire as a NB CA or WB FO? The Max will be back this year. How long before they’re all back and we’re back to status quo is debatable.
Look at myseniority and widgetseniority and you can compare the two. I’d imagine UAL is pretty similar to Delta in terms of seniority progression.
01-10-2020, 07:19 PM
#14
Banned
Joined APC: Oct 2019
Posts: 923
Originally Posted by WhenPigsFLy
Yep five yrs, but your dead in 15 yrs flying those schdules. Trust me stay, fly days enjoy your life. Being a walking zombies sucks. There is nothing at ups worth your health being destroyed.
Wow!!! This has to be the most ignorant post I have seen in a while. You assume EVERY pilot flies at night at UPS and Fedex. You don’t even work there. Yes, you will have to fly nights at the beginning, but with such rapid movement, you will have the option to fly days fairly soon.
This statement is uninformed, and simply ignorant.
01-11-2020, 08:38 AM
#15
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jan 2017
Posts: 156
Just take alook at the bid pack it tells the truth. Been here 15 yrs. I also bet the guy above never worked for any legacies thus has zero perspective on life style diff. Just take a look at domestic bid lines or come to the short and see the zombies for yourself. Also we almost have zero pure day flying.
01-11-2020, 08:46 AM
#16
Banned
Joined APC: Oct 2019
Posts: 923
10-15 Years Left to fly, Stay or go?
Originally Posted by WhenPigsFLy
Just take alook at the bid pack it tells the truth. Been here 15 yrs. I also bet the guy above never worked for any legacies thus has zero perspective on life style diff. Just take a look at domestic bid lines or come to the short and see the zombies for yourself. Also we almost have zero pure day flying.
International flying (ANC and Z) is a mixture, just like the pax airlines. Also, MIA has LOTS of day flying which is not extremely senior. I was about to leave for this same reason and decided it was simply stupid to do so, now flying 90%+ day flying, and that’s only after 2 years. Age and seniority in a prime position to provide my take on things. So don’t know what you have been bidding after 15 years. Oh, and even the guys that fly exclusively at night, I have found a direct correlation between following a good fitness/diet pattern and not having one. The guys that exercise and eat semi healthy look much better than the ones that sleep all day and do nothing.
01-13-2020, 04:47 AM
#20
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Aug 2007
Posts: 459
Originally Posted by badflaps
You never know. When I was a 440 F/O a friend was a TWA 727 Captain. 10 years later I was a 727 Capt. and he was an F/O. Go figure.
That’s very true. Tough to predict.
I didn’t catch where the OP lived but if I were him I would go to an airline that either had a base where he lives (a real base, not some small outstation) or a base that is easy to commute to.
That will be the single biggest driver in his QOL. The pay will come. And honestly being a senior FO will allow him to pull in coin and maintain QOL vs having to upgrade to make more but have a crap QOL.
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