Are You Happy With Where You Are?

Who is genuinely happy with where they are in their career/aviation?


  • Total voters
    107
I've been flying professionally for 5.5 years, and I still love flying. Beats the hell out of working in a cubicle, which is what I used to do.

This post made me happy (as does your avatar). I'm sitting a cubicle right now wishing I were outside.

For relevant thread content, I can't say I'm not happy. I have a jerb in these tough times, and it's not a jerb working at Spencer's or Jiffy Lube. I have a salaried position in a somewhat stable work environment. I make the best that I can of every day. It's not the most exciting job, and in fact it's quite boring. But, I gots dem bills to pay and I get to fly on the weekends if the weather is nice. That makes me happy. I'm working towards a much larger goal, and that keeps me moving. I have pictures of planes all over my cubicle to remind me what I'm trying to do. I love my lady and she loves me. So yeah, I'm happy in general. Things could be better or move faster, but they could also be much, much worse.
 
If AirTran were sticking around, then I'd be the happiest guy on planet earth. I don't think any job could get better than what I'm doing right now. But sadly, AirTran is disappearing, and after the seniority raping, I'm not really interested in a career at SWA. I'm working on getting out of aviation. But I certainly don't discourage anyone from getting into this career. With the pilot shortage that is coming, now is a great time to get in. There will be many great opportunities at the legacies for up-and-coming pilots.


This is a big worry that I have.... I know this is a bit of a hijack of my own thread, but as a guy who will be finishing up all my licenses sometime around now next year, will I be too late/early for this mystical pilot shortage?
 
I have to remind myself on a fairly regular basis just how good I have it. I am really, really lucky - yet I have a tendency to look over the fence at that shade of grass some of you guys are treading on.

The interesting thing is that any job situation - no matter how good or bad - eventually becomes a "job" because you have to do it, you know?

I'd like to think that I'd be happy flying airplanes for a living, but I don't know that that is true, especially considering some of the major lifestyle changes I would have to make if I left telecommunications. It's a question I wrestle with year by year. I still don't have an answer.
 
I think I could adjust to the lifestyle changes. I just wonder if my girlfriend would handle it. I always tell her about it, though, and she seems okay with it. Even right now, we only see each other about two to four times a week. We've been together for almost two years.
 
I think I could adjust to the lifestyle changes. I just wonder if my girlfriend would handle it. I always tell her about it, though, and she seems okay with it. Even right now, we only see each other about two to four times a week. We've been together for almost two years.

I think my wife and I both would actually prefer the time away from home - we're just wired that way. That said, it's the pay cut/benefits that I'd be concerned about going into aviation full time.
 
Currently working at one of the worst 135 on-demand cargo carriers in the country making • money and living in a • border town with a • schedule. (Wont mention the name) But I'm happy because I won't be here too long and I'm using the company just as the company is using me.
Here's hoping my next move is the one that keeps my family established in one city for a long time. Moving to the 121 world soon and excited about it!


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I marked "Could be better."

I love where I'm at now, and I've loved every one of the steps I took to get here, even though I took the scenic route. I look forward to the future, when things are supposed to get better (hence, "could be better"). Those at my company who have "crossed over" to the greener pastures of mainline say it is tons better than the sweatshop of RAH. I don't hate where I'm at now, but a lot of us do. What can I say, I'm a glass is half full kind of gal.

Honestly, though.... this summer when I took my 2 month "vacation" from work (broke the right foot and had a tumor removed from the left foot), being home every night made me think about hanging it up and getting a 9-5 job. As soon as I took to the skies again, however, I counted myself lucky to be able to do what I do.
 
When I see other guys my age flying big shiny jets I feel like I'm way behind, but I'm not in a bad place when I really step back and look at it. I have a set schedule with hard days off, can afford all my bills, and I fly a pretty cool airplane. I've spent the majority of today sitting around an FBO stuffing my face full of fresh baked cookies, and now I'm watching tv laying on a recliner posting on JC. I wouldn't EVER trade it for a 9-5 cubicle job.
 
If AirTran were sticking around, then I'd be the happiest guy on planet earth. I don't think any job could get better than what I'm doing right now. But sadly, AirTran is disappearing, and after the seniority raping, I'm not really interested in a career at SWA. I'm working on getting out of aviation. But I certainly don't discourage anyone from getting into this career. With the pilot shortage that is coming, now is a great time to get in. There will be many great opportunities at the legacies for up-and-coming pilots.

Why is this? I'm curious. It is solely due to the integration?
 
Currently working at one of the worst 135 on-demand cargo carriers in the country making money and living in a border town with a schedule. (Wont mention the name) But I'm happy because I won't be here too long and I'm using the company just as the company is using me.
Here's hoping my next move is the one that keeps my family established in one city for a long time. Moving to the 121 world soon and excited about it!


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I think when you said "Living in a border town," you kind of gave it away. ;)
 
Shhhhhh....you don't know which border though (sarcasm)


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When I used to hit ELP on some of my long X/C flight with my students I would catch up with some of you guys crashed out in the lounge at Cutter.

I can't recall speaking to anyone who was, how shall we say, loving life.
 
I'm not in aviation, which is part of the reason I'm unhappy with my current employment. Aside from providing income to pay the bills, it offers nothing really. I've got a boss that doesn't seem to want to communicate with me and passes info to my subordinates that I need to be aware of myself. Lucky for me I've good good people under me that will pass said info my way. Company still hasn't corrected a payroll error from the end of August. I have a staffing issue looming with no word from...anyone...on what, if any, help I'll get to solve it.

If I could, I'd take a pay cut to go to some company like Great Lakes. At least I'd be happy. Well, relatively happy.
 
Why is this? I'm curious. It is solely due to the integration?

Well, I'm certainly quite bitter about that, but I'm more pragmatic than to make a decision based solely on being pissed off for the way we were treated. To me, it's all about QOL. Because of the seniority hit, I'm going to be forced to start commuting again, and it will probably last for 10+ years. I'll finally upgrade after 21+ years from my date of hire, and then I'll be back on reserve nearing the age of 50 and commuting all the way to Oakland. I'll probably be 55 before I'll be able to be based at home in Atlanta as a captain, and I've always based my retirement planning around retiring at that age. In short, being at the bottom of the SWA list was a great place to be 10 years ago. Today? Not so much.
 
Well, it's not at all where I pictured myself, but it's not bad at all. If the pay were bumped ~25% and I could move to one of a few places in the US I'd like to live, I would most likely make it a career destination. As it stands, it's a great, stable place to hang my hat and wait to see how this reputed "pilot shortage" pans out. *knock on wood*.

PS. I should add that while I'm not what one would normally refer to as a "glass half full" kind of guy, I've also never had a job that I absolutely loathed. They've all had features that I didn't like, and one got pretty close to "loathing", there towards the end, but they've all had redeeming aspects, as well.
 
This is a big worry that I have.... I know this is a bit of a hijack of my own thread, but as a guy who will be finishing up all my licenses sometime around now next year, will I be too late/early for this mystical pilot shortage?

I wouldn't worry about it. All of the numbers indicate that you'll be in a very good position.
 
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