What would you do – return as a pilot?

[dogpile]

A question to all of you out there. I was hired as a pilot in 1987 and took a leave of absence in 2001. I have been a mortgage broker and despite the economy am doing OK. However, tomorrow is my 50th birthday and I am beginning to really miss the flying, the life style, and wonder if I am not making a mistake doing what it is I really love to do. So I pose this questions – is the job worth returning to?

Consider that I would be taking a 50K per year pay cut but in return I wouldn’t be going to an office every day. I also would get a decent schedule when compared to the 5 on 2 off work week and 10 hour days. Also, once I come back – the leave is cancelled.

Your honest opinion is appreciated. I don’t have an axe to grind on the seniority – so please when you respond don’t let that be the “thingâ€.

Thanks for taking the time to add your advice.

 

[LCC_#1]

Your honest opinion is appreciated. I don’t have an axe to grind on the seniority – so please when you respond don’t let that be the “thingâ€￾.

Thanks for taking the time to add your advice.

Your screen name is well fitted for the mess here at the new Amer.. I mean US Airways. Are you single? Kids gone? Apply with an Asian or Middle East carrier. You will fly huge planes and be treated like royalty. Here, our pilots have been reduced to bunch of pus**** with no balls to do anything! Even the f/a's have bigger balls. Don't do it!!!

 

[nycbusdriver]

This is not the same airline that cut you loose in 2001. Although hard to imagine, we have acquired a management team that makes Wolf and Gangwal look like a bunch of pro-employee tree-huggers.

Notwithstanding the nasty seniority issues, you get treated like crap by the company day in and day out. Everything is a battle because management egregiously violates our contract(s). The only choice is to suck it up or grieve it, and that can take years. On the east, the weak sister MEC gave so much away that the quality of life is unrecognizable from the 2001 days.

If you still need to fly, go get a J-3 and enjoy. This place is no fun anymore.

 

[N965VJ]

US is not the only game in town if you want to do a little flying and travelling. Get some flexibility in your current job and see if you can find some part time work filling in on the right seat of a Citation, for example.

These kinds of opportunities tend to present themselves if you are looking for them.

 

[FlightChic]

I'm not a pilot just a flight attendant but out of good conscience I must say "DO NOT RETURN!" Trust me, you will regret it!
The old US Airways that you know is nothing like the "new" US Airways. You'll be treated like crap and be expected to do more work for less pay and the morale here is very low. Trust me, the grass is not greener on the other side and scratch all of your good memories of what this place used to be because that airline no longer exists. As for taking a $50k a year pay cut, are you crazy? I wouldn't return to US Airways unless you already have a lot of money and don't need to work you just need something to do. There is no future here, no retirement, nothing but a bunch of angry people who have no money! If you really enjoy flying apply with another carrier if anybody is even hiring.

Before you even think about coming back, think about this long and hard. Don't return on a whim! Think about it at least six months because by then the thoughts of coming back will hopefully have escaped from your head. Make sure you have an "exit strategy" so if you want to leave US Airways or need to leave you will be able to do so. Are your finances in order? Try living on whatever you would be making if you were back at US Airways and don't touch any of your other money for six months or so and see how it works out for you! I'm not sure how much you have saved up for retirement or what your money situation is like but wouldn't it be smarter for you to spend the next ten years or so in your current job making that extra money and putting away that extra $50k a year for retirement so you can retire early and enjoy life? Use that money to pay off your mortgage, car, or anything else that needs to be paid off and save the rest for retirement. Again, I don't know your financial situation so maybe you have enough saved up so that you don't need to work. I don't know.

Also, are you aware that US Airways is furloughing pilots? Maybe they aren't at your seniority but things aren't exactly stable here. If you come back it may be a very bumpy ride for you! Did I mention how horrible our work environment is?

The only way I would ever say you should come back here is if you have your finances in order so that if you were laid off or couldn't work that you would be OK financially and that you will be able to retire at a decent age and not have to work forever. Or, if your current job is so stressful that you are on the verge of having a heart attack and you need to get away from the stress you can come back here but just know that you will probably have a heart attack when you see your paycheck each month and I am sure there is a better solution out that that doesn't involve US.

I just don't want you to walk around with your head in la-la land, some make-believe place that doesn't exist, thinking that returning to US Airways is your golden ticket to happiness. Those happy days as we know them are over! Done! Finito! I know you don't believe me and you won't understand it unless you see it for yourself but you really are better off where you are (unless you are way stressed and it's taking a toll on your health). But even then, this place isn't the answer.

 

[autofixer]

I was on a leave and sold my biz and came back. MISTAKE! I wish I kept the biz (with all of the misery that goes with it) and never stepped foot on this property again. It is a horrible company, in a horrible industry with horrible working conditions and horrible employee relations.

At least going to the office daily allows your bodily functions to work correctly; we are now working 13-14 hour days with minimum overnights. You have no body rythym (sleep, etc.), you are always tired, fed up and angry. I fly with guys who came here from the regionals and they constantly tell me they had much better working conditions at the regionals. You would do this for $50k less?

 

[PA18]

I was on a leave and sold my biz and came back. MISTAKE! ... It is a horrible company, in a horrible industry with horrible working conditions and horrible employee relations.

I cannot count the number of recalled pilots who have echoed the same sentiments. Especially the ones who purposely passed on recall to the E190, waiting for a Group II or better slot, and are now being "back doored" into the 190 via displacement.

Dogpile, the following is written under the assumption that you are an East pilot. If not, disregard it:

If it is indeed the "lifestyle" that you miss, you'll note that the majority of the responders here are saying the same thing; that "lifestyle" is gone forever. You cannot believe how much of that "lifestyle" was given away by the management wannabes who controlled the old CBA, and the cowardly and/or apathetic majority of East pilots who allowed them to remain in office and do so.

Do yourself a favor. Contact USAPA and get a copy of the current East contract -- including all of the LOA's, Restructuring Agreements, and other assorted give-aways that have transpired since you left -- and read it. I mean really read it.

Look at the new reserve system. Intolerable if you live in base, impossible if you don't. Look at the "improvements" to the scheduling, training, and deadhead rules. Get a copy of the medical benefits package and see how much more you pay and how much less you get since 2001.

And, of course, look at the pay rates. Especially the E190 pay rates, which 80% of your fellow pilots ratified, assuming, of course, that they would never be affected by them. But many of them will be, as that airplane will slowly replace the 737, and will inevitably be included in the minimum fleet count under the pressure of contract negotiations.

The itch to fly again is understandable. The desire to return to US, as it is today, isn't. Or shouldn't be, once you really get a grasp of how things really are.

 

[johnnyfleet]

3rd time since 2005?

http://www.usaviation.com/forums/index.php...c=26052&hl=

http://www.usaviation.com/forums/index.php...c=20402&hl=

 

[autofixer]

Interesting johnnyfleet...he said he was hired in 1985, now he says he was hired in 1987. I guess this is why you have to take what you read on the internet with a grain of salt.

 

[FlightChic]

Interesting johnnyfleet...he said he was hired in 1985, now he says he was hired in 1987. I guess this is why you have to take what you read on the internet with a grain of salt.

I think we've been punked by dogpile! :down: :down:

 

[flybynite]

Happy Birthday!!

No, you made the right decision to leave. Keep your good memories and stay in your current job. Make money and be happy.

Happy New Year!!

 

[dogpile]

Please read:

I am on a leave and my boss is on a leave from DAL. I don't care at this point, but I was trying to keep things from him. I don't want anyone to feel that the time they spend replying was under some sort of misconception. Quite the contrary - I really appreciate your input. I apologize the fact that I couldn't reveal my real date of hire.

Have I wondered about return since 2005 - heck yes! What is wrong with that? Thanks for all of your input.

Dog

 

[UtterlyUdder]

Please read:

I am on a leave and my boss is on a leave from DAL. I don't care at this point, but I was trying to keep things from him. I don't want anyone to feel that the time they spend replying was under some sort of misconception. Quite the contrary - I really appreciate your input. I apologize the fact that I couldn't reveal my real date of hire.

Have I wondered about return since 2005 - heck yes! What is wrong with that? Thanks for all of your input.

Dog

Dog, in spite of what you read here, there are other pilots flying the U line who love flying just to fly. I would take what you read here with a huge grain of salt, or a Grey Goose martini, if that suits you better.

A long time ago, I learned that money isn't everything. Doing what you love to do is. While I know "conditions" and "lifestyle" aren't the same as they once were, just watching the Northern lights or the beautiful sunsets and sunrises only a pilot can see in all of their grandeur.

It is my observation that most people who post here need an attitude adjustment. That is especially true of most of the West pilots. I am a casual reader here and they do seem to have their panties in a bunch most of the time.

If you can stand all of that in "real life" <-----------which I don't consider this forum to be, then come back and enjoy! Never mind the naysayers and those who would discourage you. Most of them are still flying wx in the cockpit or in the back. If they all hated flying for U so much, they can quit.

Good luck to you, whatever you decide to do.

 

[HP2USFA]

I agree! If flying is what you really want to do and that's the major motivator then by all means come back!

I came back knowing full well that it's not a glamor job anymore... that I can expect to have to tighten my budget and leave within my means...

I understood that there were labor issues and that I might be on reserve a long long time. I understood all of that and came back anyways because those things aren't what matter to me. What matters to me is having a job that I PERSONALLY enjoy. That I don't dread waking up to, that I look forward to doing my personal best at regardless of those who say I shouldn't do it.

Maybe that makes me crazy, but I really don't care! I love what I do and I'm doing it... what more is there?

So, make sure you read up on what you can expect and decide for yourself if it's more or less important than your desire to get back up there.

And happy birthday!

 

[NiceLandingCaptain]

canineheap:

I personally love this career and gain a lot of personal satisfaction from it.

I also enjoy coming to this forum as an interesting sideshow - occasionally stirring up the natives can be fun.....LOL a lot.

But regardless of my feelings you should just ask yourself: If you you had to do it all over again, what would you do? Go with the grind of pushing papers all day or soar with the glory gained from not scaring anybody during your landings?

Remember, there are thousands upon thousands of wanna-bees out there who would probably be willing to sacrifice important parts of their bodies just to have the options you do.