No longer an airline pilot

subpilot said:
He does not owe anything to the company. If he signed a one year contract then I would agree with you but he did not. He tried something out and realized it was not for him. Why keep on doing something that is not working. What if his family life was going down the drain and staying with the company might lead to a divorce? Is it family first or work first?
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I beg to differ. Comair didn't have to give him the job. He applied, was hired, and then quit. I guess my 'Midwester Work Ethic' side is talking here. If I have a job, why do it half ass. Why take a job that is probably going to suck? Not saying I wouldn't take a job that would suck, in fact I would because I'd keep my eye on the prize, ie it would have to get me somewhere.

I'll agree that not being treated right. It sucks but that's part of life. But when you knowingly take a job with a commute, you're asking to be crapped on.

Buffalopilot, why on earth do you think Comair was hiring? Well, hmmm, lets see, no new contracts, losing planes to other regionals, and they're still hiring, gosh this place must be stellar!!!

Plus, 5 months for a job is nothing. Man it up for a year till you get enough time to go somewhere better. This road to being a pro pilot isn't easy.

side note:

This is the same guy who wasted Colgan's time too. Cancelled interviews and basically wanted Colgan to accomdate to his wedding schedule. I'm sorry, that isn't how this world works.
 
While Alpha's post may not have been full of sensitivity and warm fuzzies, it's the cold hard truth. If you leave a job like that, it will open up a spot for someone else. Someone who wants that spot more than you did.
 
This job really isn't for everyone.

It's both a job and a lifestyle and you need to do your research.

You guys have a luxury that a lot of us didn't have prior to choosing an aviation career which is the internet -- full of not only good gouge, but also bad gouge in some instances.

Choose wisely! :) Find someone you trust and respect and listen intently.

Everyone loves to fly airplanes. Everyone loves to work on a team. Everyone wants to get the job that we think is going to shower us with money, travel benefits and hot babes. Ok, well, maybe that's the old days, but for some the idea of being an airline pilot is a lot different than the reality of becoming and airline pilot and working as an airline pilot putting food on the proverbial table.

It takes a lot of sacrifice and if he doesn't want to do it, well, this profession will eat him alive if he kept trying to squeeze blood out of his turnip, figuratively speaking.

What he experienced may or may not be representative of other airlines and your mileage WILL vary! :)

When you see low hiring minimums, your next question should be "why?" because despite what the glossy ads, recruiters or the guy with the sunglasses on his forehead in the terminal says, there really isn't much growth in the regional business as a whole. There's a lot of flying shifting around, but not much new flying.

While it's sad that Comair or the profession didn't work out for him, at least he took charge for his own professional life and made a bold decision to bow out and search for other opportunities.

Half-full/Half-empty...

Short Day/Killer Sunset...

"It's hot!"/"Beats the snow!"

Yadda yadda yadda...
 
Buffalo - You have to do whats right for you and your family, first and foremost. I'd much rather have lost something good (job), then losing something great (family/sanity). If you were unhappy you made the right choice. (heck...didn't most of us decide to make aviation a career because we swore we'd never want to be unhappy with a desk job).

And you left a regional airline after 5 months. Big deal. Your career has literally just started, and once again...It's a regional airline. wow.

This just re-enforces how I could give 2 chits about this regional hiring boom, and if I ever even decide to make the step to a 20k a year bus driver job, then it wont be until I have old mininums...not this new crap.
 
MikeOH58 said:
Buffalo - You have to do whats right for you and your family, first and foremost. I'd much rather have lost something good (job), then losing something great (family/sanity). If you were unhappy you made the right choice. (heck...didn't most of us decide to make aviation a career because we swore we'd never want to be unhappy with a desk job).

And you left a regional airline after 5 months. Big deal. Your career has literally just started, and once again...It's a regional airline. wow.
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:yeahthat::yeahthat::yeahthat::yeahthat::yeahthat::yeahthat::yeahthat:

Amen to all of that!!!! If it was habitual, then it would be a different story. Be careful of getting that reputation label, my friend.
 
I'm not going for any labels, and I don't want to discredit anyone or what they are doing. I've made my fair share of awful decisions in aviation, and im paying the price.

I just think that family and your sanity comes first and foremost. A job is a job. A family is forever. I don't care if I were the most senior captain on American's list, or an NFL quarterback. If I felt that my career was putting my family in jeopardy, I would be out of that job in a heart beat. In the end, it doesn't matter how many type ratings you have, and what your seniorioty # is...It's all about the people closest to you.

And like I said. Most of us go into aviation because we don't want to hate work.
 
Dude, I'm sorry. I really am. But you seem to have a good head on your shoulders and I'm sure you'll be fine.

Ain't nothing wrong with instructing on the side so you keep your feet in the pool while you do something else to pay the bills.

Honestly, if I get beyond that, I'll be really surprised.
 
Murdoughnut said:
Not that this applies to this guy, but I imagine a lot of the big academies shield their students pretty well from such information - maybe at least until they've invested so much that there's no turning back. I have to think that a lot of people are shocked at how crappy the life is - attrition wouldn't be so high if that weren't the case.
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Interesting comment.

I would hope anyone attending a big a academy, or even training at a small FBO, would have the foresight to investigate the ins and outs of the potential future career on their own, and not allow the facts to be kept from them.
 
CapnJim said:
I wish that I could say that "I quit" has never been in my vocabulary. I had a huge "I quit" in my early twenties, and I still hold it with regret. Thing is, had I not said "I quit", life would have been vastly different for me, and quite possibly not as good. Quite probably, in fact. Moreover, that "I quit" had a galvanizing effect on my will; without it, I would not have had the motivation to make this flying career work. I could not stand to have another failure in my life. In that sense, "I quit" was one of the best things that I could have said.

During my first year at ExpressJet, I was commuting to EWR from DFW on reserve. I had a similar experiece to Buff, what with commuting on days off, living in a crashpad, never being home, etc., but with one major difference: I had an apartment, a girlfriend, and a dog. Not a house, a wife, and kids. The time you lose with your family is time you will never get back, ever, and I don't think there's a single mom or dad here that would have traded a year of their kid's childhood for 20K and some jet time. Five months was sacrifice enough to realize that it just wasn't worth it.

Of course, it's easy to sit at your keyboard and type "Well, you read it here first, why didn't you listen?" To those people, I hope that your experience on Earth is never so limited that you make major life decisions based on anonymous postings on an internet message board. Further, I find the implication that Buff just "didn't think about these things in advance" not only insulting, but rather obtuse and shallow. Does anyone here think he really didn't take family and schedule into account when he made his decision? Is anyone here in Buffalopilots shoes? What makes people so arrogant as to think that they can judge, after the fact, with 20/20 hindsight Monday-morning quarterbacking haughtiness, what another man should or should not have done? Shame on those people, and pray God that they someday gain the wisdom to judge themselves before they attempt to judge others.

I would imagine that Buffalopilot is feeling pretty down right now, but that has not stopped certain people from kicking. For God's sakes, have some empathy, have some respect, and at least have the foresight to see that people remember your behavior, and will decide on that who they wish to have in their corner when the chips are down. There are more than a few in this thread that I would not have in mine, and they know who they are.
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I'm going to leave this with a quote, one I find somewhat appropriate:
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Excellent write up!
 
I left ASA for similar reasons. When I was a new hire my daughter was less than a year old and I missed almost every milestone of her development. When my son was born this past February, I decided that a 121 schedule, more specifically the gradual decline in overall line quality and days off at ASA, were not worth missing time spent with family.

I was fortunate enough to find a job in Atlanta where I already live, make much more money and one that allows me to be home every night. When I was at ASA, I had to work 4 days a week and my wife had to work on the 3 days I had off, so we never saw each other. Now, she has been able to go part time at work and we see each other every day. She longer has the burden of being a single mother 4 days a week which was difficult for her.

For me, losing a seniority number at an Airline was a small sacrifice in order to gain a tremendous improvement in my own quality of life....

To each his own..
 
rausda27 said:
I left ASA for similar reasons. When I was a new hire my daughter was less than a year old and I missed almost every milestone of her development. When my son was born this past February, I decided that a 121 schedule, more specifically the gradual decline in overall line quality and days off at ASA, were not worth missing time spent with family.
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Another thing to think about... you guys should be thankful you have the opportunity to quit when situations like BuffaloPilot's Rausda's arise...
 
X-Forces said:
Interesting comment.

I would hope anyone attending a big a academy, or even training at a small FBO, would have the foresight to investigate the ins and outs of the potential future career on their own, and not allow the facts to be kept from them.
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When the ad says you can go from zero to regional jet FO in 9 months, you'd be surprised what people will block out. I've come across plenty of people with "selective hearing" when it comes to things like this....
 
kellwolf said:
When the ad says you can go from zero to regional jet FO in 9 months, you'd be surprised what people will block out. I've come across plenty of people with "selective hearing" when it comes to things like this....
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Unfortunate.

I think anyone that would invest such a large sum of money for flight training would be responsible enough to have researched the prospects of their future career throughly.

Not to mention remembering the old adage, if it sounds too good to be true .........
 
X-Forces said:
Unfortunate.

I think anyone that would invest such a large sum of money for flight training would be responsible enough to have researched the prospects of their future career throughly.

Not to mention remembering the old adage, if it sounds too good to be true .........
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Sadly, I can introduce you to a LOT of regional FOs that really thought it was gonna be wine, song and FAs like in Catch Me If You Can. They thought they were only gonna work two weeks a month, make made bank and be able to travel the world for free. Now, they have 10 days off a month, work 15-16 hour days and can't get on a flight b/c they're all oversold.
 
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