What about the job ?
Being an airline pilot, regardless of the company you work for, is unlike any other career. Here you will learn about different types of operations and schedules, and how a pilot's life looks like. There are a three important factors that can make or break a pilot's lifestyle : Who the pilot works for, where is he/she based, and what seniority he/she is holding.
The company :
There are different types of operations in the industry. First you will find PART 121 carriers which are mostly passenger oriented but also include freight giants like UPS or Fedex. Second, there are the smaller cargo operators like Ameriflight or Airnet who usually fly under PART 135. Then you have the companies operating as corporate flight departments, charters or fractionals usually under PART 135 or PART 91. This category include companies like Netjets and Ameristar. The PART under which a company operates define its policies in regard to the procedures including anything about pilots, like duty and rest time requirements. A major difference is the maximum time that a pilot can fly in a year. Under PART 121, a pilot is limited to 1000 Hours whereas under a specific aspect of PART 135, called unscheduled, a pilot can fly up to 1400 hours. Therefore, the amount of minimum time off can vary tremendously, as will quality of life.
The base :
This factor can make a big difference in a pilot's lifestyle. Mainly because it relates to the cost of living. Being based in a city like New York or Los Angeles can make a dramatic difference in a pilot's wallet and therefore its ability to make ends meet. Anything from an apartment to food can cost 50% more than the average price. This is the main reason why a lot of pilots decide to live somewhere else and are then forced to use two aviation terms that dont often associate with great quality of life : Crashpad and Commuting. Commuting for a pilot is like a commute of any other person, except that instead of getting in a car to go to work, the pilot uses the jumpseat priviledge to get a ride for free on an airliner to join the base where he/she is scheduled to start his trip for the next few days. This situation calls for a crashpad especially for people low enough in seniority that they are sitting reserve and therefore have to be close enough to the airport everytime they are on call. A crashpad is a place where a pilot rents a bedroom or sometime even just a bed in an apartment that he can use when in town. They have a rough reputation associated with them as a pilot might find himself sharing a bedroom with three or four other commuters. The crowded layover can make for a very disrupted sleep as there is always someone coming in or going out at anytime of the day or night.
The seniority :
Seniority is everything at an airline. A pilot's pay, schedule, seat, base and equipment are greatly affected by their employee number. If they are new to the company then they will be seating first officer ( right seat ), at first year pay, in the airplane and base assigned when hired. This means that the pilot will be seating reserve for a while, which includes the high probability of getting paid just the minimum hours, make less perdiem and a schedule with about only 11 days off a month. As they become more senior, their lifestyles improves greatly with a bigger paycheck and sometime reaching 18 days off a month. The pay for a first year FO at a regional/charter/cargo airline is around 25000 dollars before taxes with a top income for a captain below 100000 dollars. At a major outfit, the pay for the same positions are between 40000 dollars and about 200000 dollars. If they decide to leave the company, are furloughed or if the outfit goes belly up, then they start back at the bottom somewhere else, regardless of their experience. It might seem unfair but it is an industry wide practice that a pilot has to accept and be prepared to deal with during its career.
For pilot travel bags content click here
For pilot uniform click here
For schedule examples click here
The company :
There are different types of operations in the industry. First you will find PART 121 carriers which are mostly passenger oriented but also include freight giants like UPS or Fedex. Second, there are the smaller cargo operators like Ameriflight or Airnet who usually fly under PART 135. Then you have the companies operating as corporate flight departments, charters or fractionals usually under PART 135 or PART 91. This category include companies like Netjets and Ameristar. The PART under which a company operates define its policies in regard to the procedures including anything about pilots, like duty and rest time requirements. A major difference is the maximum time that a pilot can fly in a year. Under PART 121, a pilot is limited to 1000 Hours whereas under a specific aspect of PART 135, called unscheduled, a pilot can fly up to 1400 hours. Therefore, the amount of minimum time off can vary tremendously, as will quality of life.
The base :
This factor can make a big difference in a pilot's lifestyle. Mainly because it relates to the cost of living. Being based in a city like New York or Los Angeles can make a dramatic difference in a pilot's wallet and therefore its ability to make ends meet. Anything from an apartment to food can cost 50% more than the average price. This is the main reason why a lot of pilots decide to live somewhere else and are then forced to use two aviation terms that dont often associate with great quality of life : Crashpad and Commuting. Commuting for a pilot is like a commute of any other person, except that instead of getting in a car to go to work, the pilot uses the jumpseat priviledge to get a ride for free on an airliner to join the base where he/she is scheduled to start his trip for the next few days. This situation calls for a crashpad especially for people low enough in seniority that they are sitting reserve and therefore have to be close enough to the airport everytime they are on call. A crashpad is a place where a pilot rents a bedroom or sometime even just a bed in an apartment that he can use when in town. They have a rough reputation associated with them as a pilot might find himself sharing a bedroom with three or four other commuters. The crowded layover can make for a very disrupted sleep as there is always someone coming in or going out at anytime of the day or night.
The seniority :
Seniority is everything at an airline. A pilot's pay, schedule, seat, base and equipment are greatly affected by their employee number. If they are new to the company then they will be seating first officer ( right seat ), at first year pay, in the airplane and base assigned when hired. This means that the pilot will be seating reserve for a while, which includes the high probability of getting paid just the minimum hours, make less perdiem and a schedule with about only 11 days off a month. As they become more senior, their lifestyles improves greatly with a bigger paycheck and sometime reaching 18 days off a month. The pay for a first year FO at a regional/charter/cargo airline is around 25000 dollars before taxes with a top income for a captain below 100000 dollars. At a major outfit, the pay for the same positions are between 40000 dollars and about 200000 dollars. If they decide to leave the company, are furloughed or if the outfit goes belly up, then they start back at the bottom somewhere else, regardless of their experience. It might seem unfair but it is an industry wide practice that a pilot has to accept and be prepared to deal with during its career.
For pilot travel bags content click here
For pilot uniform click here
For schedule examples click here