Lifestyle/Pay vs. PIC Time

[Disco Stu]

Curious as to who would:

A) Take a high paying turbine FO job with a sweet schedule, or take

B) The lower paying piston Captain job with lousy schedule.

[F,D and H]

B................................but I did go the A route

[iflyforpie]

B

But in my case (and many others too) it is the higher paying piston PIC with a good schedule compared to the lower paying turbine F/O with a lousy schedule (but a chance to get lots of hours and upgrades).

[DHQ]

I would take A. For sure. I assume you'd eventually be able to upgrade to captain there for even better pay and schedule.

[Airtids]

Stu, I guess it would have to depend where you were in your career. Entry level; take the PIC. Already have a few thousand hours, with a whack of multi PIC; absolutely go for the turbine and get the upgrade eventually.

[Stinky]

B sounds crappy. PIC piston isn't going to get you much unless you still don't have an ATPL. F/O on a turbine, depending on the type of operation should get you a job later despite the lack of PIC. If the turbine is 705 or at least has proper SOP's with sim training it's a no brainer.

[x-wind]

B shouldn't be crappy pay! SPIFR?

Im in the B category, the guys before me have all done really well and exactly what it was they wanted..

Set a goal and get it.

- Grain of sand.

[Changes in Latitudes]

I went for "A" but had a few different offers for PIC time as well.

I am relatively low time (about 1700), with about half of it being PIC. It came down to me wanting my life back. So I got a decent job as an F/O with decent prospects, a great schedule and decent pay. I just bought a house, my morning was spent in my kayak and my afternoon will be spent on my mountain bike; meanwhile I don't have to think about my job for another week.

I made the decision as a life decision not as a career decision. My company is stable, but that doesn't mean I can't be laid off next week, nor does mean that I haven't made a back-up plan for that either though. But today, at this particular moment, I am content.

Different strokes to rule the world, I suppose. There certainly isn't one ideal answer here.

[F,D and H]

Stu, I guess it would have to depend where you were in your career. Entry level; take the PIC. Already have a few thousand hours, with a whack of multi PIC; absolutely go for the turbine and get the upgrade eventually.

I think that Stu is in a different point in his career than he was when he asked this question. (I rose this thread from the dead.)

It's funny, no replies four and a half years ago and seven replies in a few hours now. Maybe more trafic?

[just curious]

I did a Variant of B about 30 years ago. It was the variant where I made 50 K with a company house and truck. Same area and same size aircraft now pays about the same these days.

[hoghead]

You might be sitting at either position for awhile. Take the lifestyle/cash, you will get to where you want to be career wise eventually. Enjoy the ride, dont burn out.
I m happy and lucky I was at a good company in the early 90's when things were slow, really got to appreciate my co workers and some good flying.

Also, when that piston engine decides to book off.........

[Tim]

Enjoy the ride, dont burn out.

Ditto. I've always felt that all roads lead to the same place in about the same amount of time with aviation anyways (assuming your end goal is the airlines/exec charter). Some guys get there quick on their own or with good contacts, but I've notived some of the ones that do it really fast can tend to screw over people to get what they want and don't really enjoy the scenery along the way...not to mention get a lot of enemies.

[flying4dollars]

I chose lifestyle over PIC time.

don't regret it, but I wouldn't have been unhappy choosing the PIC time.

it was lifestyle/type of flying that led me to my choice

[wallypilot]

you can have both......it's rare, but those jobs are out there.

A & B applied to me....caravan/Piston twin PIC for good pay(better than charter/sked turbine pic) and good schedule, but very small chance of upgrade to twin turbine without changing companies or waiting many more years. eventually did move on when the right gig came along. But spent 8 years doing that kind of work.

[Four1oh]

Curious as to who would:

A) Take a high paying turbine FO job with a sweet schedule, or take

B) The lower paying piston Captain job with lousy schedule.

I guess it depends what you want out of your aviation career. 'Sweet schedule' sounds like not much flying to me. If you are already where you want to end up in your career, A. B is for people who are ambitious and want to end up flying something BIG as CAPTAIN in far less time than the A option.