Hi Fonwah,
Just came across your posting regarding us elusive "Astraeus Cadets"
Well we are all still alive and kicking, albeit almost two years (shock horror!) down the road. And, yes, I am pleased to say we are all still working for Astraeus! We have all done a heck of a lot of flying and obviously flown to many destinations under varying extremes of weather, met some great characters and had some great stop-overs too!...all good character building stuff and very exciting!
I believe we have all now exceeded 1000 hours on the 737 300/700 and have become a little more "seasoned". What this means basically is that the job is more enjoyable with fewer surprises than during the tentative early moths of flying when you really are learning the ropes so to speak. As many of you are well aware Astraeus has a strong training element to it in the form of "Bond". We have, to a greater or lesser extent, all been involved in Bonds activities. I personally have had the pleasure of flying as safety pilot on the odd base-check day. Its good fun if not nerve racking for the student! It’s strange to think that just a few months ago we were each in the same position.
What I have learned though is that a charter airline like Astraeus is not for everyone. It is, and can be very, very hard work. Unless you are truly passionate about what you do you cannot give it the 110% it deserves. The flying, although fun, is demanding with sector lengths now up to 7 ½ hours! As far as weekends and social life goes, it’s all a bit of a sacrifice. Suffice to say, its still a great job and I personally wouldn’t change it for the world.
Now over to the rest of you guys……..
(ps InFinRetirment....many, many thanks and Happy New Year!...did you get my email?