A question for anyone who gets paid to fly.

naunga

New Member
I'm trying to make a life changing decsion, and would like some help.

I'd like to know...

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

one sentence that sums up the positive aspects of your job.

one sentence that sums up the negative aspects of your job.

and...

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

Thanks a lot guys.

Naunga
 
Contract pilot doing charter and CFI

Good - varied destinations and equipment, home most nights

Bad - on call / low pay

Different - Probably not much at all except starting the job search earlier.
 
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What your job is (i.e. fly corp, CFI, Delta FO).

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I'm a doofus CFI

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one sentence that sums up the positive aspects of your job.

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I get paid to fly. Can you believe that man? Someone actuaully PAYS me to FLY!!

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one sentence that sums up the negative aspects of your job.

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I don't get paid that much to fly. I have to work two jobs to put food on the table which means I can't spend as much time with my wife as I would like.

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

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I might have started flying at an earlier age. I didn't start until I was 28. Other than that, I wouldn't change a thing!
 
Part time CFI

Positive: The excitement of helping someone fulfill their dreams.

Negative: Always being at the mercy of my student trying to kill me!!

If I did anything differently I would have started a lot earlier.
 
Full-time CFI

+ Getting to fly and experience people learning to fly. Very rewarding.

- I wish I lived closer to the airport

If I could do it differently, I would have paid as I went and not taken out a grando loan to pay for it. And started earlier than 25.

Surf
 
Part 135 Learjet 35/55 FO contract.

pro The schedule - pay

con The schedule

Nope I am were I want to be.
 
Fly corporate (I guess I can call it that). Still do a little freelance CFI'ing.

Positive: Getting paid to travel around, logging valuable time in an airplane that is really a joy to fly, and potential to move up to the right seat of a much larger aircraft in the near future.

Negative: One hour commute to work, trips can come up on short notice, pay could be better, and flying an airplane that is not known-ice certified.

Would have gone to a state school instead of ERAU.
 
JOB: CRJ FO For Pinnacle (NW Airlink)

PRO: I get paid to fly an awesome airplane with a pretty good bunch of people.

CON: Management treats us like children, and our crew schedulers have the average intelligence of a beer nut.
 
Job: King Air 200 Co-Captain, Corporate/Part 91

Pro: Very good salary (well above avg) combined with an area with a low cost of living, company is turning a nice profit and the people here are terrific folks.

Con: Airplane flies less than 200 hours a year, constant on-call, lots of (very menial) non-flying duties, living in a crummy little town, far away from Texas.

Different: I wound up out of aviation for over a year and a half between Feb. 99 and July 00. Would have sold my soul to be CFI-ing during that time so I'd be higher up the food chain by now.

FL270
 
727...about to be 757 F/O, UPS

Great income (for me) and pretty good schedule if you have seniority in your seat.

Having to be away from home so much and having the company always trying to degrade your contract to save a buck. Thank gawd for unions.....

Would have got a non-aviation degree instead of ERAU. Would have stuck with flying instead of trying to become an ATC for a couple of years.
 
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living in a crummy little town, far away from Texas

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Wait I thought living far away from Texas would be considered a Pro.
wink.gif
 
Re: Follow up question...

Hey thanks guys for all the responses.

Believe it or not they're helpping me out.

Okay...

A few people said they would've started flying earlier. Why?

A hypothetical. If you knew that you're flying career (after your training was done) would only last 3 years, would you have still flown for those 3 years?

Thanks again.

Naunga
 
DE727UPS,

Is UPS all big jets are do they have small planes too?

What's it take to fly for UPS?

What kind of "in's" would someone who wanted to fly for UPS need to have?

What kind of non-flying jobs are there with UPS's flight operations.

I know I sound like a high school kid with these questions, and to be frank that's how I'm feeling right now. It's frustrating to be 28 and still trying to figure out what to be when I grow up.

Thanks again.

Naunga
 
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Wait I thought living far away from Texas would be considered a Pro.

[/ QUOTE ]Well I would consider living in Bar Harbor to be akin to the seventh circle of hell ... so to each his own!

FL270
 
Re: Follow up question...

I couldn't really have started flying much earlier that would have been meaningful (started at 17) but I think most people would say that it takes such a long time to get to the position where you're earning a decent income on a decent schedule, that the earlier you start, the better.

As for the hypothetical...ABSOLUTELY!! Are you planning on only a 3 year career?

Ray
 
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Wait I thought living far away from Texas would be considered a Pro.

[/ QUOTE ]Well I would consider living in Bar Harbor to be akin to the seventh circle of hell ... so to each his own!

FL270

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What is the seventh circle of hell? Do they have a Wal-Mart there?
grin.gif
 
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What your job is (i.e. fly corp, CFI, Delta FO).


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Delta MD-88/90 FO

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one sentence that sums up the positive aspects of your job.

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I get to fly airplanes with some interesting people.

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one sentence that sums up the negative aspects of your job.

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

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

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You can't look back. All of the good choices the bad decisions you have made brought you to where you are today, for better or for worse.
 
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What is the seventh circle of hell? Do they have a Wal-Mart there?
grin.gif


[/ QUOTE ]Dude I think there's a Wal-Mart on Mars now!
 
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Wait I thought living far away from Texas would be considered a Pro.

[/ QUOTE ]Well I would consider living in Bar Harbor to be akin to the seventh circle of hell ... so to each his own!

FL270

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It isn't Texas so much that is the problem, it's the Texans...
 
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What is the seventh circle of hell? Do they have a Wal-Mart there?
grin.gif


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Yeah. And it's the only store there. You can't shop anywhere else.
 
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