career advice?

[jballs]

Hi all, I am brand new to the forum and searched it out to ask if you have any advice to offer. Apologies if it's a common question, I looked around for similar threads but found none. I had a FA girlfriend for the last two years and was on her flight pass. We didn't last, after several months with no pass privileges I am seriously considering going to work for a major carrier and just getting my own.

With that in mind as my main objective, what carrier should I choose and what line of work is the best option? I am 41, US citizen, single and no kids and don't much care where I live. Strong background in finance but no schooling for it (I have been a futures broker & hedging consultant for >20 years). Any thoughts on where to look or who to talk to would be most appreciated, thanks!

 

[La Li Lu Le Lo]

Since you are asking what line of work........

I think TULE at American Airlines has a lot to offer. Both white and blue collar.

TULE is American Airlines maintenance base located in Tulsa Oklahoma.

I would not recommend taking a ramp job (Fleet Service Clerk) at 41 years old unless you are very fit. Being low seniority you will have a very heavy workload. I can tell you I have met few career ramp employees that have not had shoulder, knee, hip, and back surgeries.

Another thing to consider is UNIONized part time employees get benefits. If your only interested in flight benefits you could try part time just to take the company for a "test drive".

I can tell you I did not like working for American Airlines and left after 12 years to start a new career. I have been out of the industry for 4 years now. Airlines have their own unique culture. You better be prepared for that.

From Glassdoor.

https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/American-Airlines-Reviews-E8.htm

"Fleet Service Clerck- CLT"
StarStarStarStarStar
Current Employee - Fleet Service Clerk in Charlotte, NC

I have been working at American Airlines part-time (More than a year)

Pros

Flight Bennifits, can make the money if worked the hours, good health care.

Cons

Hard to work your way up in this position, In need of newer and better equipment and machinery, and there is too many people who don't do anything.

Advice to Management

More leadership and recognize workers for there hard work and the ones who dont work hard .

 

[jballs]

Thanks La Li Lu Le Lo,

I've gathered there's a lot of "culture" in the industry. I will check into the part-time option as well. Are there any airlines that suck less than the others as far as you are concerned? Would you have been happier at Delta? My privileges were UAL and I learned along the way they have an inferior benefit package to AA, not sure about Delta (also UAL does not fly to Africa or most of Eastern Europe which is not a dealbreaker but would prefer maximal coverage...

 

[jimntx]

If the only reason you want to work for an airline is the travel benefits, you probably will not last in the job very long. For starters, (and I'm using American as the standard because that's who I work for and am familiar with their travel system and policies),
1. you will have to work at least 6 months in order to earn travel privileges.
2. Non-rev travel is strictly space available, and if they can sell that space at the last minute to a revenue passenger, you will not be getting on the flight. (Back in January I tried to get on a flight to San Jose, Costa Rica. When I left home near downtown Dallas to drive to the airport, there were 15 seats available over and above listed revenue and non-rev passengers. By the time I got to the airport, the flight was oversold (more passengers than seats), and I did not get on even though I was #1 on the non-rev standby list. And, I have 15 years with the company; so, even seniority would not have gotten me a seat on that flight. Another flight had experienced mechanical difficulty and cancelled. The company transferred as many revenue passengers as possible from that flight to mine.)
3. Non-rev travel is getting harder by the day (see #2 above) because the airlines are getting better at making sure that when the plane pushes back from the gate, they have the maximum number of revenue passengers they could finagle. And, some of these are minimal revenue generators because the available seats were released to travel wholesalers, but the company's philosophy is $200 for a $900 seat is better than no dollars.
4. At American, priority for getting from the standby list to the airplane as a passenger is by order of check-in time. Which gives every employee listed for the flight more or less equal chance at any available seats. And, if you are working away from a computer at the "24-hours in advance of departure" point when checkin is allowed, you will not be #1 on the list.
4a. A number of airlines use company seniority to order their standby list. Be aware that you will be at the bottom or near there on most standby lists for at least a year or two.
5. Unless you are working at an office job at the airline, you will have to resign yourself to working weekends and nights at most other jobs. Remember that airlines operate 24/7/365. New employees generally do not get the plum work schedules. If you work in the office you will have minimal time for non-rev travel other than your vacation. And, don't even think of calling in sick in order to get time to travel somewhere. Traveling non-rev while on the sick list is a termination offense. The company's policy is "if you are too sick to work, you are too sick to travel."

These are just a few examples of why travel benefits should not be your motivating factor in working for an airline. I'm sure that others on this bulletin board can add to this list. I could, but I've got to go get ready to work tomorrow (Sunday).

 

[jballs]

thanks for the reply jimntx, lots to think about. I had two years of nonrev and used it a lot, got stuck in a few places for a week or more. So I am familiar with the downsides. I also flew biz class to Oz several times and that is something I can't imagine paying for no matter how much I made (which has seldom been enough to entertain biz class tickets to Oz). So, a lot of downside but a lot of upside as well. Is it worth a career in airlines? I am not sure and mostly why I am here to learn more.

Sounds like I should just marry an employee, eh?

Alright, one more question if anyone knows. Are there any other related jobs that get pass privileges? Do airlines offer them as promos or incentives to subcontractors or such? Mike Rowe (of Dirty Jobs fame) has a great story of doing videography for an airline, they gave him priority privileges (positive booking any class no notice) which he managed to keep for a year or so after the gig was over. I gather that is unusual but any insights appreciated.

As for the no time for traveling because you are working, that is the huge downside for sure.

 

[La Li Lu Le Lo]

I disagree with jimntex. With the CS policy you can practically write your schedule at a large hub.

Jim and I may have different views on scheduling because he is a flight attendant (correct me if I am wrong Jim) and I was classified as a Fleet Service Clerk but worked at the maintenance base (and at the airport for a bit). Naturally having different jobs we may have different scheduling challenges. I can tell you I pretty much worked when I pleased. There were times I would CS off 2 or 3 weeks. The other end of the spectrum is there are some people who worked 7 days a week 12 hours a day (voluntarily of course).

I do agree with Jim on one thing though. If you are just in it for flight benefits you probably are not going to last very long.

 

[Seatacus]

If you want to travel get a second part time job and buy full fare discount tickets. You will be much happier and probably go more places. Non-revving and getting bumped and paying for hotel rooms until you get out offsets any savings.

 

[KCFlyer]

If you want to travel get a second part time job and buy full fare discount tickets. You will be much happier and probably go more places. Non-revving and getting bumped and paying for hotel rooms until you get out offsets any savings.

When my dad was sick (several years ago) a friend of my at Southwest offered me buddy passes, but told me up front that my odds of getting a seat were pretty slim. He said he avoided headaches by just buying a discounted ticked.

 

[Seatacus]

When my dad was sick (several years ago) a friend of my at Southwest offered me buddy passes, but told me up front that my odds of getting a seat were pretty slim. He said he avoided headaches by just buying a discounted ticked.

Non-revving nowadays is way over rated. Been retired from airlines for 12 years. Haven't non revved since retirement. Still fly. I buy discounted tickets and go to airport and watch the non revs sweat it out

 

[xUT]

Non-revving nowadays is way over rated. Been retired from airlines for 12 years. Haven't non revved since retirement. Still fly. I buy discounted tickets and go to airport and watch the non revs sweat it out

Pretty much, so do I.
NRSA overseas is still a good option, if you fly off season.
Sucks Don't it?
Take Care,
xUT

 

[Runwaysticker]

Run Like Hell

 

[Insp4]

There is life out there, for an A&P, besides working for an Air Line. If you do your homework!

 

[La Li Lu Le Lo]

There is life out there, for an A&P, besides working for an Air Line. If you do your homework!

He never said he was an A&P.

 

[Insp4]

He never said he was an A&P.

That may be true. The point I wanted to make is "if" he is, there are other options out there besides the Airlines if he would put a little effort into searching them out.

 

[La Li Lu Le Lo]

That may be true. The point I wanted to make is "if" he is, there are other options out there besides the Airlines if he would put a little effort into searching them out.

True. I have a friend with an A&P that works on the helicopters that transport oil workers to the ocean rigs. He makes good money.

This is actually in Asia but the pic was cool so I posted it anyway.