Hanging up the headset... anyone done it ? Anyone thinking of it?

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JBI
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Re: Hanging up the headset... anyone done it ? Anyone thinking of it?

Post by JBI »

Bede wrote: Sun Jun 14, 2020 4:48 pm Excellent post. However, keep in mind that trades are very competitive to get into. The cat's out of the bag. The days of everyone thinking that trades were a dumpy last resort career are long over. There's a ton of high school educated kids + older folks that think that they can just walk into an electrician or plumber apprenticeship.
You could also just be like bede and do EVERYTHING - trades, sciences, fire fighting, instructing, legal.... :lol: Not sure when he sleeps!
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chapfo
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Re: Hanging up the headset... anyone done it ? Anyone thinking of it?

Post by chapfo »

Thought about it. Still undecided.

It sucks that aviation is so dependent on the economy (people having extra cash to travel). Even if I'm able to weather this storm, what about the next one? Next time could be just when I'm about to buy a house, start a family, or started with new company.

Other professions do seem to be more stable.
I dont imagine trade workers getting laid-off. Maybe slow down, but renovations or construction will always happen.
Public school teachers might have higher workload compared to years prior, but schools are always going to be around; and there's that pension, powerful union, and the fact it's pretty much a government job so once you're in, you're set.
If the new profession pays enough, I can still rent a plane and fly. Is going to be the same? Ionno.

I'd say 2 years at least to get back to late-2019 for aviation. Best case scenario.
Earliest, I'm assuming there wont be a vaccine for another year. Until there's a vaccine, there most likely will be travel rules imposed by governments (14 days isolation, travel advisory, etc) or less people willing to go to work. So there won't be any money flowing into people's pockets. Then another year for people to save up enough to travel again.

Then there's AI in horizon. I'm confident it wont replace us, but I'm pretty sure it'll at least decrease crew requirements down to 1. Hopefully it wont happen until a few decades later, but it's AI so who knows. *shrugs*

EDIT: For context, I'm not at an airline/regional. I have <1000hrs. Mostly SE-piston. It's just what the outlook seems to be like from my pov.
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Last edited by chapfo on Tue Jun 16, 2020 9:40 am, edited 2 times in total.
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CL-Skadoo!
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Re: Hanging up the headset... anyone done it ? Anyone thinking of it?

Post by CL-Skadoo! »

There's a lot of wisdom here for options in departing aviation, I can't really add to that. The only thing that I would like to interject is the idea that we seem to be using the term aviation when it appears that we're speaking of airline flying. Talk of furloughs, seniority numbers and working only when people have money to travel are airline things. There are some aviation jobs that just kept on trucking during covid. Corporate (some, definitely not all), medevac, lifeline services (transport to isolated places) mineral exploration/mining, cargo, and natural resources/firefighting, to name a few, kept on trucking for the mostpart. Before you hang up your headset, maybe consider hanging up the big hat first; even just for a little while.
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ayseven
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Re: Hanging up the headset... anyone done it ? Anyone thinking of it?

Post by ayseven »

However, as the airline HR person told me regarding how long it might take for them to upgrade FO's: "depends on Air Canada hiring", so it goes all down the line and affects everyone, everywhere. But as I have said many times, you only need one job. The question of whether it is any good remains.
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Re: Hanging up the headset... anyone done it ? Anyone thinking of it?

Post by AirDoan »

So yeah, I kinda have had to step out at least temporarily. I have been laid off from my skydive job since last season. During the winter I finished my Group 1 and IATRA with 800+ TT, tonnes of PIC and 2 flying jobs under my belt. Lots of referrals and references while expecting calls for interviews. Then boom, the aviation world collapsed. So I survived as long as I could until a month ago when my EI ran out from skydiving (and couldn't collect the CERB). Life was looking pretty shitty and I couldn't wait for the aviation world to start spinning again. Fortunately my old boss from the equipment rental and sales company I used to work for had a spot open up (he called me) and needed someone he didn't need to train from scratch. Offered me decent pay and all the benefits to come back, so here I am! I still plan on giving flying another try if it opens in the near future but if not I'm somewhere that I'm more or less content with. I'll still fly recreationally of course but the Group 1 and IATRA seem somewhat redundant now. I don't know what else to do with them at the moment. So there it is. It is just unfortunate that I was on the cusp of a real career flying job when the carpet got pulled out.
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Kejidog
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Re: Hanging up the headset... anyone done it ? Anyone thinking of it?

Post by Kejidog »

Why has nobody, as far as i can see anyway talked about switching to a job for Nav Can as a FSS or a controller? Is it that hard to get into? Are their age limits on applying. Hell i have 30 years as a firefighter and i am 51. I’ve thought about a change to FSS or something similar lately.
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Flight94
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Re: Hanging up the headset... anyone done it ? Anyone thinking of it?

Post by Flight94 »

Kejidog wrote: Wed Jun 17, 2020 7:46 pm Why has nobody, as far as i can see anyway talked about switching to a job for Nav Can as a FSS or a controller? Is it that hard to get into? Are their age limits on applying. Hell i have 30 years as a firefighter and i am 51. I’ve thought about a change to FSS or something similar lately.
I had a conversation with a center guy in the middle of the night recently (I was the only aircraft in the sky) and he said out of their usual group of 26 personnel they were down to 5. So I don't think they're hiring either.
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C-GGGQ
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Re: Hanging up the headset... anyone done it ? Anyone thinking of it?

Post by C-GGGQ »

Got my licenses in 2007 had a good job in 2008 and got laid off. Spent 4 years working various jobs and ramp positions because at 400 hrs i couldn't find anything. In 2012 I hung up my headset and became a long haul trucker. Same job basically but was killer on my personal life and health. Got married in 2018 and in 2019 got back into flying. Built up to about 800 hrs and moved to Medevac in February of 2020. Have survived these lay-offs because of that. It comes down to luck sometimes.
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