Part-Time pilots
I left full-time flying for the same reason as HIALS. Like him, I found that not only were companies not willing to budge on full-time or no-time, but comrades thought I was a big baby for even thinking of not flying full-time.
I also knew quite a few pilots who were full-time precisely because they wanted to be away from home. That was easy for any company to figure out.
A portion of my corporate career was as a contract pilot in Citations and Hawkers and there I can say I saw both the good and bad of part-time flying.
Companies loved it because they did not need to pay any benefits. A day or a week's salary later you were gone. That was OK with everyone.
What the companies did not like however, was when they'd call for a part-time trip and you'd be otherwise engaged, or, as the pay-as-you-go life works out from the practical side, you simply didn't want the trip to Borneo. They'd never call again.
But being a part-time employee of one company is simply not the way this industry thinks. I personally think a great many companies - airline or corporate - could have a stable staff of dedicated employees if they'd give this idea half a chance.
My guess though is that if you are willing to travel some, the opportunities are already available in Asia where I believe you're based.
I'd start gathering a little information on how much time and money it might take to get recurrent in the most popular airplane - if you're not - and then begin calling friends who are still flying and asking for contact names and numbers.
I'd spend a week on the phone calling people and telling them precisely what you're after ... "I'm a 747 qualified captain with this experience and I'm after contract (or part-time) work. Would your company be interested in talking to me? Contract yes, part-time no? Can I ask why not?" You might have some interesting insights after a week or so. I'd surely like to hear them.
If I could find a part-time gig right now in Chicagoland, I'd grab it. They are very few and far between in this part of America though.
Jetwhine