Flying for the airlines?

[Danb]

Hers one to break our stones..I just finished a return for a pilot with a defense contractor who flies drones for the US in the Middle east from San Diego ..His w-2 wages were $ 180,000..plus he's a lousy pilot   JEEZ

[M20F]

Why do the pilots stay at different hotels than the flight attendants.

Better contract

[Bob - S50]

Why do the pilots stay at different hotels than the flight attendants.

 

The rumor is what fantom said.  However, I believe the reality lies in $.  The FA's have different work rules than the pilots.  At Delta, they do not have a union and thus no 'contract' just work rules set by Delta.  That allows them to work longer hours during the day and shorter layovers at night.  We both have 'long' and 'short' layovers.  Long layovers are downtown and short are near the airport.  Pilots tend to get more long layovers while the FA's tend to get more short layovers.  Occasionally you will all go to the same hotel but will usually leave on different flights the next day.  It is rare to fly more than one flight with a group of FA's.

 

It can actually work to the senior FA's advantage by having different work rules.  For example, senior FA's with kids often bid for trips that are a redeye turn.  That is, they may fly from ATL to SEA in the evening after their spouse is home, then do the redeye back to ATL that night, and get home in time to get the kids off to school.  One day of work for 10-12 hours of pay.  Work 7 or 8 days/month and done.

 

Bob

[Bob - S50]

I was hired at my current airline at 37 years old and coming up on 9th year pay.  I will never have the seniority for captain.  FO for life.  However I am compensated the same if not better than most narrow body airline captains just on pay and my retirement and medical is much better.

 

Are you telling me I should give up and quit and go fly for Spirit or American, etc....?

 

I was 37 when I was hired at NWA.  Not sure who you work for (Southwest or Alaska maybe with just one type aircraft?) but I don't see why you couldn't make captain.  However, with that said, there is nothing wrong with being an FO.  Not even financially.

 

Two years ago as a senior 7ER FO, I made more money then I ever made as a DC9 CA... and that was before the bankruptcy 35% pay cuts!

 

By being senior I was able to bid a maximum pay schedule every month.  Since I did not need vacation to get any week off I wanted, I bid my vacation to maximize pay rather than take a vacation.  I would split my vacation into 2 periods, both at the end of a month.  45 hours in one month and 68 in the other.  Because of the way schedule building rules work, if I had 68 hours of vacation in May, when I bid for April, I would put my priority on finding the largest 'carry-out' trip I could.  I could usually find a trip that would carry 60 to 65 hours into May that got back before my vacation period.  65 + 68 = 133 hours of pay for May and I would be done by the 9th or 10th of the month.  45 + 70 = 115 hours in the other vacation month.  That's almost an entire month of extra pay each year.

 

Being senior I could do a 'swap with the pot' where there were not time limits other than FAR limits.  I swapped a little 3 day I had for an 8 day charter that popped up at the last minute.  Deadhead in business from SEA to NRT.  Layover for 40 hours.  Ferry a 767 to New Delhi.  Layover for 15 hours.  Ride Air India to Mumbai.  Layover for 36 hours.  Deadhead to AMS in business.  Layover for 24 hours.  Deadhead to SEA in business and go home.  Eight days, around the world to do one ferry flight, and make an extra 25 hours of pay over what I had.

 

Some reserves in bases with lots of open time use 'rolling thunder' and make more money than the captains who are holding schedules.

 

1.  Know the rules.

2.  Follow the rules.

3.  Use the rules to your advantage.

 

Bob

[Johnnybgoode]

I like my job flying out of Atlanta. An engineering degree and 8 years of deploying got me where I sit. F/O pay isn't bad (after first year) depending on the company, though it's admittedly better where I sit than at some others. That being said it's not Aspen-like in the right seat anywhere.

At the end of the day it is just a job - I enjoy it and work a total of about 18 days each month between that and the Guard. Have a budget.

Good money, decent schedule, modern planes and no complaints here.

Patrick

[FloridaMan]

I guess it's not much different than my current day job as a software developer.  Politics come into play. It only takes one well-placed asshole to turn a wonderful job into an intolerable one. My jobs last between 3 months to five years typically. The pay is good and it's usually fairly flexible, but I have to hustle. I don't have any job security, but the pay makes up for it; we talk about "employability security" as opposed to job security. 

 

The retired fighter pilots tell the doctors that the doctors did things the right way -- make your own money and fly on your terms. The doctors envy the hardware the fighter pilots got to fly.