Job/life balance out of control

terdferg23

terdferg23

Well-Known "Member"
I fly a managed plane. Our plane is on a 135 certificate, but we're mostly 91. I fly for the company that manages the plane for three owners. This is the only plane I fly. The first year seemed pretty normal. Everyday we get a calender of the months overview with flights the owners have called in to the managing company. Last year, there might be a gap of five days in between flights and you could expect one of the owners to probably schedule a day trip in there, but mostly things stayed as scheduled with the normal shuffle of days here and there.

All of this has started changing. Three weeks ago, what was supposed to be a day trip turned into 8 days out, and at the end of that, 3 hours before we were supposed to head home, another owner scheduled it for 4 more,which changed to six at some point, followed up by another owner scheduling another two day trip. Today they realized, they would have some time left over before the 100 hour and rescheduled that mx week, to keep the plane up and then began jocking for position between them on who gets which days to fly. This will be the third rescheduling of this particular 100 hour. After that we were supposed to have a few days off ,which has changed everyday for the last 7 days. The owners are trading days, swapping flights, and legs. It's getting to the point where everything I schedule in my own life taxes, car maintenance, time with the SO, and friends is getting cancelled all the time. Anyone have a situation like this? I'm going to talk to the management company and see if there isn't anything we can do to hold these guys to anything they say at all. At this point I can't make plans with anyone. I can't keep this pace going. If it lasts like this for another couple months I'll be pulling out. Just wondered if anyone else has encountered this and how you handled/handling it? Can no longer balance life and work anymore. No salary is worth that.
 
It may be time to explore other career opportunities.

I figure the dynamic of your present situation is that the owners want to fly when they want to fly but at this point in your life, you're probably seeking more 'normalcy' of sorts. There are opportunities out there that offer that.
 
Derg said:
It may be time to explore other career opportunities.

I figure the dynamic of your present situation is that the owners want to fly when they want to fly but at this point in your life, you're probably seeking more 'normalcy' of sorts. There are opportunities out there that offer that.
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Like what? I can't seem to find anything
 
Sounds very familiar to what a friend of mine is going through with a managed 91k shop. I used to think he had a dream job, G450 CA, making pretty good money, etc. But the poor guy hardly has a life! He is ALWAYS complaining about work, and I know he's just super unhappy.

Not sure what the answer is for you, but I keep telling my friend to apply to an airline...
 
A lot if guys crap on the airlines, and much of it is deserved.

But if you can manage to get seniorish without a ton of debt, a but of sanity, and with a reasonable/no commute, it's hard to beat the home QOL of this job

Yeah the job itself is challenging at times and the pay sucks. But I think the time at home is at least even with somebody working in a cubicle. It just comes in chunks big enough that you can actually do stuff.

My parents had normal jobs while I was grueling up. They were home every night, but it was all spent taking us where we needed to go (hockey practice), making dinner, and then wasting what little time was left before bed.
 
Yeah. I know there are several ways to look at it, and looking purely at TAFB we can be gone a lot. But I'm home with zero work responsibilities at least half the month.

Last week I had Mon-Sat off, which was pretty dang nice. I mountain biked, snowboarded, hiked, shot guns, barbecued with friends, and drank beer. It was pretty sweet. Most people I know worked that whole time.
 
terdferg23 said:
I fly a managed plane. Our plane is on a 135 certificate, but we're mostly 91. I fly for the company that manages the plane for three owners. This is the only plane I fly. The first year seemed pretty normal. Everyday we get a calender of the months overview with flights the owners have called in to the managing company. Last year, there might be a gap of five days in between flights and you could expect one of the owners to probably schedule a day trip in there, but mostly things stayed as scheduled with the normal shuffle of days here and there.

All of this has started changing. Three weeks ago, what was supposed to be a day trip turned into 8 days out, and at the end of that, 3 hours before we were supposed to head home, another owner scheduled it for 4 more,which changed to six at some point, followed up by another owner scheduling another two day trip. Today they realized, they would have some time left over before the 100 hour and rescheduled that mx week, to keep the plane up and then began jocking for position between them on who gets which days to fly. This will be the third rescheduling of this particular 100 hour. After that we were supposed to have a few days off ,which has changed everyday for the last 7 days. The owners are trading days, swapping flights, and legs. It's getting to the point where everything I schedule in my own life taxes, car maintenance, time with the SO, and friends is getting cancelled all the time. Anyone have a situation like this? I'm going to talk to the management company and see if there isn't anything we can do to hold these guys to anything they say at all. At this point I can't make plans with anyone. I can't keep this pace going. If it lasts like this for another couple months I'll be pulling out. Just wondered if anyone else has encountered this and how you handled/handling it? Can no longer balance life and work anymore. No salary is worth that.
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Welcome to corporate.
I wouldn't base your career decisions off a 3 week period.
 
Screaming_Emu said:
A lot if guys crap on the airlines, and much of it is deserved.

But if you can manage to get seniorish without a ton of debt, a but of sanity, and with a reasonable/no commute, it's hard to beat the home QOL of this job

Yeah the job itself is challenging at times and the pay sucks. But I think the time at home is at least even with somebody working in a cubicle. It just comes in chunks big enough that you can actually do stuff.

My parents had normal jobs while I was grueling up. They were home every night, but it was all spent taking us where we needed to go (hockey practice), making dinner, and then wasting what little time was left before bed.
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The autocorrect of this post had me lol'ing
 
I was in a situation like that not to long ago working for a 91/135 operator. Before that I was with CommutAir. It is kind of a catch 22. I remember while I was with CA thinking "aw this sucks. I am gone a lot blah blah blah". I was also working part time pumping fuel at an FBO (bc at the time CA pay was 19/hr) when I was offered a Citation/King Air job. Then i thought "Yes! Corporate! I made it to what everyone else wants." It was a situation like your current job though and I HATED it after 6 months, Like you I couln't have a life. I did that for two years and I am back at the airlines. And guess what? I love it! Sure it has its crap days, every job will. But man, when I am off, I am off. I can plan and schedule things and get together with people a lot easier than the 91/135 job.

I think a lot of people think that corporate is the greatest, and don't get me wrong it had its perks like destinations and such. But unless you are working for a huge corporate flight department then it is not all the glitz people think it is. If you really are not liking your current job, give the airlines a shot and I think you will get a little more of that normalcy you are looking for.

Well gotta run, these golf clubs are going to swing themselves! :)
 
ppragman said:
That...amazing....whoa.
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Apophis said:
Whoa......that's just.......whoa.
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See, the thing is, that while that is a pretty nice schedule, it's not that unusual of a schedule for a guy in the top 1/3rd of a fleet at an airline. Like @Screaming_Emu said, people love to complain about the 121 side of the house and how the pay sucks and what not, but if you put in the time, a schedule like @Derg posted is very attainable. Slogging through X years at a regional making less than 80K and dealing with terrible work rules and the possibility of your base/fleet/job disappearing at any time may be more than you want to deal with to potentially obtain that schedule, but for many of us, 5 to 10 years of slogging is/was worth the price.
 
BobDDuck said:
See, the thing is, that while that is a pretty nice schedule, it's not that unusual of a schedule for a guy in the top 1/3rd of a fleet at an airline. Like @Screaming_Emu said, people love to complain about the 121 side of the house and how the pay sucks and what not, but if you put in the time, a schedule like @Derg posted is very attainable. Slogging through X years at a regional making less than 80K and dealing with terrible work rules and the possibility of your base/fleet/job disappearing at any time may be more than you want to deal with to potentially obtain that schedule, but for many of us, 5 to 10 years of slogging is/was worth the price.
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I have only been with my company for a yr, next month I have 15 days off and 8 of those 15 are consecutive.
And on the lighter side of things if you want to drink the kool-aid, I think, pray, hope that those days of trudging around at the regional are coming to an end. I think that better pay and QOL is on the horizon for the regionals, in fact it has to be to attract qualified applicants. We are already seeing some of the companies getting better contracts, yet they still have a way to go. Also, we are already starting to see upgrade times come way down as larger companies dry up all of our qualified Captains.

I am being too optimistic? Maybe, but hell in this industry you have to be otherwise is will chew you up and spit you out :)
 
I dont know what your times are, but considered EMS flying? Shifts/Rotations, home every night. I've been flying EMS for just over 2 years now and while in my particular job I am away from base 14 days a month, I have several friends who work for EMS companies doing 12 hour shifts for 4-6 days on/off, home every night, good pay, good planes. Somthing to consider perhaps!
 
I fly 91, and we only have 2 pilots. If we got another I would have the greatest job in aviation. I get to cover everything the user need. If has been a crappy 4 weeks, but then owner has addressed this issue, after it spoke with him. I have that kind of relationship. Maybe talking to the management company way be best, but have a back up plan, may back fire.
 
What mattc said. Er, the other Matt C. If I'd had a family, I'd have retired from Methods. Or well, tried to, anyway. The pay is "just ok", but the QOL is off the charts.
 
Update! I haven't been able to jump on here in a while. We spoke with the management company and the majority owner (normally a micromanager and normally that's annoying). He hadn't been keeping an eye on things the way he has in the past. He apologized for the disorganization and chaos of late.

Good news. We were given 8 days off a month at our choosing. They will ask if we can fly if we have chosen a day off that they need to fly, but it will be our decision if we fly those days. The contracts being rewritten with the management company as I type. Secondly, in a few months I will have the hours necessary for PIC in the plane and at that point we will hire a low time guy. The guy I'm currently flying with and myself will rotate week on week off at that point and I will receive a nice raise for "co-captain" status if you will.

A breath of fresh air for sure. I was on my last leg with QOL for this position and we both had thoughts of moving on. Things have taken a complete 180. I appreciate all of the feedback. It's always nice to hear from those who have been through similar situations and receive feedback.This job can feel isolating at times. Thanks everybody!
 
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