Captain on a King Air 350 or First Officer on an A320

[macdo]

Originally Posted by Stan Woolley

Your last sentence may be theoretically true, but how many have you known that have actually gone that way rather than simply talk about it?

The bolded sentence maybe to your liking, but perhaps not to all of us. It may sound like a glamorous tv advert to a young single guy, but to me it sounds more like a pain in the proverbial. I’m 58 now, and haven’t flown since I had a stroke eight years ago, that has allowed me a lot of time to ponder this sort of thing. You forget to mention the likely deep night flight back from the Caribbean, at 58 I think that alone would balance out the positives! The hours between 11 and 7 are definitely not meant for flying when over the age of 40! (In my opinion). As you know, I’ve done my fair share of night flying around Europe in King Airs (National) and night Tenerife’s in Boeing’s (Britannia)as well as a taste of long haul, which inevitably means working round the clock.

I think the success or otherwise of this decision will depend a lot on the OPs nature.

Looking back, I can see that I was blinded by ambition, to get into the left seat of a jet asap, or any seat of a jet!! It wasn’t money that drove me, I don’t really know what it was, possibly ego? I now wish I had really slowed down to enjoy the journey more, rather than the end game, which turned out not to be all I hoped it might - did I really think about it? When I ‘eventually’ arrived, I had nowhere to go, I got bored!

The lowcost airlines have certainly changed things. Paying a lot of dough to get into the right seat of a 320 or 737, then the potential to earn enough back is possible if you are sensible. I wasn’t. I watched the young guys get their commands with 3000hrs or even less, where I had taken nearly 7k to get a direct entry command with Easy, coming as a FO from the charter world. It made me think, where now for these youngsters in their 20s?

I might be looking back through rose tinted glasses at things in some ways. I would say follow your heart rather than your head. It may mean you don’t end up with a great pension, or a Porsche as a second car. But I think you will remember more of the flying you do, and more of the people you meet along the way. You should be comfy enough with a BMW, and a modest detached house. I guess it can be summed up by asking if you would prefer dinking weak coffee that means the tin lasts longer or strong coffee that you enjoy and to hell with what happens when it runs out!

Then again, it’s a great feeling lining up, standing them up and pressing TOGA in a big jet!

Life is a gift, live for today. Anything might happen!

(Are you who I think you are, G?)

I can't disagree with anything that either of us have stated. The advantage that we have, is the perspective which age and experience have taught us.
The standard career path is to get onto the jet, then get a command, then consider the options from that position. At that point personal attitudes to do with lifestyle vs income vs ambition can be addressed. If LH doesn't suit, plenty of SH jobs to choose from and vice versa. Training yes or no. Management yes or no. But you have to get to the position where choice is available in the first place. That is difficult to achieve from the left seat of a KingAir (IMHO). As it happens, I have known 3 people leave big carriers to return to Turbo prop flying. All for lifestyle reasons, and all were much happier to live on their reduced income.

The point you make about the young men and women who have joined the LoCo's at an early age and have had rapid advancement, is very pertinent. Anecdotally, I have heard of increasing levels of dis-satisfaction and burn-out amongst these people. It would be interesting to know if they are beginning to vote with their feet and what type of decisions they are making to improve their lifestyles. The point being, that as a 35 year old skipper of a European A320, you have more choices available than the equivalent KingAir pilot.

All the best!