Decisions Decisions
If you are into making snap decisions in a hurry, applying for a federal job is not for you. If you like to take months to make a decision, you have found the right place. The nice thing about taking your time, is you get the chance to think things all the way through before you make a decision. The government being its normal self has given me an additional 6 months to decide if I really want to jump ship on this flying gig and head on over to Air Traffic Control. I was recently hired for a Tracon in an area near where I'm from. They set a tentative class date several months from now, so I have plenty of time to decide if I really want to take the job.
I like flying. I am very good at it. But over the last few months, flying has turned into work. There's the old saying "If you love what you do, you never work a day in your life" I think my love of flying is dying off. My company has been draining my enthusiasm for coming to work in equal proportion to my draining bank account. For example, last week I had recurrent training. It cost me money to come to work. I had to commute in a day early, get a hotel for 2 nights, pay for all my own food and pay for 2 days of daycare. I got paid 3.75hrs of pay for each day of 9 hours of work. So that was worth about $180. Hotel was $45, daycare $130, food $30 for a total of $205 for a net loss of $25. Worth it??? Not any more. I know what I'm worth and its not $24 per flight hour.
So, do I stick it out with this crumbling career and declining profession? Or do I jump ship? I'm leaning twords getting out.
I like flying. I am very good at it. But over the last few months, flying has turned into work. There's the old saying "If you love what you do, you never work a day in your life" I think my love of flying is dying off. My company has been draining my enthusiasm for coming to work in equal proportion to my draining bank account. For example, last week I had recurrent training. It cost me money to come to work. I had to commute in a day early, get a hotel for 2 nights, pay for all my own food and pay for 2 days of daycare. I got paid 3.75hrs of pay for each day of 9 hours of work. So that was worth about $180. Hotel was $45, daycare $130, food $30 for a total of $205 for a net loss of $25. Worth it??? Not any more. I know what I'm worth and its not $24 per flight hour.
So, do I stick it out with this crumbling career and declining profession? Or do I jump ship? I'm leaning twords getting out.
posted by Windsor at 2:31 PM
4 Comments:
Think long and hard. Just remember, 10 years from now, there will still be empty left seats worth 150 an hour, perhaps with your name on it? We all have to start low at some point, but it makes getting to the top ever so sweet when you do get there.
Just make sure that if you do take the ATC job, that you will not have any "what if's" after you do.
While that may be true, do I really want to put my family through 5 years of substandard pay and quality of life? The way the industry is shaping up, I'm stuck where I am with no re-upgrade in sight. Its not fair to my family to have me making sub poverty level wages. If I was a single guy, maby I'd suck it up, but I have a family to think about.
I know exactly how you feel, maybe not to the extent you are feeling. I've been flying C210's for so long now with promised upgrades to the 402's and barons, and keep getting told something different. I know im good at my job, and i work hard, and its hard to maintain it when things like that happen. But we have a dude working for us who has been through the industry cycles a few times, and at the end of the day, you have to be willing to go through the tough to get to the good. We are probably at the bottom part of a 3 year cycle. Anyway just food for thought, if its what you want to do then i say go for it.
Just remember you are in a pressurised jet! Beats flying round a single engine piston in the summer heat with pax heh.
Take it easy, i enjoy reading your blog, and im pretty sure your youtube vids.
For what it's worth...likely not much...I left a regional and now work in an office. I miss flying every day but I never worry about making the mortgage or paying bills. There is a trade-off...and I chose my family over my passion. I'm not sure in the current environment I could have both. Good luck with your choice!
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