Question regarding the future

[shneidertrophy]

Dear all,


Having spent almost 20 years in aviation, jumping from one company to another but never being given an upgrade as captain, I am looking to come back home to Europe and join Netjets.

At the moment I am flying for one of the major carriers in the Middle East on a modern wide body jet. But having spent some years in the sandpit time has come to pull the plug and go back to the real world before it’s too late.

We all know Murphy’s Law, but the day I decided to hand in my resignation I received a letter telling me I was selected for upgrade on the baby bus!!!

So I think it is logic that I have certain extra questions regarding my first choice, the one to join NJE….I am hoping some of you will be willing to answer these in all honesty.

Here we go:

• Ever since I began my career in aviation I have been told never to leave an upgrade behind. And now I would be going against this very rule. Would you consider this a well thought over choice? Would you do the same?
• Until now I hear left, right and centre that flying corporate jets is regarded as being a bit less valuable then flying commercial. Where I come from people would prefer to fly an old 737 Freighter at night for 3500 Euro/month just to fly a bigger jet then to go to NJE for a better lifestyle for better money. I know first hand that the job as a commercial pilot is becoming more and more a job for spineless button pushers while being a corporate pilot remains much more demanding(performance of planes, remote fields,…) But how does one deal with this if in a later stage you want to go back to commercial? Or is it so addictive that no sane pilot will ever go back to the world of commercial aviation?
• On day to day bases, can one survive lets say 20 years in a Netjets environment? All in all is it a very demanding environment, flying airplanes which are in fact not made to spend so many days/year in. Do most of you guys see NJE as a company to retire from?
• 6 on/5 off certainly has its perks, but how do your families deal with this after a couple of years? 6 days away from home is not a short period to leave, in my case, wife and kids behind.
• Everybody is talking about the BIG D or the major recession which is heading our way. Exactly how safe do you guys think we might be in a fractional ownership environment like NJE? I know it’s a rich company, backed up by the richest man in the world and his company but still…nobody knows what might happen in case it really goes wrong!

That’s it for now….I am truly hoping for some great answers…


A confused airline pilot