KLB
Well-Known Member
Well all part 91 gigs are the same. And I see y'all on here and my real life friends complaining about their 121 gigs all the time.
Pilot salaries
- Thread starter Pilotcollin
- Start date
Well all part 91 gigs are the same. And I see y'all on here and my real life friends complaining about their 121 gigs all the time.
GypsyPilot
Mohawk Town
I absolutely love my 121 gig, and feel I have one of the the best jobs in aviation and one of the best jobs in the world period. That doesn’t mean I don’t occasionally get annoyed by co-workers or other issues along the way.
No question there are some part 91 unicorn jobs out there that are even better. Great pay, benefits, destinations, home base, owners, etc. It’s just extremely rare to see that, and I can’t say that I’ve ever personally known anyone with that kind of corporate gig.
Jimmy_Norton
Well-Known Member
What is "best" is very subjective. There are a lot more unicorn gigs out there than people talk about, and one persons unicorn is another persons pig. There are aspects to each segment of the industry that are inherent to any job. I.e. If you're a corporate pilot, you'll have to load the bags yourself. I'm not familiar enough with 121 to give a good example, but I am sure there is at least one thing that every airline pilot at every airline has to deal with that isn't fun. There are some guys that would never load their own bags, so they'll never be a corporate pilot. There are also some guys that will never want to deal with one aspect of 121, so they will never be an airline pilot. Hope this makes sense....
Now, NO ONE wants to fly retail charter like what myself, Boris and Crotch had to deal with in our past lives.
KLB
Well-Known Member
Yeah that 135 charter life isn't where it's at for sure. But my 91 gig is super cush. I'm running my little ops is making it even better.
Crockrocket94
Well-Known Member
The bag loading, Flight plan filing, making own hotels, etc was never the issue with 91/135 for me.
It was trying to get a raise from the company when you work hard. And it took them 10 months to finally get around to "doing a review".
It was trying to get them to approve a vacation request 6 months out.
It was the constant changing of the work days when we had something planned.
It was the last minute scheduling of training events on off days.
It was the lack of pay for doing extra curricular stuff like CTS or CPR.
It was "the plane is down for MX for 5 days, but we need you there just in case".. rotting in a hotel.
It was the gray areas of legality when it came to duty, or MX, or just any of the "POI discretion" moments.
It was the inability to get a holiday off unless I got lucky.
It was the lack of ability to truly call out sick without repercussions.
Yes. You will most likely make more money through hourly earnings and NEC and PS under major 121 .
Yes the overnights are generally not as good. (Hawaii though is pretty fantastic for us) But overnights, don't provide for the family. And they have zero monetary value other than "a cool experience".
Yes we don't get company provided rentals, but Ive rented cars on the road, and motorcycles and enjoyed a tour or two.
I know this isn't a 121 VS 135/91 thing, but unless you've got both Tshirts, or all 3. You don't know what you don't know.
It was trying to get a raise from the company when you work hard. And it took them 10 months to finally get around to "doing a review".
It was trying to get them to approve a vacation request 6 months out.
It was the constant changing of the work days when we had something planned.
It was the last minute scheduling of training events on off days.
It was the lack of pay for doing extra curricular stuff like CTS or CPR.
It was "the plane is down for MX for 5 days, but we need you there just in case".. rotting in a hotel.
It was the gray areas of legality when it came to duty, or MX, or just any of the "POI discretion" moments.
It was the inability to get a holiday off unless I got lucky.
It was the lack of ability to truly call out sick without repercussions.
Yes. You will most likely make more money through hourly earnings and NEC and PS under major 121 .
Yes the overnights are generally not as good. (Hawaii though is pretty fantastic for us) But overnights, don't provide for the family. And they have zero monetary value other than "a cool experience".
Yes we don't get company provided rentals, but Ive rented cars on the road, and motorcycles and enjoyed a tour or two.
I know this isn't a 121 VS 135/91 thing, but unless you've got both Tshirts, or all 3. You don't know what you don't know.
KLB
Well-Known Member
The market has changed over the last year or so. There is a lot more leverage to be negotiated when it comes to pay and QOL.
skypilot6
Well-Known Member
Boris Badenov
Fortis Leader
Agree, however: The best day I had in crappy 135 retail charter was WORLDS better than the best day I've had in 121. Because pretty much the best thing that can happen in my job now is everything goes as planned. The end. And that's great over the long term and for my peace of mind and for my aging bones. But the best thing that can happen in 135/91? Who knows? The one that springs to mind at the moment is landing in St. Vincent on a Friday, going to the hotel, getting the inevitable call for a "popup" Saturday morning, calling the FBO, and discovering that the ship with all the fuel on it wasn't going to dock until Tuesday. Maybe.
As has been said a billion times, but bears repeating, it's horses for courses. On Balance I'd say that 135/91 is a better job and 121 is a better career, but there are obvious exceptions to both.
Can't we all just get along?
KLB
Well-Known Member
That's a fair way of putting. My 121 real world friends tend to not really like the work. They like the money the make, the things they spend it on, and the time off they have.
Might current 91 gig is light work. So I have the time off. The money is moving up. The big difference is the longevity. The good times could end unexpectedly. But I'm going to sit back and enjoy this ride for as long as it's taking me somewhere...cool with great fine dining, an endless bar tab (encouraged by the client), and in nice locations.
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Roger Roger
Bottom of the list
All of this. The no rhyme or reason to who gets paid how much, the guilt trips if you call out or if you can’t/won’t pick up extra shifts, the calls from 5 different people if you write something up….
Don’t get me wrong I like my 135 job but I’m under no delusions about it.
I’ve never flown 121, and never will.
I’m not trying to say 135/91/91k is better. On the contrary, I suspect that for most pilots it is a better choice.
”Most” pilots. Not “All” pilots.
I am glad that I chose the road that I did, and I’m fairly confident that I would not have had a better life on the 121 side. Probably would have made a lot more money, but that is not the be-all, end-all for me.
Really not sure why I feel like some people here are telling me I don’t know what I’m talking about when I say this stuff?
Maybe it helps that my last 15 years has been at a company that does not do this kind of stuff:
I’m not trying to say 135/91/91k is better. On the contrary, I suspect that for most pilots it is a better choice.
”Most” pilots. Not “All” pilots.
I am glad that I chose the road that I did, and I’m fairly confident that I would not have had a better life on the 121 side. Probably would have made a lot more money, but that is not the be-all, end-all for me.
Really not sure why I feel like some people here are telling me I don’t know what I’m talking about when I say this stuff?
Maybe it helps that my last 15 years has been at a company that does not do this kind of stuff:
Boris Badenov
Fortis Leader
"I just want to say all the best to all the riders as well, hope we all get home safe" - Guy Martin
bike21
9-5 Ruins Lives
Rubbed elbows with the 91 world doing 3 days worth of sports ball charters this week. Definitely a different lifestyle and something I could dig if the circumstances were right. Money isn’t the end all be all by any means, do what’s right for you. The unicorn 91 jerbs definitely seem rad, just wish there were more.
Cherokee_Cruiser
Bronteroc
If I flew with an oddball that tried to play right seat Captain, it was almost always a corporate pilot-straight-to-major airline.
