Getting out?

Got dumped overboard last fall, and by my calculations I'm looking at a 3-4 year furlough. If I had REALLY wanted to make this happen, I would have taken the furlough at Express, begged my way back into Amflight, taken the first 99 run I could find and moved me and my wife to some horrible out station where I could get my TPIC time while on the furlough. Come back to Express and sit until I can get a call from Southwest or Delta.

I didn't do that.

Instead I went to work as a ski instructor, and now I rake bunkers at a golf course for a living. I've found that I miss the flying, and not having to bust my butt to earn a paycheck (physically, that is), but I really like the hours of what I do right now.

The end game? I'm going to law school in just about 2 months. With the way things are going at the airline I won't need to pull the plug all the way on airline flying until I'm probably out of school. What with more furloughs possible, I could be on the street a long, long time.
 
Wow J.. I had no idea you were out of the game..

I've thought about law school.. I was a polisci major in college.. I'm also thinkin' about Pharmacy school..
 
There was a thread on here about law school. About half of those polled on the ABA site seemed to regret ever going. I think it was called "the grass isn't always greener" or something. It was on the general board.

Pharmacy school would be a pretty sweet bet though.
 
I have tentative plans to get out of it if I am put back on reserve (I can't commute from SAN to LGA on reserve - impossible. It's hard enough with 15-16 days off as a lineholder). I have been looking at going back to school at Fresno State for a BS in Enology. I would like to keep flying, however. Instructing on the side and eventually securing some sort of corporate or fractional job would be my idea of staying in the aviation career. I will have to play it by ear...

The regional airline pilot life is rough. Exhausting is the word that describes it best.
 
wheelsup said:
There was a thread on here about law school. About half of those polled on the ABA site seemed to regret ever going. I think it was called "the grass isn't always greener" or something. It was on the general board.

Pharmacy school would be a pretty sweet bet though.
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Average lawyer makes less than the average school teacher.. It all goes in spurts.. There will be a shortage of X so those currently in X will make a killing.. Then, the next generation sees all these X making money.. So the Y's want to do X.. and then there is too much Y in the X pool, which drives the value of all the X's down.. :D

JaceTheAce said:
I have tentative plans to get out of it if I am put back on reserve (I can't commute from SAN to LGA on reserve - impossible. It's hard enough with 15-16 days off as a lineholder).
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Yeh, I won't commute.. I won't move to live in base.. soooo... ;)
 
Matt13C said:
yeah, I am sure it is too.

Only saving grace for me is, I dont really have a desire to fly a big jet.
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I also never had a desire to fly a big jet. Believe me, the grass isn't any greener on the 91/135 side right now. There are NO jobs.

As for me, if I can't find that salary by November I am looking at getting my Masters in Chem, and going on to Pharmacist School, or possibly something in Emergency Management. We'll see, but as of now that just isn't worth it.
 
wheelsup said:
There was a thread on here about law school. About half of those polled on the ABA site seemed to regret ever going. I think it was called "the grass isn't always greener" or something. It was on the general board.

Pharmacy school would be a pretty sweet bet though.
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I read that thread, and the poll with all the comments.

You've gotta consider something that I've realized about lawyers and the internet; they're even bigger d-bags than pilots, with even bigger egos. Didn't go to a top 14 school? You're worthless. Tier 3/4 school? You might as well not go to law school, and if that's the only place you can get in then you should probably consider killing yourself. Can't get into the biggest, baddest law firm in New York straight outta law school? You're worthless. Couldn't make law review? You're worthless. Still went to a top 14 school but didn't get a higher GPA than lawstudent2340980? You're worthless. Can't afford a BMW 5 series AND a yacht straight outta law school? Then law is worthless and those folks hate life.

I'm taking a financial hit to become a lawyer, but I'm not doing it for the 5 series, the yacht, the prestige or big law. I'm doing it to make a positive impact on the world, and I'll make less money doing that than I will as a pilot. I've come to the conclusion that you can try to change the world by leveraging capital, which I don't have, or leveraging your brains, which I've got a little bit of. Basically I'm taking a calculated risk that I can do more good in the world with a J.D. than an EMB-145 PIC type.

But I WILL say this, the guy on that poll that was complaining about only making $25,000 a year as a law clerk was bitching to bitch. If you're a law clerk, you're taking a year of experience as your pay, and only folks that come out on the top of their class get those positions. If I make $60,000-$70,000 a year as a lawyer after a few years, awesome. I'm not planning on making big money, or working at a big firm, or selling my soul for advancement.

I think most of those people in that pool ARE willing to sell their soul for advancement, and when they didn't like the first offer they were floored. Truth be told, most of them have probably never worked a day in their life and have no idea what they're worth.
 
I've certainly thought about it lately. But first I'm going to get out of the commuting game to see if that helps. I love the flying (if I'm with a good crew). But every other part of it sucks. I just finished a four day trip with an old captain who thought he was so awesome that he didn't have to do anything at all except taxi the airplane (and fly it if it was his leg). By the end of the trip I was thinking that climbing out the overhead escape hatch during taxi out might not be such a bad option.
 
pilot4500 said:
I am planning to get out of flying as a career also. I am working on getting the financing together to start working an accounting degree. My goal in life is to make a comfortable living, be home every night, and spend as much time at home with my wife and 8 month old son.

The flying career seemed right for me when I was 20, but my priorities have changed a lot since then. Flying will never give me the stability and QOL that I am looking for.
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Interesting. I did the accounting thing for a few years. I made a comfortable living and was home every night. And I was bored out of my mind. Quit accounting to pursue flying professionally. I'm poor now, but I have no plans to go back to accounting.
 
matt152 said:
Interesting. I did the accounting thing for a few years. I made a comfortable living and was home every night. And I was bored out of my mind. Quit accounting to pursue flying professionally. I'm poor now, but I have no plans to go back to accounting.
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Some of us just weren't meant to live out life in a cube or at a desk.

See you in the Flight Levels. :)
 
Yeah I just graduated Embry Riddle last month and now have no job. I was planning on getting a King Air job or working for PSA but neither of those options planned out. I even got layed off from instructing at Riddle because of the downturn in enrollment. Well I broadened my job search to just about anything and applied to everywhere including Target and Walmart and only got rejection letters.

Well fortunately I was able to pick up a job as a charter broker and will be starting Monday. Its not the flying job that I always hoped for but at least its something in the aviation field to keep me busy. Another downside to this job is that it is commission only so if I don't sell flights i'm screwed.

But I always try to look on the brightside and see that I'm only 22 and have time to try different career paths out and wait for better times.

BTW anybody have any experience as an aircraft charter broker and shed some light into what I'm getting myself into?
 
I am out indefinitely. With the current economic situation and poor management at regionals and legacy carriers, I just dont see any incentive to persue that avenue at the moment. I love to fly but things would have to change before I think about persuing an airline career again. For now, I am working as a physiotherapist and flight instructor (mostly discovery/scenic flights). Pay is good, schedule is 20-30 hrs a week, get to do all the fun stuff often. No complaints.

By the way, I am new to the forums. It's nice to meet everybody! :)
 
Firebird2XC said:
Some of us just weren't meant to live out life in a cube or at a desk.

See you in the Flight Levels. :)
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:yeahthat::yeahthat::yeahthat:
I am sitting at a desk 24 hours a week and I want to stab myself repeatedly in the eyes. I stare out the window thinking about flying something, anything, other than the stupid desk.
 
Flying is good and all but from hearing all of you guys complain about how terrible the industry is, I rather not do it for a career, just for fun. I can be perfectly happy flying a Pitts that I can buy from having a desk job lol.
 
I made (and saved) a decent amount of money in a non-aviation field and am now happily working at a couple of low paying flying jobs. Once you can 'afford' to be a 'professional pilot,' it all becomes a lot more fun!
Ironically, this bassakwards way of approaching a flying career just may be the way of the future for many of us.
With the exception of the elite pilots, these days only the financially secure can afford to be a professional pilot.

No point in whining about it, it is what it is. (See what Karl Marx has to say about 'surplus labor.')

Taking on the challenge of mastering a new body of knowledge can be a very rewarding and empowering experience.
 
SpiraMirabilis said:
I think I'm getting out of the airline game. I want to do freight / 135 / charters until things start getting better.
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Killtron2000 said:
I don't want to get out completely. I think moon lighting as a freight pilot or flight instructor would be fun.
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I find it interesting that people talk about getting out and maybe becoming a freight pilot, as if it isn't a "real" pilot job. Perhaps I'm reading into it all wrong, and if so, my appologies. But I have found that flying freight had a MUCH MUCH higher pay, and MUCH MUCH, better QOL. I started at over 45K/year, and was home every night by 10pm, weekends off, and paid holidays off.

Flying Bison said:
Me too. Looking towards ATC as my new career prospect and flying as my hobby. Its sad thinking I'll never be able to fly a 757 or something of the like, but such is life.
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My Dad's cousin just got done a year ago or so, training in OK, and says he loves ATC. He also said they're hurting for controllers, and starting pay is (can't remember exactly what he said) around 60k-80k. I'm definately looking at it as an option.
 
dcramer16 said:
My Dad's cousin just got done a year ago or so, training in OK, and says he loves ATC. He also said they're hurting for controllers, and starting pay is (can't remember exactly what he said) around 60k-80k. I'm definately looking at it as an option.
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I thought that's what it was about a little over a year for starting pay, but I know a tower guy who's son just got out of training and is at DFW tower at like 37,900 for starting pay (staying at that pay for 3 years)--and he said that's what everyone is starting everyone at now... Please correct me if I've heard wrong. I was actually thinking of going ATC and flying for fun until I heard that.
 
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