Originally Posted by
Thewnz
Yeh all very fair comments and things that ve thought about a lot. Im very far down seniority and due to my hours still about 2 more years for a turbo prop command and then another year for jet eligibility and prob another 2 years for tag and release. Ill be mid 40's by then and ive quickly realised that a jet is a just another plane (ie: dont have shiby jet syndrome never have) but i do have aspirations of moving up the ladder a little bit. And well i may as well get paid more than twice my current earnings to do a similar job in terms of hours (prob less duty time at JC) with the chance of having more time at home. I guess the toss up for me is which OTHER jet company. For me the hopeful choices are JC and virgin both with pros and cons (depending if i get interviewed and offered a job) a few people seem to think things are OK at both
All fair points. Depending on how low your hours are, you might find you're up for a Command in the Links before a Jet Job comes along anyway. We all get stuck somewhere in our careers. I joined the links with the Command requirements so didn't have to wait long (took a less than desirable base). I'll never forget the comment one of my colleagues made to me.... said I was lucky to have joined with such high hours as they had to spend longer as an FO to get the ATPL requirements. The fact that I got those hours slogging in GA while they were on a T-Prop went completely over their head.
If I had to choose one of the 3, with the plan to stay in NZ, then I'd likely look at J*. Virgins going broke (last I heard), JC is simply a crew provider to QF while J* has more routes and A/C than QF mainline. It's entirely possible all 3 will still be operating 30 years from now, but if I had to bet which one was most likely to survive, my money's on J*. Variety is also a factor, I personally couldn't fly the Tasman for the rest if my career without going mad with boredom.
Best of luck in whatever you decide. Ultimately, they're all good jobs and pay much better than your current gig so cast a wide net and see what happens.