Making the Leap - Looking for advice

P

Propwash72

Well-Known Member
New poster here, finally getting a plan together to make the jump from a dead-end IT job to full time aviating.

My situation:

43, married, two kids (teen and preteen)

CFI/CFII, 2000TT, almost 100ME, no turbine. ATP ride scheduled for later this month. Been instructing as a side gig for most of the last 15 years and it keeps me somewhat busy.

My ultimate goal is a Part 91 corporate job with one of two Fortune 500 companies here locally. With a family, QOL is a big issue, almost as much as pay. Relocating is not really an option right now, but may be later. I'm not opposed to Part 121, but corporate flying appeals to me more.

Based on what and who I know at these two companies, it's possible for me to get hired directly in, but I fully expect them to tell me to come back when I have some jet time.

Should I just go ahead and go to the regionals first? I'd need to commute, but my area has good frequent service to DFW, ORD, IAH and ATL. What companies should I consider first, based on pay (which is going to suck everywhere, I know), QOL, upgrade, etc. My ultimate goal is Part 91 corporate but a regional with a good flow agreement to a major would be good too.

Does anyone have any side work/businesses going on to take some of the sting out of that regional pay? If so, what?

I busted my initial CFI and ME rides almost 20 years ago (young, dumb, unfocused, etc). I've had 1700 or so incident-free hours since then. Any concerns here?
 
All I can say is do your research on these flows and what the time frame is, but if part 91 is your goal get into the left seat ASAP and network. Both kids may be in college by the time these places hire if they are good places to work, things might change, who knows. What kind of planes do they fly?
 
SFLAX said:
All I can say is do your research on these flows and what the time frame is, but if part 91 is your goal get into the left seat ASAP and network. Both kids may be in college by the time these places hire if they are good places to work, things might change, who knows. What kind of planes do they fly?
Click to expand...
I'd second this. In 91 and 135 land, SIC time is all but worthless.
 
SFLAX said:
All I can say is do your research on these flows and what the time frame is, but if part 91 is your goal get into the left seat ASAP and network. Both kids may be in college by the time these places hire if they are good places to work, things might change, who knows. What kind of planes do they fly?
Click to expand...

One company is a Lear shop (45s and 60s) and the other I believe has a Falcon and a couple of Citations.
 
That is actually good, they fly smaller jets. But PIC and other skills are what we look for in our department. I can hire a pilot, but we hire team members.
 
NW Arkansas. I'd be commuting out of XNA. We have lots of potential bases that are single leg commutes but the frequency of service is the issue. DFW would be best; short hop, multiple options to get there, ready-made family crash pads. ORD and IAH are next in desirability. DEN and ATL are pretty good but they're longer. MSP, CHA, CVG, LGA, DTW, EWR, LAX and LAS are all non-stop but the service is more precarious.
 
I worked as a pilot for Walmart for almost a decade, then quit and went back to the airlines. Commuting from XNA is a challenge flights are very full almost all of the time. I spent 90% of my time in the jumpseat. Getting to DFW was usually easy, the AA folks on the ground are very good to commuters. Getting home from DFW was another story.

I used Tulsa half a dozen times too. It was a little easier and had the added advantage of FedEx and UPS. Good luck to you!
 
Yeah, that's what I'm hearing. I'm focusing on companies where DFW is a real possibility. At least then I could drive to my trips as a last resort. I'm fully aware that commuting for reserve will suck; just a matter of how long it will suck.

WM is one of the companies I'm looking at. Met one of their pilots a couple of weeks ago and he loves it there. I don't know how long ago you were there, but do you have any insight on flying for them? Is PM an option in this forum?
 
I'm telling you DFW is a tough commute from XNA. There are several Envoy pilots, several AA pilots, at least 2 SW pilots that commute to DFW along with a Frontier, a jetBlue, and a Virgin pilot who use DFW as leg one of their 2 leg commutes. It's a competitive commute and the flights are virtually always full or oversold. Coming back to XNA I had to bring printed instructions for the agents to show them how to add me to the jumpseat and standby list. The envoy agents at DFW are not the best and jumpseaters are just seen as speed bumps to them. Chicago seems much easier in the few months I commuted there.

The drive to DFW (6 hours!) would get old quick plus cost and wear and tear on the car.
 
OK, that's good feedback. You're right...DFW looks great on paper...short distance, multiple flights/day...but may not be for reason I hadn't thought of.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top