Regional Hiring Already Slowing?
10-06-2016, 07:06 AM
#82
Banned
Joined APC: Sep 2016
Posts: 375
Yeah I'm not doing that, but for kids these days it is impossible to get out of college for less than $50k (unless of course they have scholarships). Add another $80k on top of that for flight training and you get $130k. Most colleges are more than $50k for 4 years now, and that doesn't include living expenses and other expenses.
10-06-2016, 12:32 PM
#85
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Aug 2011
Position: Slightly less broke side of RJ
Posts: 132
10-06-2016, 12:36 PM
#86
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2015
Posts: 416
Wait until your in the right seat of the next aluminum can with a crap person next to you and whining flight attendants and your scratching all day from bed bug bites. You'll long for the days of being a cfi.
Enjoy being a cfi. Sometimes i wish i could just bust out a lazy 8. If i could make 80k a year being a cfi, i would do that for the rest of my life with a smile on my face.
Enjoy being a cfi. Sometimes i wish i could just bust out a lazy 8. If i could make 80k a year being a cfi, i would do that for the rest of my life with a smile on my face.
10-06-2016, 12:59 PM
#87
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Sep 2016
Posts: 774
I never understood the "golden handcuffs" argument from regional lifers.
Plenty of guys in their 40s are starting over at the bottom of the majors, with all of the same family, kids, money, and quality of life challenges mentioned above.
Our families are more important than our careers, too...and that "marginal benefit" obtained by the "upheaval" of moving on to a major airline is to the tune of about $3+ million of additional income (depending on where you go to work, of course) over the course of the rest of the flying career. In addition, once you get past those initial painful years of reserve, commuting, etc, the schedules and work rules are substantially better at the majors than at the regionals. That translates to more time at home for the next couple decades -- if you so choose to even work that long, since smart financial planning will allow you to retire before 65 (or 67!).
Yes, the upheaval is a pain in the dong, but if you really care about your family life then the financial and schedule reward they will pretty quickly have after you've made the jump to the majors is a worthy payoff.
Anyone who will take the time to sit down and run the numbers can see this if they want to. Unfortunately, I think so many lifers can't get past the very temporary pain of bottom-of-the-list reserve and commutes to crappy domiciles. I get it that some folks have a schedule and money that they are "content" with, and have heard all of the "there are things more important than money" arguments, but ultimately the benefit on the other side of the pain is just too good to pass up, IMHO.
Plenty of guys in their 40s are starting over at the bottom of the majors, with all of the same family, kids, money, and quality of life challenges mentioned above.
Our families are more important than our careers, too...and that "marginal benefit" obtained by the "upheaval" of moving on to a major airline is to the tune of about $3+ million of additional income (depending on where you go to work, of course) over the course of the rest of the flying career. In addition, once you get past those initial painful years of reserve, commuting, etc, the schedules and work rules are substantially better at the majors than at the regionals. That translates to more time at home for the next couple decades -- if you so choose to even work that long, since smart financial planning will allow you to retire before 65 (or 67!).
Yes, the upheaval is a pain in the dong, but if you really care about your family life then the financial and schedule reward they will pretty quickly have after you've made the jump to the majors is a worthy payoff.
Anyone who will take the time to sit down and run the numbers can see this if they want to. Unfortunately, I think so many lifers can't get past the very temporary pain of bottom-of-the-list reserve and commutes to crappy domiciles. I get it that some folks have a schedule and money that they are "content" with, and have heard all of the "there are things more important than money" arguments, but ultimately the benefit on the other side of the pain is just too good to pass up, IMHO.
Does it really matter if your 63 making an extra 100k at a major if your kids are already 30 years old. All your math applies, but it doesn't account for the time value you don't spend with your kids. You will never get that time back.
The 50 year olds that you see moving over are no longer concerned about their kids because they're already, or soon will be, out the house.
The real question is, would you divorce your wife for a job a mainline? Plenty of pilots have put their careers first, and are divorced.
Last edited by Happyflyer; 10-06-2016 at 01:19 PM.
10-06-2016, 01:57 PM
#90
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jun 2014
Posts: 923
Graphs and such aside, a little creativity goes a long way and can dramatically reduce costs. I got my Private/Instrument at a local flight club while attending community college and living at home. The credits from the local college and the ratings eliminated two years at the much more pricey four-year institution. Getting decent grades (3.5 GPA) at the community college got me into Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and brought a humdinger of a scholarship at the university. All said and done, 0-MEII, bachelor's degree, and two associates degrees in 5 years for between $60-70k. I worked a few part time jobs on the side and my parents were able to finance some interest-free loans (I was very fortunate to have that opportunity). My first flight lesson was summer of 2008 and I'll be student-debt free at the end of this month.
Kind of sounds like I was blowing my own horn there. I didn't mean it that way. I'm just saying that there's no need for people to be getting buried by debt like this. At the same time I was going through training, some of my peers were piling up 100k+ student loans!!! They are smart, professional people who could easily have gotten the grades I did, worked the same part time jobs (probably much better jobs), and attended community college to cut costs. I didn't have any more talent or ability than they did. But they got suckered into the fancy zero-to-hero university or ATP programs that cost more than a fine piece of real estate. Never, EVER, accept the cookie-cutter degree program method of education without seeing how you can do it differently.
Kind of sounds like I was blowing my own horn there. I didn't mean it that way. I'm just saying that there's no need for people to be getting buried by debt like this. At the same time I was going through training, some of my peers were piling up 100k+ student loans!!! They are smart, professional people who could easily have gotten the grades I did, worked the same part time jobs (probably much better jobs), and attended community college to cut costs. I didn't have any more talent or ability than they did. But they got suckered into the fancy zero-to-hero university or ATP programs that cost more than a fine piece of real estate. Never, EVER, accept the cookie-cutter degree program method of education without seeing how you can do it differently.
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