Never got through the Advanced Handling Course at easyJet and that cost me £3,000 and had to resign from my job.
A very costly experiment.
Friends who fly for eJ don't mind it. They have told me once you're used to the 737 or Airbus and have been there for a few months it can be boring. Same destinations, no contact with pax and SOPs that basicly tell you to keep the autopilot on pretty much all of the time.
Admittedly they are home every night, although that time arriving home could be 2-3am. From I see the 5 2 5 4 roster does suit most people. (Note, if you live far away from your base you'll be more tired because of the travelling).
I'm now in Netjets Europe and I can honestly say I am not bored. Friends who have been in there for 5 years aren't bored either. One's just gone onto the Falcon 2000 and now is going to the Far East and to the US often as well as Africa and intra Europe.
I didn't have to pay for my uniform, got a salary and allowances from Day1 of starting and the package isn't bad over all. We do have a roster. 6 on 4-5 off.
When you're at work you can be sent pretty much any where and you are allowed to hand fly as much as possible when you're ferrying.
The FO pay is pretty similar to an easyJet FO pay once you include allowances and you're comparing UK Netjets FO to UK easyJet FO.
Netjets loses to eayJet on command pay by roughly 10K I think.
Time to command in Netjets does depend on your experience and their requirements. It can be in 6-18 months time depending on how you feel too.
Netjets is still expanding rapidy so that's good news for commands.
No job is perfect that's for sure. You have to ask yourself what suits you best. Do you want to be home every night and fly a 737/Airbus or do you want a lot of variety and fly a corporate jet with the (eventual) choice of short haul or long haul.
Last edited by redsnail; 27th July 2005 at 10:48.