Ferd149

Fred/WAFP

Gotta disagree with the guard/reserve thing in addition to an airline job. I work with several guys who did that and most hated it. Your either on an airline trip or at guard/reserve duty and are never home. Add a commute to one or both of them and you never sit anywhere but an airplane seat.

If you get out, get out. I know that is not what the recruiter is telling you.

I did jury duty this year. Two week trial. Even rush hour traffic wasn't so bad when I got to sleep in my own bed. Good points about leaving the aviation rat race all together. But, like I said, company paid beach sits aren't so bad either. Now Fargo, ND in January is just wrong...........

JMPOV,
Ferd

WAFP

Just looking at it from a finacial POV. I would rather live my life only working half a month, but living on 1st, 2nd or even 3rd year FO pay may be pretty rough.

Have a few friends that do the airline/reserve gig and they like it. It is all about working the system though.

Good point though. Thanks Ferd!

dbtownley

My advice to those that are leaving AD, do it becuase you don't want to be on AD any more and not for getting the "dream job" of an airline pilot. You won't be happy. We had an 0-6 come talk to our wardroom about year before I left AD and told us the same thing. I didn't believe him. I just figured that Airline stuff would be better than doing more deployments and going to the boat not flying. Truth be told, the airline stuff is worse. You maybe stateside but you are not really "there" for your family, if you have one. I definately made the correct decision to leave AD (stayed in the reserves), but I will soon be making the right decision about my new opportunity in the very near future. Good luck to you.

TBoneF15

deleted...

VBone

My take

FedEx/UPS better than active duty.
SWA a wash depending on how much TDY
Anything else worse

Could change at any time.

If you are TDY more than 1/3 of the time then take that into account

SaltyDog

Ferd,
The problem isn't the Guard or Reserve, they picked the wrong job or have poor priorities and are BSing everyone. USERRA allows you to manage both careers by dropping your civilian job if you choose for military time if it becomes excessive. If you are gone 28 days a month, I'll show you someone whose priority is only cash. Everything else is poor planning and lip service. If they are commuting to BOTH jobs, I'll show you someone who wants a divorce or their spouse is looking for a divorce. Only know one guy personally who pulled that off.
You can't live exactly where you wants and drill where you want and work exactly where you want and say the problem is with the civilian or military job. If you have all the time in as a rated pilot/designated aviator, it is wise to consider staying in the Guard Reserve. USERRA makes it very manageable and compatible with the civilian job. JMPOV <g>

Good advice, still, being "there" is much more likely only being gone several days at a time, with fast return capability if necessary.
Best of luck with the new opportunity

flybynuts

You know the old adage.....Your boss is the Major whose boss is the Capt and the CEO is the 1stLt who got out after 4 yrs and started his own company. BTW...your employee is your old CO.


I left AD after 12 yrs to go to CAL and do the reserves. It is working for me because I commute to IAH for my airline job and do 10 days a month military reserves at home. I am home a lot and enjoy it. However, the grass is not as green as you would think. It is still good but there are always costs. Pay is going to suck and timing is everything. E.g., I have a friend who was hired by SWA almost 3 yrs ago. He is home 26 nights a month and makes 125K. He is living large! Another hired less than a year ago and sitting reserves in PHX... He decided to commute to OAK to hold a line due to being gone a lot from home. For me, I thought I would be a line holder in IAH in no time and upgrade to CA in 3 years. Not so much anymore. I will sit reserves for 6 mos or more and I worry about the cost of oil and mergers and may upgrade in 10+ yrs if we merge. I used to worry about being tapped for a 1 yr IA or going to another squadron who is about to deploy and are short a body. Pressure is still there, just different.

However, I still like the job a lot and as long as the near future looks good for me and the family, then it is worth it. I have always heard, it takes 2-3 years to be really comfortable with the decision to leave AD and to reap the actual "greener" benefits. Once this happens, you will laugh at why you felt hesitant to get out. If the future timing looks poor for me, then I can go do almost anything else to take care of my family and still enjoy my life. Look back at what you did in the military and you should realize that you can easliy do almost anything in Corporate America.

Side note, there are tons of good jobs out there and again, timing is everything...right DT?

Life is always challenging no matter what you do or where you go.

fdx727pilot

Man, O-4s must make a lot nowadays, cause the least I ever made in a WB right seat (total on the "earnings" screen, so it includes PerDiem and Excess Life) was $131K and that was back in 03, 4th yr pay under the last contract. Also, it was on the DC10 with almost no international flying.

HoursHore

I did almost a month in turkey last year (not tax free) and made half what I made in a similar month at FDX.

Needless to say, the general ass-pain involved in that evolution along with the financial pain has inspired a never volunteer for stuff attitude, which is reflected on the countless surveys I have to fill out for the AF and AMC on why reserves don't deploy voluntarily more.

If you need me, activate me.

dbtownley

You are correct sir. I started today and this is going to be AWESOME!