Best flying jobs (life style)

[Invertago]

So, the high time guys say chase life style not shinny equipment etc, what jobs out there give the best life style? Aka, decent pay, nice time off, nice location etc, the life style stuff. I want to hear where the grass is green as I try to figure out where I'm going to take this aviation career.

[mattedfred]

I can only compare the places that I have actually worked and this is based on my opinion of what is a better lifestyle for me. The answer is very subjective.

Jazz is better than Georgian is better than Morningstar is better than Perimeter.

Trade Union

iSMS

Seniority system

Status Pay

Benefits

Pension

5 bases with YYC and YUL being the most junior

Tailored block building

no pager

no medivacs

2 hour callout on reserve with no airport standby

no requirement to loads bags, fuel, deice or groom

no off airport flying with generally ILS to ILS with RSC and CRFI available

monthly maximums while on reserve and reassignment rules

free headset and Jepps and 100% reimbursement for aviation medicals and passports

shoe allowance, monthly dry cleaning allowance and per diems

[North Shore]

Are you serious? Your lifestyle is what you make it - not what someone tells you is good. Where, exactly, is a good location? Some might say YVR, others YTH. Time off? I work for 5 months and get the rest off - some like 3,4,5 day pairings, and then 3,4,5 off... PAy, I'm sure we can agree on, but then I was having one of those 'I can't believe that they pay me to do this!' mornings today.

[Flightlevels]

All good stuff matted,
But you need some pay!

[Invertago]

Are you serious? Your lifestyle is what you make it - not what someone tells you is good. Where, exactly, is a good location? Some might say YVR, others YTH. Time off? I work for 5 months and get the rest off - some like 3,4,5 day pairings, and then 3,4,5 off... PAy, I'm sure we can agree on, but then I was having one of those 'I can't believe that they pay me to do this!' mornings today.

Of course everyone has their different ideas of what is good etc, I was hoping to read what type of flying people where doing and why they liked their job. Maybe I should reword it for you, what type of flying do you do North Shore and why do you like it, how did you get to your current job etc? I'm not sure if I want to do 4 day pairings, or 5 months on, 7 off. I haven't decided if I want to fly over the Pacific in a big tube, or if I want to go corporate, or if I want to drop retardant on someones campfire gone wild. I've got the my 1600TT, but its almost all single VFR PIC, and I'm trying to choose a career path but I'm still undecided on which way to go. Hard to say which type of flying I'll like most, I haven't tried airlines/bombing/corporate etc.

[200Above]

no pager

no medivacs

2 hour callout on reserve with no airport standby

no requirement to loads bags, fuel, deice or groom

no off airport flying with generally ILS to ILS with RSC and CRFI available

one day maybe, but for now i like the challenges stated above:o

[Cougar]

Like North Shore said, what you will consider "acceptable" is a very personal thing.

I have worked with a fair amount of pilots who hated flying -- that was (and still is) a pretty strange concept to me. I'm sure most people on here can name several they know, as well. Personally, I'd rather be happy... so, I have tried to make choices where that would at least be a chunk of the outcome.

I was on a survey once with a young copilot, who was burning to get to the airlines. We were flying outside San Francisco somewhere... wall-to-wall people is mostly what I recall. It was boring boring boring... flying small little circles for hours on end.. so we swapped often, to break it up.

During his circles, I was staring down at the identical houses, stacked practically on top of each other, without so much as a blade of grass in between them. Every inch was urban, cemented, built up, PACKED. It was awful (to me).

As he handed me back the airplane, I was thinking to myself "My god, if someone made me live in a place like this, I'd slit my wrists." At that very second, he said "Can you see these developments right under us?? God, those houses are gorgeous! I DREAM about getting a job where I could commute from a place just like this!" HAA.

If you strive to do what you think is right, you will be happier than most. Just remember, it is your decision, and no one else's.

[. ._]

Make no mistake.

The best job is NO job.

(if you can afford it)

-istp

[Invertago]

Make no mistake.

The best job is NO job.

(if you can afford it)

-istp

Till them I'm trying to find what direction will give me the best time:money:location balance. Its hard to get all three in the same job. Right now I have time and location, gotta work on the money part a bit though.

[bornagain1340]

If you're not sure where to take your career, try as many different things as you can.
I'm guessing you have been flying for maybe three years or so (if you're a full time pilot that is).
One thing I've learned (the hard way) is don't spend all your time thinking or wishing you were working somewhere else with bigger/shinier airplanes. Enjoy where you are and the people you work with. If you can't at least do that, then it's time to move on.
Someone said earlier their ideal job is no loading/unloading, ILS to ILS with RFI's everywhere...someone else to do everything except drive the bus. Not for me.
I'd rather be up north doing my own thing making all the decisions and landing wherever the twin otter will let me. I consider myself lucky that I've found my ideal job.
Of course, not having to go to work at all sounds good too!

[Old fella]

Best aviation job: being retired from it!!!!!!

[CorpPilot]

The best job isnt "no job". The best job is doing something you still love.... something that you feel as though you arent working too hard for too little and/or getting burnt our from. I havent worked for too many operators, but I have many close friends that cover the spread in canadian aviation from north to south.

I think that you need to ask yourself, if I won 2,000,000 tomorrow... would I still keep my job? Now I realize that for many.... They would quit. That being said, if you wouldnt..... id say that you have quite an aviation gig

I fly a modern and fairly new corporate jet out of toronto... I work 1-2 days a week (just enough that I miss it when I havent flown in 4-5 days) and I make apprx 80-85K doing it. The two days a week average is made up of 2x 4day trips to somewhere in the carribbean in the winter time.... During summer, usually a NYC or Chicago weekend with a business day trip thrown in for good measure. My boss doesnt care too much about chartering and our prices reflect that. I would see maybe 1 a month on average.

The company I work for is a great place to be right now with a huge support staff and great management that I respect and visa versa. Is the job perfect? absolutely not....., but for being close to fam and friends.... the pay-play ratio is great and I have fun on the job. In a perfect world.... id own my own medium jet and would fly it when and where ID like to go..... But I dont see that happening and I would probably get bored over time and find that I am not accomplishing much... I almost feel that way now, but at least I have a job and getting paid to sit in bed and write this

Hope everyone is enjoying this great weekend in Toronto!

CP

[x15]

The grass is rarely greener on the other side of the fence. Enjoy what you are doing and where and the rest won't matter. Right now I fly Medevacs in northern Canada and get calls at 3am and love it. Some people hate that lifestyle. So its really up to you.

I read this a long time ago and thought it appropriate to repost. Sometimes we get lost in the pursuit of the next step and forget why we started flying.


FULL CIRCLE....

One fine hot Summer’s afternoon saw a Cessna 150 flying circuits at a quiet country airfield. The Instructor was getting quite bothered with the student’s inability to hold circuit height in the thermals and was getting impatient at sometimes having to take over the controls. Just then he saw a twin engine Cessna 5,000ft above him and thought "Another 1,000 hrs of this and I qualify for that twin charter job! Aaahh.. to be a real pilot.. going somewhere!"

The Cessna 402 was already late and the boss told him this charter was for one of the Company’s premier clients. He’d already set MCT and the cylinders didn’t like it in the heat of this Summer’s day. He was at 6,000ft and the winds were now a 20kt headwind. Today was the 6th day straight and he was pretty damn tired. Maybe if he got 10,000ft out of them the wind might die off... geez those cylinder temps! He looked out momentarily and saw a B737 leaving a contrail at 33,000ft in the serene blue sky. "Oh man" he thought, "My interview is next month. I hope I just don’t blow it! Outa G/A, nice jet job, above the weather... no snotty passengers to wait for.. aahhh."

The Boeing 737 bucked and weaved in the heavy CAT at FL330 and ATC advised that lower levels were not available due traffic. The Captain, who was only recently advised that his destination was below RVR minimums had slowed to LRC to try and hold off a possible inflight diversion, and arrange an ETA that would helpfully ensure the fog had lifted to CATII minima. The Company negotiations broke down yesterday and looked as if everyone was going to take a damn pay cut. The F/O’s will be particularly hard hit as their pay wasn’t anything to speak of anyway. Finally deciding on a speed compromise between LRC and turbulence penetration, the Captain looked up and saw Concorde at Mach 2+. Tapping his F/O’s shoulder as the 737 took another bashing, he said "Now THAT’S what we should be on... huge pay packet... super fast... not too many routes... not too many sectors... above the CAT... yep! What a life...!"

FL590 was not what he wanted anyway and considered FL570. Already the TAT was creeping up again and either they would have to descend or slow down. That damn rear fuel transfer pump was becoming unreliable and the F/E had said moments ago that the radiation meter was not reading numbers that he’d like to see. Concorde descended to FL570 but the radiation was still quite high even though the Notam indicated hunky dory below FL610. Fuel flow was up and the transfer pump was intermittent. Evening turned into night as they passed over the Atlantic. Looking up, the F/O could see a tiny white dot moving against the backdrop of a myriad of stars. "Hey Captain" he called as he pointed. "Must be the Shuttle. "The Captain looked for a moment and agreed. Quietly he thought how a Shuttle mission, whilst complicated, must be the be all and end all in aviation. Above the crap, no radiation problems, no damn fuel transfer problems... aaah. Must be a great way to earn a quid."

Discovery was into its 27th orbit and perigee was 200ft out from nominated rendezvous altitude with the commsat. The robot arm was virtually U/S and a walk may become necessary. The 200ft predicted error would necessitate a corrective burn and Discovery needed that fuel if a walk was to be required. Houston continually asked what the Commander wanted to do but the advice they proffered wasn’t much help. The Commander had already been 12 hours on station sorting out the problem and just wanted 10 bloody minutes to himself to take a leak. Just then a mission specialist, who had tilted the telescope down to the surface for a minute or two, called the Commander to the scope. "Have a look at this Sir, isn’t this the kinda flying you said you wanted to do after you finish up with NASA?" The Commander peered through the telescope and cried "Ooooohhhhh yeah! Now THAT’S flying! Man, that’s what its all about! Geez I’d give my left nut just to be doing THAT down there!" What the Discovery Commander was looking at was a Cessna 150 flying circuits at a quiet country airfield on a nice bright sunny afternoon

[N2]

Best flying job is a big doobie!

[lionheart27]

Great analogy X15!
Its ambition
I remember doing my best Neil Armstrong impersonation when I was a kid and picturing the controls of a Concorde.
Dream and strive big and when you reach for the stars and land on the moon its a great feeling.

If you hate where you are why are you there?

[JohnnyHotRocks]

corporate aviation is definitely the way to go.....it is the best kept secret in aviation....unfortunately I just let the cat out of the bag

[Hawkerflyer]

In corporate now...thinking West Jet for the schedule. Anyone make that jump? Regrets?