Secondary Jobs to Your Flying

H

HerrGruyere

Well-Known Member
Hey All,

I dunno if this is the right subforum or not, but ah what the heck! I'm sure someone will move it or chime in.

Anyway, for those of you who fly for a living, whether it be regionals, freight, charter, CFI, etc., did any of you work on the side for extra money - particularly in your first years making "chump change?" I put it in quotes since 20K/year in Raleigh, NC is completely different than 20K/year in Bethesda, MD. I was just thinking: with the way first year scheduling seems to work, e.g. you are on duty three days off for four or whatever, did you ever find the time to hold a second part-time job waiting tables or whatnot? I know that it would lead to not having a life, but I just wondered how another company could put up with such an erratic schedule and if anyone ever got something like that to work. Did some of you perhaps instruct on the side?

Just something I was wondering...
 
Well, I'm not airline I'm 135, so I'm never really off. I am home a lot though with plenty of time to spare, so to make extra money I build custom furniture. My job is such that it would be difficult to have a real second job as I never really know my schedule.
 
HerrGruyere said:
Anyway, for those of you who fly for a living, whether it be regionals, freight, charter, CFI, etc., did any of you work on the side for extra money - particularly in your first years making "chump change?" I put it in quotes since 20K/year in Raleigh, NC is completely different than 20K/year in Bethesda, MD. I was just thinking: with the way first year scheduling seems to work, e.g. you are on duty three days off for four or whatever, did you ever find the time to hold a second part-time job waiting tables or whatnot?
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I'm splitting my time between freelance flight instruction and freelance IT consulting right now. Freelance IT work would be difficult to do on reserve at an airline. Typical reserve lines are probably not going to give you the Monday-Thursdays off you would need to bid on even short projects. Freelance IT work can pay very well though, easily more than a mainline captain, so I don't think I would take any flying job that I couldn't schedule around my freelance work.
 
Well 3 students keeps me fairly busy. I wish I made half of what a CFI made at any other flightschool, but I can't complain right now. I also work retail. Try to get about 15 hours a week or so...kinda sucks but hey tough times call for tough measures.
 
spoolinup22 said:
Well 3 students keeps me fairly busy. I wish I made half of what a CFI made at any other flightschool, but I can't complain right now. I also work retail. Try to get about 15 hours a week or so...kinda sucks but hey tough times call for tough measures.
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I figured retail would be the obvious choice to have supplemental income, since that can allow for some scheduling. I remember always having tons of flexibility in my retail schedules.

135 ops seem too unforgiving to allow a small retail job on the side. The only other time I can see retail coming in handy is when you're not on duty/on call at an airline, i.e. you are on your official days off.
 
I worked in retail sales on the side when I was starting out and later moved on to computer software support for an aviation software company. I set my own hours and can work anywhere with internet access.
 
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