Professional Pilot Career Journal

April 21, 2008 – 1000 Turbine PIC

I see it’s been a year since my last update!

Honestly, it’s been a very uneventful year in my flying career. Uneventful is good. I’m still based in Ontario, California. Our ExpressJet branded flying operation has survived its first 12 months and is doing pretty well, all things considered, but the $115/barrel oil is making it extremely difficult to make a profit.

The airline industry is facing turmoil not really seen in several years. With the recent merger of Delta and Northwest, and with Continental and United set to probably merge in the near future, hopefully some of the problems plaguing the airlines can get ironed out. While mergers are never really good for employees, it’s better to have your airline survive than completely go out of business. The demise of Aloha, ATA, Champion and others is proof of that.

I think ExpressJet will be just fine – we have three separate income streams and good relationships with our partners so those streams should continue unabated. Being in the top one-third of our seniority list I really don’t have too much to worry about and my mind is rarely occupied with any of this stuff. I just keep flying my plane and am having a good time doing it. The Ontario flying continues to be the most enjoyable I have ever done in this career. I feel very comfortable in my role as captain and have no immediate desire to leave ExpressJet.

That’s a good thing since no airlines are really hiring right now, partially because the mandatory retirement age for pilots was raised from 60 to 65. That said, I now have 1112 hours “turbine PIC”, meaning hours flown as captain in jet aircraft. That gets me over the 1000-hour milestone that most major airlines require in order to be hired, so once the hiring opens up again I will be well qualified to apply. The problem is where to go. My main target is Southwest airlines – they are a solid, profitable company to work for and have a large domicile in Las Vegas, which would mean my days of commuting would be over forever. Everyone I talk to is very happy there. Plus, Southwest pilots are very well paid. They are expected to resume hiring maybe towards the end of the year, but there is no guarantee of that.

The thing is this - there’s really nowhere else I’d like to go. I can handle my commute now because I am a senior captain in Ontario and it is a 35-minute flight or 3½ hour drive. It’s probably the easiest commute in the world because I can easily get trips that have late start times so I never have to spend the night in Ontario before or after a trip. However, say I was to be hired by United or Delta Airlines – I would probably be based on the east coast and have to commute on reserve, maybe for a number of years. Then do it all over again after upgrading to captain several years down the line. That would send my quality of life right down to zero. So, at this point I’m limiting my options to airlines with Las Vegas bases, and Southwest is the only major airline to fit that profile. If disaster were to occur at ExpressJet I would have to reconsider those options, but since I am so happy doing what I’m doing, I’m simply not willing to give it up just for the simple goal of career advancement. It’s not worth turning a very good life upside-down.

So for now, I see myself at ExpressJet for at least another year, which suits my wife and me just fine. I still do my software consulting work for the second paycheck, so I am happy with the pay of a regional airline captain. With 15 days off each month, life couldn’t be better.