A question for anyone who gets paid to fly.

[naunga]

Re: Follow up question...

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Are you planning on only a 3 year career?

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No. 3 years was about the amount of time it took me to become dissatisfied with my current "career" in IT.

In some ways I say: "Well, do something for 3 years and then do something else for 3 years, could make for a very interesting life."

But then again I say, "Oy, to have to restart a job / career search plus training would suck, and at some point you're going to have a hard time since you'll be labeled a job hopper."

My goal at this point is not clear. I've kicked around flying and management (MBA), but really I'd love to do something that combined management with flying (I hear there's an opening for a CEO at Delta

). I've spent 5 years in a desk job. IT is great for some people and sucks for others. I get frustrated with my current job because I'm always (and I mean always) working. I can't take a piss without my pager going off. I can tell it's getting to me because I've been battling insomnia lately. I go to bed thinking, "what's the point of sleeping, the phone is going to ring or my pager is going to go off." Plus, I interact with no one. The most human contact get is when I post here or go home. There are no IT jobs out there that don't require some sort of after hours availability. Perhaps this is true for flying too.

But...I love to fly. I wish I had the cash to do it more than I do. I get in the plane and the FAA says my pager and cell have to go off...and they do (the only time they do too), and as crazy as it sounds the more challenging the flight the more I like it. I spent 2 hours the other day in gusty crosswinds practicing landings. I loved it. After every flight I feel like some huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I actually smile...until I have to go back to work. I love the single-mindedness of it (if that makes any sense). The fact that when I'm flying I'm only thinking about flying. I don't get emails every 20 seconds telling me to fix this or do that. It's just me and the airplane, okay and my CFI sometimes.

Here's the other thing that attracts me to flying: I've never seen a passenger tell a pilot, "You know I decided I don't want to be here. I want to be at this other place. Take me there now" (okay unless he's a hijacker). And that's what I get all the time, "you know we told you we wanted XYZ and you gave us XYZ, but really we wanted ABC...and you should've known that." Yeesh.

My ideal job comes down to this:

- Some periods of not being tied to a pager, and a schedule of when those periods are.
- My time off is mine. Right now I have to take my pager with me on vacation.
- Interesting people to work with, who can talk about more than just their jobs.
- Travel opportunities. I love to travel. I don't care if I stay at the Ritz or Motel 6 I love to go new places.

Flying seems to fit about 98% of that. Perhaps I'd fly for a few years and then decide to go into management for the company I'm flying for. I've always thought the best managers are the ones who did their time in the trenches. Then again maybe I'd fly until I was 60...and then keep flying for someone else. Who know.

Anyhow, sorry to vent all this on you...damn! all you asked was if I was planning a 3 year career in flying.

Later.

Naunga

 

[jdflight]

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What your job is (i.e. fly corp, CFI, Delta FO).

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Full time CFI

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positive aspects of your job

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I get to fly and meet interesting people on interesting airplanes because of the corporate fbo below the school.

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negative aspects of your job

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Pay, and the stress that comes with it. Also, meeting new women becomes more difficult because of the high percentage of men in this line of work.

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what, if anything, you would've done differently with regards to your career

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No regrets in life - only opportunities to change your future for the better.

 

[naunga]

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Everything else that revolves around being an airline pilot that doesn't involve flying airplanes. (figure that one out!

)

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I hear 'ya. That's like my job...which would be cool if it weren't for the all damn users.

Naunga

 

[DE727UPS]

UPS is all big jets. The feeder routes are flown by subcontractors....there is everything from a Cherokee six, to a Trilander, to Beech 18's, to Metro's on the BFI ramp.

To fly for UPS takes 1000 PIC turbine and as many UPS pilot recommendations as you can get.

I had no "in's" at UPS when I got hired but times have changed, you need at least on pilot recommendation to get an interview...and that was back when we were hiring....

Non-flying jobs in flight operations would include dispatcher, mechanic, or ground instructor, well...that's about it. All of those would require quite a bit of experience in the field to get into.

Have you thought about corporate flying? I'm sure with your IT experience, if you had enough flight time to operate a company aircraft, you would be a valuable employee who could fly the plane when it needed to be flown and do IT the rest of the time.

 

[naunga]

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Have you thought about corporate flying? I'm sure with your IT experience, if you had enough flight time to operate a company aircraft, you would be a valuable employee who could fly the plane when it needed to be flown and do IT the rest of the time.

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I have thought about corporate. I'd actually love to do corporate, or even fly for a fractional. Problem is that from what I've seen with the frax or corp ops they basically are looking for former 121 pilots. Of course I'm nowhere near that level and won't be for a while. That is a great idea though.

I've actually kicked around trying to get into IT at some place like FlightOptions or NetJets and then work towards being a pilot.

My problem is that at this point I've got too many options (if that makes any sense). My wife will be done with medical school in May and starting her residency (paid) in July. It's looking like we're going to end up in Atlanta (hence my interest in UPS). I've been told that I can telecommute from my current job for at least a year. So basically I'm seeing that I could go to someplace like FSI, still pull in my salary while I'm there, and start this flying thing...or I could do any variation on that (FBO, grad school and fly, etc.).

Obviously UPS wouldn't be my starting point, it would be a goal. Right now I think I'd be thrilled to tow banners.

I keep having this fear that I'm going to jump feet first into something (new job, flight training full-time, grad school) and end up hating it...like I did with this job. On the other hand I say that I'll never get anywhere standing at the end of the diving board.

Ah, well. It'll get figured out in it's own time I guess.

Thanks a lot for the information.

Naunga

 

[Tired]

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Have you thought about corporate flying? I'm sure with your IT experience, if you had enough flight time to operate a company aircraft, you would be a valuable employee who could fly the plane when it needed to be flown and do IT the rest of the time.

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I would try to get a flying job without letting you know you have extra skills. An IT person could get stuck doing a bunch of computer stuff, an A&P could get stuck turning wrenches. Meanwhile your co-workers are doing all the flying and you oppurtunites pass you by because your too "valuable" in your current position.