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Your Work History—In Aviation!

A forum about lifestyle: toys, gadgets, fine food, drinks and smokes.
 

graphic 25 Apr 16, 18:14Post
Declaring an Emergency: 1 onboard, 4hours 30 minutes of fuel. Turning heading 090, will report back on course.
Lucas (netAirspace ATC & Founding Member) 26 Apr 16, 01:46Post
Gawl-dangit!!!

I hate that the big, red E trumps everything!

Consarnit!
Mark 26 Apr 16, 16:50Post
The closest I got to the aviation industry was when I applied at Northwest Airlines as a flight attendant in 1989. They interviewed 500 people and accepted four. I was one of the four. Then they sat me down and said that I'd be on call 24/7 with a pager in a hotel room in Detroit for a year (at least) and that I'd make little to nothing on call and something like $8 an hour only when the aircraft doors were closed. That's when I said, "Sorry. Not interested."
Commercial aircraft flown in: B712 B722 B732 B734 B737 B738 B741 B742 B744 B752 B753 B762 B772 A310 A318 A319 A320 A321 DC91 DC93 DC94 DC1030 DC1040 F100 MD82 MD83 A223 CR2 CR7 E175
DXing 27 Apr 16, 18:35Post
Aviation is my 3rd career. Started it off on the ramp loading bags for a low cost carrier. Family situations forced me to relocate back to my home town where I started as a fueler then got hired by a major on the ramp. Moved quickly into operations, 9-11, furlough, drove the electric cart and worked concourse security, hired back as part time ramp, decided to take the plunge, changed cities again, part time school until I got my dispatch license, got a dispatch job shortly thereafter and that's where I've been ever since.

I enjoy my work, I rarely think of it as a "job". It's challenging, and even though I work a lot of the same flights all the time, every day brings a different set of circumstances to overcome. I'm not out in the weather and I don't have to deal with John Q. Public both of which suit me just fine.

Every once in a while I get to sit in the pointy end with the windows facing front and enjoy watching the professionals do their job, and even more rarely I get to enjoy the space immediately behind that same pointy end where the meals are good and the booze is free!!! :))
What's the point of an open door policy if inside the open door sits a closed mind?
Lucas (netAirspace ATC & Founding Member) 01 May 16, 05:22Post
DXing wrote:Aviation is my 3rd career. Started it off on the ramp loading bags for a low cost carrier. Family situations forced me to relocate back to my home town where I started as a fueler then got hired by a major on the ramp. Moved quickly into operations, 9-11, furlough, drove the electric cart and worked concourse security, hired back as part time ramp, decided to take the plunge, changed cities again, part time school until I got my dispatch license, got a dispatch job shortly thereafter and that's where I've been ever since.

I enjoy my work, I rarely think of it as a "job". It's challenging, and even though I work a lot of the same flights all the time, every day brings a different set of circumstances to overcome. I'm not out in the weather and I don't have to deal with John Q. Public both of which suit me just fine.

Every once in a while I get to sit in the pointy end with the windows facing front and enjoy watching the professionals do their job, and even more rarely I get to enjoy the space immediately behind that same pointy end where the meals are good and the booze is free!!! :))


DXing, I actually envy you! I'd love to learn more about what you do. For example, I don't know much about who puts the flight plans into the NAS/FDIO for routing. Yeah, I change PDRs and ADRs and even assign SIDs and crap, but I just don't know all that much.

And of course, I get zero flight benefits, which sucks. :-/

I'm also one of the lower-paid controllers. Today I made $54/hr, but because of where I have to live, I spent that all in one night on the next week's rent.

I'm thinking about going to RR dispatching to get back to Montana.

Wish I have flight benefits of any sort.

MARK, I would have done the same thing. That's insane.
FlyingAce (netAirspace ATC & Founding Member) 01 May 16, 05:35Post
ShanwickOceanic wrote:
Lucas wrote:I would like to import you and export an American in your place.

Guatemala won't take him just because you say he's polite {duck}

I feel I'm missing something here... {boggled}
Money can't buy happiness; but it can get you flying, which is pretty much the same.
ShyFlyer (Founding Member) 01 May 16, 18:23Post
Lucas wrote: I get zero flight benefits

Said the kid who rode jumpseat in a C-17. {silly}
Make Orwell fiction again.
mhodgson (ATC & Photo Quality Screener & Founding Member) 01 May 16, 19:03Post
One of those who spent a lot of money at just the wrong time training to be a commercial pilot - though what an experience it was! I still recall the day I was going through the later stages of instrument rating, on a PC in the crew room and reading a news report about the impending recession. I then checked a pilot jobs site to see a lot of 'negative' news - the writing had been on the wall for some time, but it was that day that it hit home.

During the very final phase of my training, the Multi Crew and Jet Orientation, BA and FlyBE both halted recruitment - between them they were both previously responsible for approximately half of every course getting a job.

Smaller airlines soon followed, with Thomas Cook even deferring 6 trainees whose training had been sponsored by them.

Then the bloodbath began, with other reliable recruiters shutting up shop or going bust completely (Monarch the former, Excel the latter).

I was fortunate enough to get a few assessments - Luxair and Tyrolean to start with - but both used psychometric tests with pass rates in the low single figures; and as they were about the only game in town apart from Ryanair competition was fierce.

Finally there was Ryanair. Friends who had applied reported the sim session was pretty simple; plan and fly a SID and then a radar vectored ILS to minima with a landing, with some manual handling in between, perhaps with some minor fault that could be resolved through CRM (door open warnings was a common one, pretend to call the cabin crew to check the seals were tight. No further action required).

However, I still believe that on the day I went they weren't looking for pilots (but hey, when candidates are paying for the privilege of assessment, why stop running them?). I got the lot - engine failure after takeoff, TCAS alerts and near collisions, engine out manual handling and of course the 'weather' didn't clear like it did for my friends! Perhaps unsurprisingly I wasn't successful with Ryanair - then to make matters worse they changed their policy to no re-applications ever, so I couldn't even re-apply.

Whilst the job market has improved recently, it hasn't improved enough to convince me to fork out £thousands for a faint sniff at a job - too many airlines are now using third party training companies where you now pay your own way through sim and line training - around £25k which isn't money you find down the back of the sofa!

The only job I have held in aviation was a temporary position as an ATC assistant in the tower at MAN, where even the stationery cupboard had a view to make any av geek jealous. When the two months of fun ended, the job market for anything aviation was saturated with even baggage handling roles being massively over subscribed. So I turned to a different career avenue in public transport, becoming a bus driver initially and now a tram driver, with one eye looking at potentially taking the next step up to heavy rail.
There's the right way, the wrong way and the railway.
Lucas (netAirspace ATC & Founding Member) 02 May 16, 06:54Post
ShyFlyer wrote:
Lucas wrote: I get zero flight benefits

Said the kid who rode jumpseat in a C-17. {silly}


Lol, that doesn't count. It was just a manipulation tactic!

mhodgson
, what is an ATC assistant? Is it like a D-side? A flight data? Assist position?
mhodgson (ATC & Photo Quality Screener & Founding Member) 02 May 16, 14:02Post
Lucas wrote:
mhodgson
, what is an ATC assistant? Is it like a D-side? A flight data? Assist position?


To put it bluntly, general dogsbody! Effectively admin; annotating and (at the time) plating up the flight strips, answering the phones, updating the weather and information systems (I got my voice on the ATIS once :)) ).

Unfortunately the role has mostly been superseded by an electronic system which does all the annotating and updating without human interaction. I think some assistants (permanent full time ones) may have been retained for backup and phone duties, but those of us on temporary contracts were no longer required.

Best office in the world - I regret never taking my proper camera up there!
There's the right way, the wrong way and the railway.
Zak (netAirspace FAA) 02 May 16, 17:08Post
My work history in aviation? I co-host a website for avgeeks, does that count? :))

If not, my only connection to aviation is air freight, on the logistics side. I was *that* close to chartering my first 747 last week, out of ORD. But of course, 2 of the 4 cargo suppliers had delays in manufacturing, and we ended up dispatching the lots one by one, by liner air freight. {grumpy}

My goal is, naturally, to charter one of the big the Antonovs (preferrably the very big one) in the not-too-distant future. Not extremely likely to happen, but not impossible, either.
Ideology: The mistaken belief that your beliefs are neither beliefs nor mistaken.
cornish (Certified Expert - Aviation Economics & Founding Member) 04 May 16, 15:27Post
I’ve worked in aviation for 18 years now, and still love it as much as when I first started.

I started out working for IATA – the industry body that represents most the world’s airlines - as a junior analyst, where I had to deal with all the member airlines and analyse the performance of those airlines and the industry in general. While there I also learned how to undertake market demand forecasting and ended up being responsible for producing IATA’s own forecasts and presenting them to the aviation industry at major conferences. I also sat on a number of industry panels as a representative on behalf of the airlines.

In the post-9/11 environment, IATA decided to close its London corporate office and my job moved to Montreal. Although they tried to persuade me heavily to move, I chose not to go to Montreal, took redundancy and got a job in aviation consultancy. The first consultancy I joined wasn’t ideal, the aviation team was small and I didn’t really get the chance to get heavily involved in projects. Then I was headhunted by another consultancy and that’s where my career really moved forward.

Since then I’ve worked on consultancy projects covering over 90 airports in more than 40 countries. Some of the clients have been airport operators, some governments and regulators and some financial investors. These have been in markets as diverse as Brazil and Indonesia, South Africa and the Maldives. I’ve worked on projects involving some of the biggest airports such as Heathrow, Hong Kong, Istanbul and Sao Paulo, and also smaller ones in places like the Maldives, Macedonia and the Cayman Islands., and had some fantastic adventures along the way.

I’ve also done quite a number of airline consultancy projects in that time for large international legacy airlines, Low cost operators and smaller regional airlines. At times having to present to government ministers after having had to undertake a full review of the airline’s operations, route network, fleet, profitability and more.

Despite all of this, things have taken quite a dramatic and exciting step for me this year. Having moved from one consultancy after a number of years to another two years ago, with the promise of the opportunity to develop and grow the business, the parent company decided to do a u-turn once I’d joined and backtrack from my area of aviation, wanting to focus on large construction and engineering angles only (their core business).

So having had to turn down one potential client after another and getting increasingly frustrated, somebody asked the question “why don’t you do this for yourself?”

And now, along with two long term colleagues who moved with me, we have set up our own aviation consultancy business and started at the beginning of the year. We have an office right by the Thames in the centre of London and so far we have a number of interesting international projects underway and the money is coming into the account. Its going to be a lot of hard work being up against much bigger competitors, but so far the view from people is very favourable and more importantly that has translated into work. But I know it’s still a honeymoon period, so I’ll tell you in a year if it was a good idea!!
ORFflyer (Founding Member) 06 May 16, 11:08Post
cornish wrote:we have set up our own aviation consultancy business and started at the beginning of the year.


That's pretty awesome Pat. Best of luck to you and your partners!
Rack-em'. I'm getting a beer.
ShanwickOceanic (netAirspace FAA) 09 May 16, 17:36Post
cornish wrote:we have set up our own aviation consultancy business and started at the beginning of the year.

Fantastic news, congratulations. We can do you a pretty sweet deal on ad space :))
My friend and I applied for airline jobs in Australia, but they didn't Qantas.
Tom in NO 13 May 16, 18:52Post
Grew up wanting to be a pilot, but found out in high school that I had 1 1/3 lungs and my heart was pushed towards the middle of my chest cavity, so I pretty much medical'ed out of that career option.

Went to an aviation college thinking I would spend my career in airline management, but I had the unfortunate situation of graduating along about the same time that Braniff I went belly up, and Continental had its first go around with Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Then my dad said something very profound. he said "airlines will come, and airlines will go, but they will always need a place to take off and land". That took me to...

..the airport management profession, where I spent two and one-half years with Los Angeles County Aviation Division (manages five general aviation airports), and have now spent the last....uhh...29+ years with the New Orleans Aviation Board doing everything from airport operations to maintenance to communications to construction to contract management. And of course, taking the occasional airliner photo...
"Tramps like us"-Bruce Springsteen
atct 18 Jun 16, 00:03Post
After many menial restaurant jobs, I started out my senior year of high school as a ramp rat for Delta in Pittsburgh. This paid my way through college and my private pilot's license. I left Delta for a 6 month gig as an aerial cameraman and traffic reporter for Metro Networks working on an R44 for WTAE. Then back to Delta and Cold Stone Creamery on the side. After college (degree in ATC at CCBC) I left Delta for RegionsAir as a flight attendant on Saab 340's. On my off days I taught ATC in the radar lab at CCBC. I was hired by the FAA as an ATC in 2006 at IAH Tower. While there I finished my ratings. On my days off I towed gliders in a Pawnee and contracted on a King Air 200, Cessna 421, MU2, Saratoga, and C525. I left IAH for Anchorage Tracon in 2011. I didnt do much professional work in AK outside of ATC (6 day work weeks will do that!), just flew my Super Cub all over. I transferred to Atlanta Tracon in February and am turning wrenches for the Commemorative Air Force, mostly on the SBD and Corsair, on the side while raising my family. Still have the Super Cub and should be building a hangar home in about a year. That's me in a nutshell!
"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing" -Walt Disney
Lucas (netAirspace ATC & Founding Member) 21 Jun 16, 00:01Post
Come bring the cub out here to JAC! Can go fly with Harrison in his Husky or Beaver...hang out in Driggs with the aero club at the Trap. :P
einsteinboricua 14 Jul 16, 15:39Post
I work for that big American company whose stock symbol is BA, and the project I'm currently working on is the Navy's P8 Poseidon.

Does that count? :-P
People told me to follow my dreams. So I went back to bed.
ShanwickOceanic (netAirspace FAA) 14 Jul 16, 16:06Post
Cool! UK just ordered 9 of them, right?
My friend and I applied for airline jobs in Australia, but they didn't Qantas.
NCoats737 20 Sep 16, 07:17Post
Only job's I've ever worked was in aviation. Got lucky as my first job in High School was out at Centennial Airport, was hanging out at the airport and walked into Signature flight support and got offered a job as a ramp rat. Stayed there through High School before transferring over to Denver International Airport as aircraft Fuel Quality control for United Airlines. (Wasn't that exciting) but as a college student getting to play with lab equipment and big jets I wasn't complaining.

After college and getting my B.S. in Aviation Maintenance along with my A&P license I got hired on with a smaller regional airline called Air Wisconsin. Short stint there on the CRJ 200 before moving back to Mainline work with US Airways in Philadelphia to include the A32X/737/757/767 and A330, and since they moved to American Airlines I took the furlough package and moved my whole life up to Alaska to work as an aircraft maintenance technician for Alaska Airlines up in Anchorage. Best job I've ever had and I thoroughly enjoy it. Especially working on the Combis, they are a treat. Not sure what's next other than keeping my company seniority and building time for the right seat one day.
Beat it to fit, paint it to match.
Lucas (netAirspace ATC & Founding Member) 26 Sep 16, 04:24Post
NCoats737 wrote:Only job's I've ever worked was in aviation. Got lucky as my first job in High School was out at Centennial Airport, was hanging out at the airport and walked into Signature flight support and got offered a job as a ramp rat. Stayed there through High School before transferring over to Denver International Airport as aircraft Fuel Quality control for United Airlines. (Wasn't that exciting) but as a college student getting to play with lab equipment and big jets I wasn't complaining.

After college and getting my B.S. in Aviation Maintenance along with my A&P license I got hired on with a smaller regional airline called Air Wisconsin. Short stint there on the CRJ 200 before moving back to Mainline work with US Airways in Philadelphia to include the A32X/737/757/767 and A330, and since they moved to American Airlines I took the furlough package and moved my whole life up to Alaska to work as an aircraft maintenance technician for Alaska Airlines up in Anchorage. Best job I've ever had and I thoroughly enjoy it. Especially working on the Combis, they are a treat. Not sure what's next other than keeping my company seniority and building time for the right seat one day.



You are very blessed to have all that aviation background!
 

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