What is your greatest piece of advice

[BobDDuck]

Is that a thing at your shop?

In general, at every shop, there are many older/more senior captains that haven't emerged from the stone ages yet, and often times they tend to cluster on the highest paying equipment type, due to being senior.

Pay wise, mid/senior WB FO pays almost the same as very junior NB CA, with more days off and way better trips, so I'm not missing out on anything as far as that goes. I already have about 4000 hours of 121 PIC in the CRJ (thanks 2008/age 65) so if I had to start over somewhere for some reason, I have that box checked. So really the deciding factors to upgrade are 1) when I'm senior enough to replicate the quality of life I have now as far as trip variety and days off (which is hard to do going from WB to NB) or 2) when I really can't deal with the personality issues and command gradient that these guys project in the cockpit. I'm expecting #2 to occur long before I am senior enough to be a widebody captain off of reserve.

 

[BigZ]

It is nice to be an FO again. It would also be nice to be a Captain again, although I do not look forward to doing the reserve thing for any duration of time. I certainly see why people bypass the upgrade here...I do not, however, at the RJ level, mostly because upgrading is the only way to make a comfortable living (and even then you're gettin' screwed on the regular). I remember going..."That's it?" after my first day of FO IOE here, compared to the slings-and-arrows of outrageous RJ-land.

I remember I once flew with the most junior 145 Captain at the Beagle, and I saw him about two weeks later busted back to the right seat. Not a happy camper in short. (Same week I got displaced to NFE from DFE. "Gee, I don't understand why you left," he said, cross-eyed.)

I'm still bummed on your behalf for your displacement back to the right seat, is what I'm trying to convey.

Ewww WSCOD
ex-OFC/current-OFL, bid is out with zero OCL slots.
Pretty sure I could hold XCE, but zero desire to go back to a shrinking fleet and 145 at that.

 

[Autothrust Blue]

Ewww WSCOD

I wasn't cool enough to be CRJ there.

I liked the -145. Good jet for baby's first jet.

 

[Cherokee_Cruiser]

Yeah it’s a thing at every shop. Add on to being downgraded for a year, dealing with other peoples BS gets old fast.

That said, I had a downgraded FO not be happy about VX guys coming onto Boeing and pushing him out, and decided to play right CA. So it cuts both ways.

 

[Cherokee_Cruiser]

(Same week I got displaced to NFE from DFE.

Jeez. What are you guys, Delta in training?

Hey, what base and plane/seat you on?


Normal people: LAX, A320 , Captain


Deltoids et al:

LA 7320ER B

or

NFE / DFE

 

[tcco94]

 

[DE727UPS]

2) when I really can't deal with the personality issues and command gradient that these guys project in the cockpit.

Is there any way you can stay in the right seat and only bid with Capts you like?

 

[Maximilian_Jenius]

That said, I had a downgraded FO not be happy about VX guys coming onto Boeing and pushing him out, and decided to play right CA. So it cuts both ways.

What did you do?

 

[BobDDuck]

Is there any way you can stay in the right seat and only bid with Capts you like?

To some extent. But if I want to fly to certain places, or type so trips (not west coast), I'll be giving up a whole lot of seniority, if I bid avoid all of these guys. And I've only been on the plane for 7 months now, and 3 of those I've been out on medical leave, so my exposure has been kind of limited... but reinforced what I was concerned about.

 

[Cherokee_Cruiser]

What did you do?

Sympathize with his loss of position, but then also set the tone and expectation I had from him.

 

[Minuteman]

This is from a while back, but,

Most of all, and this is my most important bit of advice: Learn to let sh— go. There are days you’re going to see all the cogs in the big machine turning and it’s going to stress you out on occasion. New leg, new jet, new day, every time. If you keep carrying the last legs frustrations into the next, you’re going to build a culmination of stress that is going to poison every operation, interaction and your perspective. You’ll spend inordinate amounts of time writing FCR’s and ASAPS and, at the end of the day nothing will change except your increasing brewing dissatisfaction. If you’re convinced a procedure should change and if you like creative writing assignments, knock yourself out and report it, but LET IT GO IMMEDIATELY.

It is amazing what jotting-down a quick note for later can do for letting stuff go. Even if you know you won't need the note for later recall, or you know you won't care about it, there's something about the writing it down to add a tidy bookend and actually let stuff go.

 

[GypsyPilot]

In general, at every shop, there are many older/more senior captains that haven't emerged from the stone ages yet, and often times they tend to cluster on the highest paying equipment type, due to being senior.

It’s going to be interesting to see over the next 5-10 years if this attitude is generational, or just an “old guy” thing. Not putting all Boomers in the same box, some of them I’ve flown with have been super cool. But there are some real doozies out there too, and it make me wonder.

 

[Dacuj]

In general, at every shop, there are many older/more senior captains that haven't emerged from the stone ages yet, and often times they tend to cluster on the highest paying equipment type, due to being senior.

We have a real problem with this at Envoy. Washed out gummers hogging the seats holding on to a bygone era. Fortunately we are down significantly percentage wise. Hopefully the next few years will purge the remainder of them. The goal would be to have a 100% cadet airline going forward.

 

[Autothrust Blue]

We have a real problem with this at Envoy. Washed out gummers hogging the seats holding on to a bygone era. Fortunately we are down significantly percentage wise. Hopefully the next few years will purge the remainder of them. The goal would be to have a 100% cadet airline going forward.

Management stooge confirmed.

 

[Autothrust Blue]

It’s going to be interesting to see over the next 5-10 years if this attitude is generational, or just an “old guy” thing. Not putting all Boomers in the same box, some of them I’ve flown with have been super cool. But there are some real doozies out there too, and it make me wonder.

In 5-20ish years we WILL be the old guys, so we’ll see about that.

 

[jynxyjoe]

We have a real problem with this at Envoy. Washed out gummers hogging the seats holding on to a bygone era. Fortunately we are down significantly percentage wise. Hopefully the next few years will purge the remainder of them. The goal would be to have a 100% cadet airline going forward.

Sorry, I'm kinda new here again. Tell me more about all this cadet stuff, I'm very interested in applying.

 

[BigZ]

I wasn't cool enough to be CRJ there.

I liked the -145. Good jet for baby's first jet.

CRJ was a dying fleet when I got there, as 175 base just opened up, but that was the plane that kept me in ORD.
Awesome plane, crappy QoL on eternal reserve on a shrinking fleet, great crews. You knew everyone you flew with, at the end there were like 70-80 of us total CA and FO. I enjoyed it, even if in the moment there was a fair bit to B&M about.

 

[BobDDuck]

We have a real problem with this at Envoy. Washed out gummers hogging the seats holding on to a bygone era. Fortunately we are down significantly percentage wise. Hopefully the next few years will purge the remainder of them. The goal would be to have a 100% cadet airline going forward.

Wait... I thought you were a project pilot at American? Straighten out your story... or your verb tenses.

 

[mikecweb]

Wait... I thought you were a project pilot at American? Straighten out your story... or your verb tenses.

They are all American. Or something like that.

 

[Autothrust Blue]

They are all American. Or something like that.

I smell scrambled eggs?