jmack

gone in 2010...... my point was that pay scale is as unattainable as the 20 year pay at CAL.. apples to apples.. SSBJ's on th e way!

LifeNtheFstLne

Does NJA ask furloughed guys to resign their seniority number or have an aversion to hiring them?

Floyd R Turbo

No, you can keep your number. Once you're here, you won't care about that number anyway.

snakeplt

Let me be more precise. I was at TWA when we were bought by AA...then furloughed after 9/11. So I was at AA for approx 10 months.

There are so many reasons why AA is not an attractive option for me anymore.
Upgrade can take up to 15 years.
The current payscale is HORRID.
Benefits are less-than-desirable.
I would have to commute to work. Would need a crashpad.
Actually, I can't think of a single thing that I would want to go back to...um...except flight attendants...

Having said this, the truth is, that prior to 9/11 the QOL, pay and benefits at a major (legacy) airline was superior to any fractional but that has changed.

For you guys looking to jump ship, I would suggest that you at least research NJA (netjets.com) to see what you might be missing. If you are an FO at any of the legacies without an upgrade in sight, definitely consider them. The pilot/management culture is MUCH BETTER than most places, although we do have our share of problems. The company actually treats you VERY decently and NJA is run by smart people (as far as I can see) and just about every NJA pilot I have flown with is great to fly with !

You want to fly BIG JETS with Flight attendants....stay at the airlines.

You want to fly SMALL JETS with NO Flight attendants...but actually make a decent salary....look into NJA. It's a whole different world and maybe not for everyone. But looking back over the fence, I don't see ANYWHERE I would want to go from here. To put it into complete perspective, Delta is currently hiring. If Delta called me tomorrow with a class date, I would turn them down without hesitation. They are a great company with great pilots, and Delta was always my DREAM JOB (prior to 9/11), but they have absolutely NOTHING over NJA now...what a strange, topsy-turvy world it has become.

Finally, I can't even begin to describe our union leadership. I have been a union member since I left the military 10+ years ago (ALPA/APA/TEAMSTERS) and I have NEVER seen a smarter group of people running one of the tightest union shops I have ever been a part of. UNLIKE ALPA, APA and the MORONIC TEAMSTERS, our union actually works ! We are lucky, as we have some of the smartest people in aviation running it. We are definitely blessed in that respect.

NJA is a great place with great people and a KICK ASS Union !!!

Oh, you asked about my background...
Military Retired - Helicopter
Civilian - 2 Regional Airlines (J32's), 1 Cargo Airline (DC10s), 2 Major Airlines (B717) (or one if you count TWA and AA as one), and NJA (Citation Ultra and Excel). There is no place I'd rather be than here.

Good luck to those still duking it out in the 121 world...I hope you guys get back everything you had before 9/11. I do miss the lifestyle at the legacy airlines and TWA had some of the absolute best pilots I have ever flown with in my entire career...but I don't miss the B.S. that goes with it all now.

One last point.
Here is the outlook at AMR.... http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/sh...ad.php?t=24437
Here is the outlook at Netjets... http://www.wral.com/business/local_t...story/2437534/, http://www.airlinepilotcentral.com/a...l/netjets.html and NJA has outstanding aircraft orders in excess of $2.5 BILLION....yes, that's with a "B."

Can it all change tomorrow ? Yes...but I am riding the wave to the end.

snakeplt

I don't know what they do now but they didn't ask me to resign my number when I arrived in Jan 2002.

Floyd R Turbo

Those TWA FA's weren't exactly hot.

snakeplt

You just hung out with the wrong ones....