I was to be employed by this company, however I was not going to be paid for the first year
Don't know of many airlines that operate like that. Care to enlighten us?
an Investment Mngt company, where I have been for 5 years now. For my first year working for this company I continued to apply for other flying jobs but could find nothing.
Well that was during a reasonably good time for airline recruitment so you must have been doing something wrong.
I am also promoted by virtue of how well I do my job and not merely by seniority.
No airline promotes
merely on seniority. If you are not deemed suitable when your number comes up you don't get it.
I really can't understand why people are willing to sacrifice their marrige, families, homes etc in order to pursue a career which has such a poor lifestyle.
If you can't understand it then you made a strange decision by trying to enter it.
And, we didn't ALL sacrifice marriages, families and homes to pursue this career. My personal career path lead to me getting married, having three kids, being put through the wringer after 9/11 and emerging the other side a better, more rounded, happier individual who has moved up the property ladder and loves going to work. Oh, my social life is just fine too thanks.
You'll probably do more hands on flying than you ever would during a career as a pilot.
We are not robots and can switch the autopilot off and hand fly if we want. Those of us who love flying do this quite regularly, even from 39,000' all the way to touchdown. Much more fun than from 3000' in a Cessna.
And yes I spend most of the day sitting at a desk with a computer screen infront of me, speaking on the phone, but the work is varied, I learn something new everyday and it lets me be somewhat creative. As opposed to flying a modern aircraft where I would be monitoring a computer flight system, making the occasional radio call and doing everything by the book.
I really can't quite see where investment management allows your creative side to flourish, now let me see, visual approach with all the automatics off into Corfu, now that allows me lots of scope for practicing my skills and gives me the buzz that I require. As for creativity I plant pretty looking flowers in my front garden and nurture them until they bloom into a magnificent display. I fly by the book because it's the safest way. I can't see how you would investment manage against 'the book' as not too many people would be happy with the way their investments were being managed.....................
I did ofcourse enjoy the training tremendously and I still fly for pleasure at the weekends which is all I need in terms of my aviation fix.
So it does draw the conclusion that spending £25,000 on commercial flight training was perhaps not the best managed investment you ever made.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think flying is a bad career to have, it just wasn't for me. Just make sure that it is really what you want to.
Couldn't agree more. It takes a certain dedication and desire to do this job. The rewards are however relative to how much you want to do it. I don't think I get a vast amount of money for the job I do and the responsibilty I take, but I love the work, don't mind the hours (and I've worked every weekend this month), had more days off in the week than you have had at weekends and have just enjoyed a great dinner party with a number of like minded friends, oh, and I'm going out to get pished tomorrow night too and then get the pleasure of hand flying 24hrs later. Bliss. Oh, did I forget to mention I have Mon-Fri off next week to recover in preparation for my next three days flying. Now what shall I plan next week.............? Three days with the family and two with the lads I think!
Don't get me wrong, it's not for everyone and there are times on the way back from somewhere like Luxor that you really think you would rather be somewhere else, but on the whole I had that feeling a heck of a lot more of the time in my previous career.
FranticFlyer, I'm sorry but your account smacks of sour grapes.
PP