Originally Posted by
EatMyShorts!
Well, I wondered when he wrote that he was a VJ-pilot for nearly decade. If it sooooooo bad, why hasn't he left? Maybe he has and that's why he wrote the text? I hope for him that he has found a better employer, quite a few VJ-colleagues are now with us, especially FAs.
That's assuming it's easy enough to find a job that is adequate to replace your work at VJ.
You still have to find the right job, that allows you to be settled with family. Most private operations are looking for people rated on a specific type who're willing to relocate and be permanently available or work 2 months on 1 month off (or some other arrangement that is 2on:1off, get no holiday, train in your off time and also be responsible for the whole show. Combined with the constant threat of losing your job because owner doesn't like you any more/owner has been caught by the authorities/owner has replaced the plane/you had to say no to something they don't agree with and while VJs attitude to fatigue and FTLs are famously iffy - there's heaps of other charter operations that are as bad if not worse.
It's not as simple as TF is famously quoted as telling the crew "if you don't like it you can leave", the folks there still have to put food on the table.
All that being said, knowing how hard they work for how little compensation vs outside, the equation ain't balanced and it's very surprising that more people don't jump off the train.
I'm quite certain that both Flexjet and NJE have had a large number of enquiries from VJ employees, so I have to wonder why so few are hired.