jtrain609
Antisocial Monster
Vote third party
Thinking about giving up flying.
- Thread starter dcramer16
- Start date
Vote third party
Cptnchia
Dissatisfied Customer
You know, a wise man once told me to go get a real job, like doctor, lawyer, accountant, and fly for fun. Don't do it for a living, and chase flying jobs like him.
But seriously, how many sons really listen to their father's before it's too late!
jtrain609
Antisocial Monster
To be honest, who knows. The grass is always greener, right?
I've come to this point in my life where I don't want a job I love; I want a job I can tolerate. The things I love I can't do for a living. You know, things like spending time with my wife. If I can pay the bills, and have a job that I can tolerate and that provides me the ability to do the other things I want to do with my, then that's awesome! I gave up looking for the utopian job somewhere in the last 2 years.
granlistillo
Well-Known Member
DCramer,
First of all, sorry to hear about your troubles. In this industry much like life, timing is everything. If you are 25, you have 40 more years to deal with. If you are 40, you have 25 more years.
Maybe take a break and reattack in a time and place of your choosing???
First of all, sorry to hear about your troubles. In this industry much like life, timing is everything. If you are 25, you have 40 more years to deal with. If you are 40, you have 25 more years.
Maybe take a break and reattack in a time and place of your choosing???
bloodhound96
Well-Known Member
I hear everyone in this thread. I graduated last summer, found a good job at a flight school. Was working in the office while I finished my CFI. Had my checkride scheduled, but the week before, the school goes belly up. No plane, no checkride, no job, no $$$.
Fast forward 5 months...I'm working part time at a hardware store with no way to finish that CFI. You'd think having a bachelor's degree could get you a full time job somewhere, outside aviation or part of it, but I just have a lot of rejection letters. Tough world out there right now.
Fast forward 5 months...I'm working part time at a hardware store with no way to finish that CFI. You'd think having a bachelor's degree could get you a full time job somewhere, outside aviation or part of it, but I just have a lot of rejection letters. Tough world out there right now.
dcramer16
Well-Known Member
Damn, sorry to hear that. That's a terrible story. Check your inbox.
CaptBill
Well-Known Member
The most gut wrenching and soul searching time in the life if a pilot is when you need work and the industry is on it's ass with nobody hiring - in other words NOW. It is during these difficult and challenging times that many will leave the industry. It happens every cycle and will happen again and again and again. Perhaps this industry is not for everybody despite some thinking it is. It is a difficult world to break into as we all know. What I can tell you is that those who stick it out and continue to fly and train, are typically the ones who stand ready when the hiring gates re-open, which they inevitably will. In some ways it is almost better that jobs are slow if you are not 100 percent qualified to get on somewhere. That way, nobody is getting hired ahead of you while you gain experience and time. The only way to look at this in my humble opinion is to take advantage of the slow times to sharpen interview skills, study company data, attend networking functions and of course continue to fly in any capacity you can. It's damn hard and miserable going to reach the top of this industry - I know that. I have incredible amounts of sympathy and empathy for what you guys are going through and I truly wish I could swoop up all the young guns on this site and put them to work in a cockpit. Of course I can't do that but what I can do is to tell you guys that the payoff is real, at least for me. I have done some of the most crazy ass things that you can imagine, and some you can't to get a major airline job. No really.....You have no idea how crazy:crazy::crazy:.
The thing that really put me in a position to get in the door was maintaining a positive attitude and keeping a clear and precise focus on where I wanted to be. I tracked every single detail and left no stone unturned on my journey that seemed to take forever. And then it happened, one day the door opened and I walked through it - just as it will happen to you guys. The excitement and satisfaction of being in command of an airliner full of passengers is beyond description. Looking back, the high price I paid for getting here seems small now when I take stock of the richly rewarding world I work in. I would do it again in an instant.
I will look forward to reading the success stories in a few years right here on JC for those who stuck it out and hung on. Perhaps some of you will even have the good fortune to fly with me or Velo someday.anic:
If that doesn't scare you off, nothing else should. :laff:
The thing that really put me in a position to get in the door was maintaining a positive attitude and keeping a clear and precise focus on where I wanted to be. I tracked every single detail and left no stone unturned on my journey that seemed to take forever. And then it happened, one day the door opened and I walked through it - just as it will happen to you guys. The excitement and satisfaction of being in command of an airliner full of passengers is beyond description. Looking back, the high price I paid for getting here seems small now when I take stock of the richly rewarding world I work in. I would do it again in an instant.
I will look forward to reading the success stories in a few years right here on JC for those who stuck it out and hung on. Perhaps some of you will even have the good fortune to fly with me or Velo someday.
anic:If that doesn't scare you off, nothing else should. :laff:
dcramer16
Well-Known Member
Beaufort. Not sure about the Captain rumor either. I didn't think it would be professional to call the guy back up...."Is it true you hired a Regional Captain.....What were you thinking.....Should have picked me...."
dcramer16
Well-Known Member
Not your fault
But I've got loads of family in the Bristol area, so I'm trying to get back that way again.
cool92092
Well-Known Member
The most gut wrenching and soul searching time in the life if a pilot is when you need work and the industry is on it's ass with nobody hiring - in other words NOW. It is during these difficult and challenging times that many will leave the industry. It happens every cycle and will happen again and again and again. Perhaps this industry is not for everybody despite some thinking it is. It is a difficult world to break into as we all know. What I can tell you is that those who stick it out and continue to fly and train, are typically the ones who stand ready when the hiring gates re-open, which they inevitably will. In some ways it is almost better that jobs are slow if you are not 100 percent qualified to get on somewhere. That way, nobody is getting hired ahead of you while you gain experience and time. The only way to look at this in my humble opinion is to take advantage of the slow times to sharpen interview skills, study company data, attend networking functions and of course continue to fly in any capacity you can. It's damn hard and miserable going to reach the top of this industry - I know that. I have incredible amounts of sympathy and empathy for what you guys are going through and I truly wish I could swoop up all the young guns on this site and put them to work in a cockpit. Of course I can't do that but what I can do is to tell you guys that the payoff is real, at least for me. I have done some of the most crazy ass things that you can imagine, and some you can't to get a major airline job. No really.....You have no idea how crazy:crazy::crazy:.
The thing that really put me in a position to get in the door was maintaining a positive attitude and keeping a clear and precise focus on where I wanted to be. I tracked every single detail and left no stone unturned on my journey that seemed to take forever. And then it happened, one day the door opened and I walked through it - just as it will happen to you guys. The excitement and satisfaction of being in command of an airliner full of passengers is beyond description. Looking back, the high price I paid for getting here seems small now when I take stock of the richly rewarding world I work in. I would do it again in an instant.
I will look forward to reading the success stories in a few years right here on JC for those who stuck it out and hung on. Perhaps some of you will even have the good fortune to fly with me or Velo someday.
If that doesn't scare you off, nothing else should. :laff:
Thank you for that, very well put.
JaceTheAce
Well-Known Member
I feel like quitting too, and I'm still employed in the airlines. I don't love flying for $31,000/yr that much to want to go through this bull----. I value my retirement and the airlines aren't going to provide me with a healthy retirement fund.
sixoneseven
Well-Known Member
That's all aviation is and will ever be.
Umm what were you expecting?
wheelsup
Well-Known Member
At a regional no but even as an FO, you can do pretty well for yourself. No you can't lease that fancy BMW and live in a $500,000 house and expect to retire comfortably but it can be done. At a major you'll be making 6 figures.
Or you could end up like me and be approaching the fifth year pay scale on the FO side of a regional. Never thought it would happen to me. I kinda feel like a loser.
dcramer16
Well-Known Member
surreal1221
Well-Known Member
Sometimes you just have to know when to fold em'
wrxpilot
New Member
Guys,
If you really feel this way, do yourselves a favor and start working on that plan to get out and change your career. I've done it after investing heavily in another career, when I felt too old, etc. If there's a will, there is most certainly a way. Heck my Dad went back to college for computer science when he was in his mid-40s, when at the time he was an unemployed carpet installer...
As somebody that has been stuck doing something I hated, I've been there and will not put myself in that position ever again. It's not worth the damage to your mental and physical well being.
CDNPilotDave
Well-Known Member
Great example!!!! I'll add that if money is the prime motivator to flying (or really any other profession) then odds are you won't ever be satisfied. Not everyone is going to be able to wear Captain's bars AND pull down $200K plus. Figure out your priorities and then be willing to bend to support them/it. DCRAMER, you come across like a nice guy. Don't lose your sanity because things aren't going how YOU want them to. As was already said, "It's not worth it." FWIW, my 0.02.
Boris Badenov
This is no laughing matter.
Oh, I don't hate the job at all. Love it. Just don't see much future in it. Airplanes are gas hogs, long range travel at high speed is a luxury, some would argue that automation decreases the necessary skill set and thus the renumeration, multi-crew licensing, etc etc etc. It seems glaringly obvious to me that jetting around the globe at the drop of a hat is exactly the sort of behavior that will be economically unfashionable in years to come.
That said, beyond a certain point, one's investment in a career indicates sticking to your guns rather than bailing out. I certainly don't mean to suggest that changing careers is impossible at any age, but for me the calculus suggests toughing it out. I'm merely saying that were the circumstances different for someone else, they might take all of the above in to consideration when considering whether or not to pull the curtain.
ahw01
Well-Known Member
I'd say don't do it - it seems to be the one thing we all love - Pilots will bitch about other pilots but out of uniform, pilots absolutely love to find out you're a pilot too - it's a rare form of closeness that few other industries have.
Of course when you have mouths to feed find another job, even if not aviation related - I think it's great how in the US people will take a job at Staples or Albertsons if you have to, you won't see that in Europe (yet anyway...) Hang in there and work hard, we're all pulling for you - when you get that next job it'll feel much stronger than that last gutpunch (in the right direction though).
If I had a plane (and was in the US), I'd go flying with ya - it's a pity no-one up that way can drop by the house and take you up. Keep yourself current any way you can and your time will come - and when you get that next pilot job, make room on that jumpseat for me
I'm a legal researcher first and a PPL (unfortunately) second. I'm putting money aside to be able to train up and get ME/Inst/Comm, but they'll be for proficiency mainly - I doubt I'd be able to get a 1/2 class medical with a class 3 SODA - though will definately give it a go,.. If not I'm quite happy keeping current when I can - I'd love to do any kind of flying for a living. You've done that, so please keep going, you don't want me trying to fly freight into MEM in IMC with "bad attitude" blaring on the stereo and the heater blasting away - you're better qualified so keep flying as long as you have the same love for it as we do, or we'll have no old geriatric captains to talk to for advice soon :bandit:
Hang in there fella, we're rooting for you
(this goes to all un-emp pilots right now)
Alex.
Of course when you have mouths to feed find another job, even if not aviation related - I think it's great how in the US people will take a job at Staples or Albertsons if you have to, you won't see that in Europe (yet anyway...) Hang in there and work hard, we're all pulling for you - when you get that next job it'll feel much stronger than that last gutpunch (in the right direction though).
If I had a plane (and was in the US), I'd go flying with ya - it's a pity no-one up that way can drop by the house and take you up. Keep yourself current any way you can and your time will come - and when you get that next pilot job, make room on that jumpseat for me
I'm a legal researcher first and a PPL (unfortunately) second. I'm putting money aside to be able to train up and get ME/Inst/Comm, but they'll be for proficiency mainly - I doubt I'd be able to get a 1/2 class medical with a class 3 SODA - though will definately give it a go,.. If not I'm quite happy keeping current when I can - I'd love to do any kind of flying for a living. You've done that, so please keep going, you don't want me trying to fly freight into MEM in IMC with "bad attitude" blaring on the stereo and the heater blasting away - you're better qualified so keep flying as long as you have the same love for it as we do, or we'll have no old geriatric captains to talk to for advice soon :bandit:
Hang in there fella, we're rooting for you
(this goes to all un-emp pilots right now)
Alex.
