Corporate or Airline?
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I would go for the airline. Perhaps i have a wrong perception about it, but you have a much more stable roster and more possibilities in terms of career development. Plus a better private life. Im now 36, flying 5 years in corporate and im really sick of it
. I took this job as a stepping stone, to get in the airline but i must admit: it is virtually getting impossible. 2 reasons: the age and not having a 737/a320 rating. As a corporate pilot, you marketvalue is just much less. (gulfstream not taking into account.). Plus in corporate aviation, there is so much bs involved. Waiting, flying to the maintenance to get things fixed, getting a call in the evening to fly to some sh*thole etc. By the end of this year i might get unemployed. And you know what? I even dont care about that. I also think that flying in the airline it is much more professional. So if you can join the airline, even with a low salary, grab it please. On the long term you will not regret it.
. I took this job as a stepping stone, to get in the airline but i must admit: it is virtually getting impossible. 2 reasons: the age and not having a 737/a320 rating. As a corporate pilot, you marketvalue is just much less. (gulfstream not taking into account.). Plus in corporate aviation, there is so much bs involved. Waiting, flying to the maintenance to get things fixed, getting a call in the evening to fly to some sh*thole etc. By the end of this year i might get unemployed. And you know what? I even dont care about that. I also think that flying in the airline it is much more professional. So if you can join the airline, even with a low salary, grab it please. On the long term you will not regret it.
Join Date: Sep 1999
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im really sick of it
There is no single answer to this question as there is such a varied selection of airline and corporate operators.
Mutt
I'm happier and feel more secure in my bizjet job than I would working for all but the largest of legacy carriers. Having been made redundant once before, I now work for a single owner who flies 400+ hours a year and 'should' the euro go pop, he personally stands to make a significant amount of money - not so with an airline.
When we fly somewhere nice, we then hole up in a 4+ star hotel (of our own choosing - no more airport hotels for me!!) for the 2 weeks or so that he stays there (typically east and west coast USA). No minimum rest, nowhere near max duty - although unfortunately no roster either.
That said, between the 3 pilots, we work out pretty well and I was at home for 14 of the first 16 weeks of my first baby's life.
I get paid the same regardless of whether I fly (I only miss out on per-diems). So I work a fraction of what the LoCo guys do and get paid a fair bit more. No hostie though - so we do have to clean the aircraft ourself - sod it ... where is that Ryanair application form ...
Horses for courses and all that
When we fly somewhere nice, we then hole up in a 4+ star hotel (of our own choosing - no more airport hotels for me!!) for the 2 weeks or so that he stays there (typically east and west coast USA). No minimum rest, nowhere near max duty - although unfortunately no roster either.
That said, between the 3 pilots, we work out pretty well and I was at home for 14 of the first 16 weeks of my first baby's life.
I get paid the same regardless of whether I fly (I only miss out on per-diems). So I work a fraction of what the LoCo guys do and get paid a fair bit more. No hostie though - so we do have to clean the aircraft ourself - sod it ... where is that Ryanair application form ...
Horses for courses and all that
Last edited by Globally Challenged; 11th Jul 2012 at 09:36.
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@mutt
At least with ryanair you have a solid roster, so you can plan also things, being home every night and most important of all, your marketvalue is much higher. So after 5 years you can find yourself a job in ME or asia. Plus the salary is most of the time higher. And yes there are some corporate outfits outthere who pay very well, but they are very hard to get in. And it is also just a few of them.
It is not only the money, but tou also have to see on the long term. "how is my marketvalue if i get jobless".
At least with ryanair you have a solid roster, so you can plan also things, being home every night and most important of all, your marketvalue is much higher. So after 5 years you can find yourself a job in ME or asia. Plus the salary is most of the time higher. And yes there are some corporate outfits outthere who pay very well, but they are very hard to get in. And it is also just a few of them.
It is not only the money, but tou also have to see on the long term. "how is my marketvalue if i get jobless".
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At least with ryanair you have a solid roster, so you can plan also things, being home every night and most important of all, your marketvalue is much higher. So after 5 years you can find yourself a job in ME or asia.
And yes there are some corporate outfits out there who pay very well,
But this is one of the reasons i said you cant compare, there are people like Globally Challenged who appear to love what they are doing, and those like you who are stuck due to their rating and hate what they are doing.... But I will guarantee you that you will find the same in the airline world.
Mutt
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Although perhaps not as relevant to the OP I thought I might chime in from the US with an opinion from this perspective.
I have flown corporate my entire career and always very happy about it. 3 jobs in 25 years and all good jobs. Typical career growth with bigger aircraft types and salaries as the years go by. I still love to go to work every day as much as I did on the first day.
I really enjoy the individual freedom a corporate job provides. Sure, we have SOPs but the flight is operated as I would like and I always take great pride at the end of a challenging day. We also enjoy all the usual perks...4star hotels and a week in Manhattan, Milan or Maui, etc.
I have had the good fortune all along to avoid the crappy employers. This, I feel, is a result of always setting the bar high and waiting for the GOOD job to come along. After 10 years in the Astra I had my eyes on a Challenger which later parlaid into a GLEX. Just my story but many others like it.
There's always a reason someone is hiring and it's prudent to find out why the last guy left. Avert your eyes from the shiny plane and find out about the quality of life at that job...that will soon be YOUR life. You might save yourself a lot of trouble. Once in the "Crap Job Vortex" it's difficult to get out. I know of many examples.
A good corporate pilot has to think for himself and have good decision making skills....in and out of the cockpit. A 10,000 hour airline pilot won't always make a good corporate pilot. He often doesn't have the skill set. Some people are more suited to the airline world.
I have never worked for an airline but many of my friends did and some still do. Continental/United, TWA/America West/US Airways...I only hear griping about one thing or another and the future looks bleak here in the US. No one seems very happy. When I fly as an airline passenger I must say the environment, at least in the US, seems pretty miserable too. There could be a good airline out there, I don't know, but it's not obvious to me.
When I started my career in the late 80s a job with United Airlines was the Holy Grail of flying jobs. "Set for Life" they would say. Sure glad I landed in the corporate sector.
Just my opinion...after 25 years in the biz.
I stopped participating in these chats for a while because my well intentioned remarks usually enticed a know-it-all or 2 to reply with hateful and ignorant comments. Standing by.
I have flown corporate my entire career and always very happy about it. 3 jobs in 25 years and all good jobs. Typical career growth with bigger aircraft types and salaries as the years go by. I still love to go to work every day as much as I did on the first day.
I really enjoy the individual freedom a corporate job provides. Sure, we have SOPs but the flight is operated as I would like and I always take great pride at the end of a challenging day. We also enjoy all the usual perks...4star hotels and a week in Manhattan, Milan or Maui, etc.
I have had the good fortune all along to avoid the crappy employers. This, I feel, is a result of always setting the bar high and waiting for the GOOD job to come along. After 10 years in the Astra I had my eyes on a Challenger which later parlaid into a GLEX. Just my story but many others like it.
There's always a reason someone is hiring and it's prudent to find out why the last guy left. Avert your eyes from the shiny plane and find out about the quality of life at that job...that will soon be YOUR life. You might save yourself a lot of trouble. Once in the "Crap Job Vortex" it's difficult to get out. I know of many examples.
A good corporate pilot has to think for himself and have good decision making skills....in and out of the cockpit. A 10,000 hour airline pilot won't always make a good corporate pilot. He often doesn't have the skill set. Some people are more suited to the airline world.
I have never worked for an airline but many of my friends did and some still do. Continental/United, TWA/America West/US Airways...I only hear griping about one thing or another and the future looks bleak here in the US. No one seems very happy. When I fly as an airline passenger I must say the environment, at least in the US, seems pretty miserable too. There could be a good airline out there, I don't know, but it's not obvious to me.
When I started my career in the late 80s a job with United Airlines was the Holy Grail of flying jobs. "Set for Life" they would say. Sure glad I landed in the corporate sector.
Just my opinion...after 25 years in the biz.
I stopped participating in these chats for a while because my well intentioned remarks usually enticed a know-it-all or 2 to reply with hateful and ignorant comments. Standing by.
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@ksjc
very nice post of you. Always good to hear an opinion of an expert.
I might be wrong, but i think the corporate world in the US is much different than the european one. I always believed, it is just the perception i have, is that the us corporates pays much better than the european ones.
very nice post of you. Always good to hear an opinion of an expert.
I might be wrong, but i think the corporate world in the US is much different than the european one. I always believed, it is just the perception i have, is that the us corporates pays much better than the european ones.
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Hi
I have done both and I am really happy I did. Had I done airline only, I think I would have felt that my career would have been somewhat "incomplete". The other way around is true too.
But I have been also lucky to work for good airline or corporate/GA operators with decent money and time off (bar one who was awful but then again I didn't stick around more than 3 months).
I don't know which one is best... My feeling is that there are more opportunities in the airline industry in terms of jobs available (simple, there are more airline employees than in the GA world). That is not to say that all are great opportunities, far from it. Many are, in my view quite rubbish and I do hope that I never have to fly for such type of Ops.
Just as it is true that in GA, there are many rubbish ops but also some excellent ones. Getting a hand on it being the challenge.
In GA, I enjoyed the variety, the colleagues, the contact with Pax and general spirit.
Will I change again ? Well, it is all down to how happy I am. Never been the kind of kind who likes to whinge too long at his job/company without ever taking the right action... Which was to get another one.
Yet I have always stayed years where I was so I am not totally unstable either.
The ability to do a good job and the enjoyment from it is what I am after.
I have done both and I am really happy I did. Had I done airline only, I think I would have felt that my career would have been somewhat "incomplete". The other way around is true too.
But I have been also lucky to work for good airline or corporate/GA operators with decent money and time off (bar one who was awful but then again I didn't stick around more than 3 months).
I don't know which one is best... My feeling is that there are more opportunities in the airline industry in terms of jobs available (simple, there are more airline employees than in the GA world). That is not to say that all are great opportunities, far from it. Many are, in my view quite rubbish and I do hope that I never have to fly for such type of Ops.
Just as it is true that in GA, there are many rubbish ops but also some excellent ones. Getting a hand on it being the challenge.
In GA, I enjoyed the variety, the colleagues, the contact with Pax and general spirit.
Will I change again ? Well, it is all down to how happy I am. Never been the kind of kind who likes to whinge too long at his job/company without ever taking the right action... Which was to get another one.
Yet I have always stayed years where I was so I am not totally unstable either.
The ability to do a good job and the enjoyment from it is what I am after.
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Did some regional airline stuff at the very start of my career in the mid - late '70s (so have a little bit of an awareness from that side of the house albeit not huge), but a corporate opportunity came my way in late 1980 and I jumped at it. 31+ years later, all with the same corporate operator, I have never looked back.
I agree with a couple of previous posters with regard to the corporate aviation sector in North America vs other areas of the globe. From what I see, the folks I talk to and what I read on sites such as this one, there are indeed vast differences depending on which side of the Atlantic you are.
For me, I am paid the same as a legacy carrier 320/757 etc Captain at the top of their range, a couple of additional benefits in the package, regularly trained to an equivalent standard and the job provides enough variety and mission satisfaction to keep it enjoyable. In the Great White North, the corporate sector is also governed by a regulatory regime that provides for many (or in some cases all) of the same standard operating practices etc as our brethren in the airline world. But yes, there is the lack of a fixed roster and being able to plan your life much more than a week in advance other than vacation of course.
Having said the above I can appreciate that the corporate world is not for everyone nor is the airline world. I sometimes wonder, if we are totally honest with ourselves, if it's partly a case of where the bulk of our experience is and therefore where we are "most comfortable" because it's what we know.
At the end of the day from my perspective, I enjoy getting up in the morning and going to work. Being able to honestly say that after more than three decades to me is a definite plus.
I agree with a couple of previous posters with regard to the corporate aviation sector in North America vs other areas of the globe. From what I see, the folks I talk to and what I read on sites such as this one, there are indeed vast differences depending on which side of the Atlantic you are.
For me, I am paid the same as a legacy carrier 320/757 etc Captain at the top of their range, a couple of additional benefits in the package, regularly trained to an equivalent standard and the job provides enough variety and mission satisfaction to keep it enjoyable. In the Great White North, the corporate sector is also governed by a regulatory regime that provides for many (or in some cases all) of the same standard operating practices etc as our brethren in the airline world. But yes, there is the lack of a fixed roster and being able to plan your life much more than a week in advance other than vacation of course.
Having said the above I can appreciate that the corporate world is not for everyone nor is the airline world. I sometimes wonder, if we are totally honest with ourselves, if it's partly a case of where the bulk of our experience is and therefore where we are "most comfortable" because it's what we know.
At the end of the day from my perspective, I enjoy getting up in the morning and going to work. Being able to honestly say that after more than three decades to me is a definite plus.
