Living the dream part 2

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falconkidding

Line Up and Wait
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Falcon Kidding
18 months ago I was a fresh newhire hitting the line for the first time now I'm hitting a different line (unemployment). As of yesterday ExpressJet ceased operations after 30+ years in one form or another. Despite being one of the three regionals that has shutdown this year i'm still glad I had the opportunity to work for them.

Its the first place i've ever worked where everyone seemed to genuinely love their job. It had a can do culture a senior pilot, mechanic, and FA group who knew their craft and could get stuff done. We never left a jumpseater or passenger at the gate we made the w/b work. Maintenance was amazing, even our crew trackers (the people who reassign you and its never good news) would go to bat for us. They would say "do you want to do this, or should I say I couldn't find you" . The chief pilots had your back.

As a newhire FO flying with senior captains was great they would challenge you and push your comfort level. They trusted you even when conditions were sketchy, would provide guidance but never micro managed.

I think my favorite thing was the hustle we usually operated with. We'd push asap, we taxied fast(southwest audition!) we flew as close to VMO as we could. We'd fly aggressively (for lack of a better word) if we could get down or turn in before another aircraft we'd go for it, ask for the visual and cut the line.

I'll miss flying pax and working with all the various people involved in the airline operation. All the joking around, the senior mama gate agent commenting "here come my handsome pilots" the mx guys who suddenly pop into view over your shoulder and start pulling CBs 3 minutes after you call them, the rampers signing jetbridge codes from across the ramp. The whole operations a ton of fun.

I won't miss management. Airline management doesn't give a damn about employees.
Pilots: so our retirees will lose flight benefits after shutdown right
mgmt and UAL: Why would you think that we never said that.
Pilots:Umm your united why would you do the right thing, and it happened with ASA retirees and delta
Mgmt: If your retired those flight benefits are still in effect.
Pilots:sure......
Mgmt on september 30th: BTW we're working on canceling retiree flight benefits sorry we totally didnt find out till today...



Anyways I flew my last flights parking 2 of trans states 145s in the desert, I had a blast working and I think no matter where I end up I'll always be proud to have been a part of XJT, "Acey"


Also anyone hiring? 2500tt 950 turbine sic. Live in TN but willing to move. Have applied to everything available since May and not even got a TBNT email back except from delta private jets. Air ambulance stuff, or Alaska flying would be fun. Honestly if I could get a job in Alaska when the flying season ramps back up doing the two weeks on two weeks off thing I'd be a happy camper.
 

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Just met one of our new pilots today. He just completed his first EMS “cherry flight.” He was flying regionals out of TYS and unfortunately just got furloughed as well. He also enjoyed the heck out of it but he said he probably won’t go back. Good luck in the job search.
 
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falconkidding said:
18 months ago I was a fresh newhire hitting the line for the first time now I'm hitting a different line (unemployment). As of yesterday ExpressJet ceased operations after 30+ years in one form or another. Despite being one of the three regionals that has shutdown this year i'm still glad I had the opportunity to work for them.

Its the first place i've ever worked where everyone seemed to genuinely love their job. It had a can do culture a senior pilot, mechanic, and FA group who knew their craft and could get stuff done. We never left a jumpseater or passenger at the gate we made the w/b work. Maintenance was amazing, even our crew trackers (the people who reassign you and its never good news) would go to bat for us. They would say "do you want to do this, or should I say I couldn't find you" . The chief pilots had your back.

As a newhire FO flying with senior captains was great they would challenge you and push your comfort level. They trusted you even when conditions were sketchy, would provide guidance but never micro managed.

I think my favorite thing was the hustle we usually operated with. We'd push asap, we taxied fast(southwest audition!) we flew as close to VMO as we could. We'd fly aggressively (for lack of a better word) if we could get down or turn in before another aircraft we'd go for it, ask for the visual and cut the line.

I'll miss flying pax and working with all the various people involved in the airline operation. All the joking around, the senior mama gate agent commenting "here come my handsome pilots" the mx guys who suddenly pop into view over your shoulder and start pulling CBs 3 minutes after you call them, the rampers signing jetbridge codes from across the ramp. The whole operations a ton of fun.

I won't miss management. Airline management doesn't give a damn about employees.
Pilots: so our retirees will lose flight benefits after shutdown right
mgmt and UAL: Why would you think that we never said that.
Pilots:Umm your united why would you do the right thing, and it happened with ASA retirees and delta
Mgmt: If your retired those flight benefits are still in effect.
Pilots:sure......
Mgmt on september 30th: BTW we're working on canceling retiree flight benefits sorry we totally didnt find out till today...



Anyways I flew my last flights parking 2 of trans states 145s in the desert, I had a blast working and I think no matter where I end up I'll always be proud to have been a part of XJT, "Acey"


Also anyone hiring? 2500tt 950 turbine sic. Live in TN but willing to move. Have applied to everything available since May and not even got a TBNT email back except from delta private jets. Air ambulance stuff, or Alaska flying would be fun. Honestly if I could get a job in Alaska when the flying season ramps back up doing the two weeks on two weeks off thing I'd be a happy camper.
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This had me thinking of PSA, the original. Anyway, good luck
“... We'd fly aggressively (for lack of a better word) if we could get down or turn in before another aircraft we'd go for it, ask for the visual and cut the line...”
 
Don't know why it's surprising. United has been doing all they can to shed retiree benefits for years. I got an earful from some of the UA retirees a few years back when they moved them down on the priority list for non-rev travel so that they could give current employees a benefit that they could trade-off for less payout. Costs them nothing to shaft the retirees and saves them money on the new hires.

Of course, United also in a former bankruptcy dropped the pensions on the PBGC.
 
jordane93 said:
Hang in there. PM if you need to vent to a fellow furloughee! When you’re a captain at a legacy, you can tell your FOs how you got through this.

A company at my airport posted this a few weeks ago. Home based, Challenger 604 FO. I don’t have any other info on the company

https://apply.workable.com/ventura-air-services/j/E797F3C073/
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Applied, we'll see what happens. Its crazy the number of pilots applying to stuff. I applied to a small cessna 400 series charter company on indeed and indeed sent me an update that 384 applicants had applied lol.
 
I saw a lot about Acey closing its doors. Sorry to hear you're caught up in this. Unfortunately, the airline industry is very cyclical so it's how it goes and that's why the folks on here tend to have the advice of "have a backup plan".

I wouldn't want to be looking for an aviation job at the moment. Everyone I've talked to who knows anything about the current applicants have insane numbers. I suspect we're going to be seeing a return to the "bad old days" of 10 years ago. Of course the people who had gotten in around that time or perhaps a bit earlier are the ones who are (hopefully) in a good spot now.

Good luck to you.
 
Nothing really to add on the "industry" that hasn't already been caveat emptor on here ad nauseam. Good luck going forward on the job front, aviation or otherwise.

Ted DuPuis said:
I wouldn't want to be looking for an aviation job at the moment. I suspect we're going to be seeing a return to the "bad old days" of 10 years ago.
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Indeed. Once I made the decision to have a child, things changed. I love flying as much as the next guy, but good bad or indifferent, it's a different inflection point altogether with dependents. I really don't envy nor desire the parental setups (divorced many of them) many of my airline pilot co-workers have on the domestic front. It's not for everyone. I think if I was childless, I'd be more tolerant of the industry's volatility and nomadistic ways.

I did a similar pivot in the military, shifting to the training command in order to prioritize physical presence in my son's life. The main difference is that in the case of the military, I have some vocational re-cat options in case of flight medical loss, and still attain the goal of attaining the AD retirement benefit, which is instrumental for me to get off the rat race early in my 50s. No such pivot is afforded to civi-only pilots. That was a big one for me as a head of household with minors.
 
hindsight2020 said:
Indeed. Once I made the decision to have a child, things changed. I love flying as much as the next guy, but good bad or indifferent, it's a different inflection point altogether with dependents. I really don't envy nor desire the parental setups (divorced many of them) many of my airline pilot co-workers have on the domestic front. It's not for everyone. I think if I was childless, I'd be more tolerant of the industry's volatility and nomadistic ways.

I did a similar pivot in the military, shifting to the training command in order to prioritize physical presence in my son's life. The main difference is that in the case of the military, I have some vocational re-cat options in case of flight medical loss, and still attain the goal of attaining the AD retirement benefit, which is instrumental for me to get off the rat race early in my 50s. No such pivot is afforded to civi-only pilots. That was a big one for me as a head of household with minors.
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That's all part of why I maintain my engineering job while my wife is off having fun flying the jets. The concept of job security is a myth altogether, but it's more of a myth in aviation than it is in engineering.
 
falconkidding said:
Applied, we'll see what happens. Its crazy the number of pilots applying to stuff. I applied to a small cessna 400 series charter company on indeed and indeed sent me an update that 384 applicants had applied lol.
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Don’t feel too bad. I got this TBNT email from Lowe’s! Hope you get back flying soon

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jordane93 said:
Don’t feel too bad. I got this TBNT email from Lowe’s! Hope you get back flying soon
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I know that feeling I got a TBNT for a line guy at cirrus and the FBO. I'm debating using my contact at United ground services to be a ramper for 10 bucks an hour lol.
 
Hangar neighbor is Very Senior Maint Guy at United Denver. He can leave or transfer to Houston. Not a happy camper. At least this time they offered to keep him....a few years ago he was furloughed for a while.
 
falconkidding said:
I know that feeling I got a TBNT for a line guy at cirrus and the FBO. I'm debating using my contact at United ground services to be a ramper for 10 bucks an hour lol.
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Heh! Years and years ago before college graduation, there was a small moment where I considered staying in academia instead of pursuing flying, and as such took the subject GREs for my two majors. I did well on both, and graduated feeling pretty good about myself. I chose flying, but before I got my instructing gig I applied to be an SWA ramper for $9.50/hr, just to be roundly rejected. “Welcome to aviation, ****head!” :p :p

Anyway, good luck to you man. Like Jordan you’ve done your homework and have a good attitude about it - you’re gonna be fine.
 
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