ZuluMike

Hello All!

Im sorry to post here but need some advice from my fellow employees. I started at Republic in October and have been on reserve for about 3 months now. While I absolutely love the flying, I am having much difficulty adjusting to this lifestyle of being away from home all the time.

It is taking a very big strain on my marriage. My wife is also an airline pilot (For another regional) but we are having a difficult time with our schedules not mathcing up. I live out of base so having to fly into base for reserve (although being used fairly often) is not helping much. I was thinking of transferring to a more junior base to hold a line, but still the idea of doing this for the rest of my career is daunting to me. It makes me very upset to think I will spend almost half my life, if not more, away from home. The idea of even having a family or spending important days togehter in the future is completely out of the window for us. So my question is, what should I do , does it get better?

I was looking for other aviation jobs where I could be home more but am struggling to find any other options, I've even considered going back to college to change my carreer field. Id still love to stay in aviation but at my age (27) I feel like an absolute idiot if I give this all up now to move to something else. How bad would it look too if i Burn Republic after just 5-6 months of employment? I made the biggest mistake by not choosing a regional where I am living and chasing bonuses and higher pay rates. At the end of the day I love this company (so far ) but it is just not working out for me, and I am spending more money on hotels and commuting sometimes even having to buy confirmed tickets to make a trip and not loose out on pay.

flysooner9

Two airline pilot families rarely work out. Probably should have thought about that one before you guys got hitched. Even later on in life assuming you both get senior enough to hold whatever schedule you want your options are either both work at the same time, leaving your future kids to be taken care of by whoever for several days at a time. Or stagger your schedules which means one person is always home with the kids but then you never see each other.

Only way I see two airline pilot families working is if you live in both your bases and at least one person can hold day trips.

sflpilot

Not good at all. I would at a minimun get to a regional with a base in your home city ASAP. It’s also probably time for your wife to get out of the airlines permanently and not work. Worrying about what mainline HR will think years from now would not be my first concern. When you get enough seniority to hold day trips things will get a lot better with your wife at home with the kids and you home every night. That could take a while though.

say again

Maybe this career isn't for you.

Av8rPHX

Sounds like pre AIDS


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yayairplanes

If you can stick it out for 1-2 years, you can get an insanely nice schedule at a junior base, and then you can just be an FO lifer. I can easily get 19 days off if that's what I want.

TiredSoul

You’re at the start of your career.
Nobody promised it would easy all of the time.
You both have careers.
Man up and tough it out.
I’ve had a 3.5 year long distance relationship with my then girlfriend and now my wife. We saw each other every three months.
The last two years I’ve barely been home due to switching jobs and having to fly overtime to financially cover “first year pay” twice.
If you can’t make it work between the two of you maybe you’re not the pair you hoped you’d be.
Again...”paying your dues” comes in many different shapes and forms.

sflpilot

You see your girlfriend 4 times a year? That seems far beyond paying dues. Each to their own. Also “dues paying” may become a thing of the past. Great Lakes just shut down. The regionals are slowly going away. More to come as mainline retirements accelerate.

TiredSoul

Don’t tell my wife.



( read my previous post again)

pilotguy7

YEP!!! I was a commuter sitting reserve, home 5 days a month (commuting on days off) and IT SUCKED!! I have a wife and 3 awesome kids. I did it for 8 months and found something else .... got he 121 stamp of approval, an ATP and a type rating. Went back into corporate until something better came along. There is LOTS of flying out there that is home based, or just day trips (and 121). AIDS is a true thing, and you dont want to fall victim to it. You two are in a bind, because it's BOTH of you . . . WOW... Good luck with this one.
Or stick it out, your schedules can get better . . consider living at base and getting into the training department, marketing department or recruiting area. Now you have more of a 9-5 with some flying in (and seniority). There are ways to make it work, but you might just have to think outside the box. The regionals are for young folks with no families, old folks who have no family, or people who live at base (yes there are exceptions to everything). Only YOU TWO can choose the right path for yourselves.