757upspilot

Good question. It looks like its got a lot of potential, Virgin, and you go to a place and make it worth spending a career there. Thats why FedEx and UPS are good, because the pilots that work there made it that way. Neither was a top choice when they first got started. Hundreds of pilots quit and went elsewhere in the beginning at UPS. (UPS= Uniteds Pilot School)

mrvmo

FEDEX beware of the silent airplane killer growing beneath your noses..........................trucks............. your ground network is maturing quite rapidly and in time will start displacing your jets on numerous domestic routes...........yes it WILL happen.

HercDriver130

"Airline" pilots laughed at FEDex pilots years ago..... for all of their issues.... UPS and FDX are still two of the most coveted jobs in US aviation today.

LeGreaseMan

Bottom line, I want work for a company that can make a profit. It "typically" means good things for its employees.

Makes sense that AA has pilots on the street for over a decade. It sucks, its not the pilots fault, but they have been hemorrhaging money for years.

UPS...not so much. I don't work for them, but can imagine it is hard to know that your company makes so much money and has guys on the street.

finedavefine

Perhaps, but the really big growth is in our international marketplace, and last I looked, there's no bridge from Asia, the Middle East, or Europe to the good ole US of A. So we'll just keep a chugging along, and besides, because of the quickening of our world, people don't want their stuff "in a few days", they want it yesterday, and trucks are somewhat limited, except for in-close stuff. But thanks for the warning.

FliFast

Alf,

I think the only time you can gauge how good your job is or was is when you receive your first retirement paycheck.

Payscales, work rules, and promised advancement based on attrition are a lot like a "flight plan" for your career. Don't allow inflexibility, false hopes, and poor planning to lull you into thinking that your career's "flight plan" will happen as scheduled and as planned. You will just be setting your self up for failure and disappointment.

Case in point, when I was hired in 2007 at UPS straight to ANC the hot rumors was we'd all be Capts in 5 years. After 4 1/2 years, I'm about 90 from the bottom with 100+ on furlough.

For some people, flying a Lear jet in their hometown is better than flying a 747 at UPS.

The key to knowing which job is the best---do things that allow you to make it to the finish line of retirement with the least amount of damage.

FF

Freightpuppy

It tells me that he is furloughed and needs a job.

Busboy

When you receive your last retirement paycheck would be more accurate.

finedavefine

Actually, you should never receive your last retirement check. Your wife or husband should, after you've flown west, and hopefully they'll continue to reap your rewards for many years to come, then leave what's left to the kids and your favorite charity. Now that would be perfect.

Sideshow Bob

Jesus brother...take a step back, take a few deep breaths and think.

Many, including me have had it far harder than you have (so far) in this business. I took it personally when I got furloughed over 20 years ago, and had I hung my future solely on that place I'd still be on furlough...for the second time like close friends, many of which either now hove comfortable corporate jobs, are at UPS or other carriers, or in the case of a close, yet gone friend like Doug Lampe who also lived the USAir "dream" are now dead partly as a result of IMO corporate manslaughter.

Yeah...up close it's easy for any of us to put our heads in our hands and whine...I've been there. But I chose to get a grip and move on...try it.

Damn man...you wear me out...you really do.