Rant from a regional FO!

Cav said:
"I've never met an FO whose weight I wouldn't trade for gas." Wait a minute I resemble that remark.
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Gotta keep em around for W&B reasons, though. Someone could make a mint designing a bladder tank that straps in to the right seat...maybe with like a voice-activated servo that raises the gear when the Pilot Commands It.
 
Derg said:
We were all made promises.

First lesson should be "There are no promises"

I was supposed to be a narrowbody captain in 6 years, widebody captain at 12 years and look at me now, 16 year widebody FO.

Welcome to the business. Pass the Cheetos.
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I hear MSP88CA is opening up....? ;)
 
joethepilot said:
Gonzo, I made the same decision as you. I went to a "stable", good quality of life regional about 6 years ago. Yet by no fault of my own I have just graduated off of first year pay at a regional for the third time in my career. Have you considered that you may have had some luck as well?
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Luck = What Happens when PREPARATION meets OPPORTUNITY

It always boggles my mind when someone attributes their own misfortune (in comparison to others fortune) to LUCK.
 
I don't believe in luck, but the notion that a guy choosing between, say, XJT and SkyWest 7 years ago "should have known" seems bizzare to me.
 
wheelsup said:
I was surprised to learn that even Army pilots are having to go to the commuters. In the recent month or two I've worked with a guard Blackhawk and an Apache guy. It was interesting to learn that the EMS operations are actually incredibly competitive and even prefer pilots of smaller helicopters as apparently the military stuff is pretty stable and easy to operate.
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For most of them, the lack of any fixed-wing time at all does them in combined with a reluctance of 121s to count helicopter time. And Apache guys don't fly a lot of instruments, either.

Boris Badenov said:
I've worked with a bunch of guys who came out of Blackhawks and Apaches (more Apaches, I think). AFAICT, the big problem for military pilots (and most EMS guys are still ex-military, although that seems to be slowly changing) is that they just don't fly all that much. That said, I'd be awfully surprised if your average military rotor-wing guy couldn't get a job at some place like Air Evac, do a couple of years there, and get on with Methods, PHI, Metro, etc. I think half my indoc class at Omniflight were guys coming over from Air Evac...
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God I should hope so... I'd hate to think all this training and experience only qualified me for entry-level jobs on the outside.
 
KHanson said:
I quit TSA, and think that was the best decision I've ever made. Just sayin' ...
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Was it your DREAM to fly for them? Or was it something that came along, and was right place, right time, networking, etc? Take the place you've dreamed about, or the aircraft that you've dreamed of flying since you got into this thing, or were a small boy, or have worked and worked to get into.... and voluntarily quit because of a circumstance that exists in the environment.

THAT... kind of quitting will wrinkle your soul.
 
GX said:
Take the place you've dreamed about, or the aircraft that you've dreamed of flying since you got into this thing, or were a small boy,
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I'm still holding out for DC-9 Hughes Airwest Hughes Airwest Top Banana in the West!!
 
Ian J said:
God I should hope so... I'd hate to think all this training and experience only qualified me for entry-level jobs on the outside.
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With what I imagine to be your TT, I think you could slide in to any of the EMS companies without too much trouble.
 
Boris Badenov said:
WRT "don't go backwards": I went from the left seat of a jeeeeettttttt back to single pilot turboprop. Best move I ever made. The pay is better and the QOL is off-the-charts better. Will I retire from this job? Probably not. Am I sorry that I "went backwards". No, sir, not even a little bit.
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I wouldn't see it as a step backwards. Better pay is the ultimate win in the game, right up there with better QOL, right? That was a step forward.
 
GX said:
Was it your DREAM to fly for them? Or was it something that came along, and was right place, right time, networking, etc? Take the place you've dreamed about, or the aircraft that you've dreamed of flying since you got into this thing, or were a small boy, or have worked and worked to get into.... and voluntarily quit because of a circumstance that exists in the environment.

THAT... kind of quitting will wrinkle your soul.
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Anybody that dreams about flying for Trans States needs some new dreams.
 
GX said:
I wouldn't see it as a step backwards. Better pay is the ultimate win in the game, right up there with better QOL, right? That was a step forward.
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They could pay me more. Other than that, I feel like I've hit the lottery. Wait, other than the money, I feel like I've hit the lottery. Hmmmm.
 
Ian J said:
For most of them, the lack of any fixed-wing time at all does them in combined with a reluctance of 121s to count helicopter time. And Apache guys don't fly a lot of instruments, either.
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Sure, I was just surprised that EMS helicopter places weren't hiring the military guys. I thought they would be the only ones hired.
 
wheelsup said:
Sure, I was just surprised that EMS helicopter places weren't hiring the military guys. I thought they would be the only ones hired.
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They still like military guys, from what I've seen. The problem (again, from what I've seen) is that they can't always hit their insurance numbers with military guys.
 
Derg said:
I'd fly it if I could hold a line.

But!

My W-2 and days off as a senior FO are well north of reserve narrowbody CA.

"More Money, More Time Off. Nothing else matters"
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I learned a lot as a Capt but I see no reason to hurry back. I get that some people need to run their own show but it's never been more important to me than....wait for it....

MORE MONEY MORE TIME OFF!!!

Flying is much more fun when you don't do it every day.
 
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