quitting
- Thread starter reserve
- Start date
I did quit and let me tell you while you do miss the airline, SOME of the people you work with, the options in travel, I do not regret leaving one bit.
1. I make more money. Just about anything you do can quickly make you more money than you can make there.
2. I can go back to school. Most companies are happy to help you pay for more education. A good company thinks a more educated workforce is a better work force. NOT US Airways. They think if they keep you uneducated and untrained except in a very narrow field they keep you trapped. My company now was ASKING ME within the first month of me being here what I wanted to go to school for.
3. I have a great schedule. Instead of working 50+ hours a week salaried and being at home for only weekends (often working those too) I now work 4-10's and that is it. I also walked into this job with just as much time off as I had with 8 years at US Airways. And I get to be with my family every night!
Family is really all we have when we get older and we really don't know just how much time we will have here. Do you really want to spend your life stressed out, dealing with everyone else’s problems and being treated like dirt?
US Airways / AWA really don't care about their employees. Their whole mindset is we can get someone else to do your job for less.
I got to the point where I was embarrassed to say I worked there.
Even though I am still traumatized by my time there, I am quickly becoming much calmer, happier and looking toward the future with hope.
US Airways likes to keep their people threatened. They manage through intimidation and it is a hard mindset to change. I hope you can really take a look at your options and can find the right choice for you. Just don't stay there because you are afraid of change.
AstroLounge
Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2005
- Messages
- 1,491
- Reaction score
- 213
Well in all honesty your feelings CAN be attributed to THAT Time of Year. Yesterday, 1/21st was considered THE MOST DEPRESSING Day of The Year- so if there is any solace into how you are feeling, chalk that up for ill feelings. As far as THIS PLACE goes, D-O-N-'T let it bring you down! I learned a LONG Time ago........go to work, do your job and treat people the way you would like to be treated...........EVERYTHING Else will fall in place. I pay little attention to most of the BS around here and pay no mind to the Clowns that Run cirUS. Throw in a cocktail or two <ha> and if anything you have to laugh at the Stupidity you see on a RECURRING Basis. 
QUIT......I am not about to stop stirring things up.
QUIT......I am not about to stop stirring things up.galley princess
Senior
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2007
- Messages
- 384
- Reaction score
- 263
Quitting? Hmm.
Truth to tell I really don't know why anyone with less than 10 years would stay at US. Unless. Unless you really like the lifestyle, and that's the rub isn't it? The job kind of ruins you for a daily 8-5 grind doesn't it? Still, there are many factors at work. Airline pilot and flight attendant jobs are not easy to get. Your best evidence is Mr. Parker's statement, despite US' crummy reputation, apparently there are about a thousand people a month who would love the chance to be quick called at 1am to be paid $30, because oops, it's cancelled and you got out of bed to make a 2 hour minimum.
Right now also may not be the best time. If you turn on NPR or listen to the news, the major topic of conversation is the either "in progress" or "looming" recession in the United States. You can expect all hiring to contract, and money to seize up. Also, if Delta and NWA do actually decide to dance, there may be furloughs from either or both of them, as they get synergistic. Hence, more people who are addicted to jet fuel out and available for that $30.
Here's my humble opinion: go to school. Check the latest labor stats and choose training in something that people will always need. There are a bunch of associate degree programs that get you qualified in jobs that pay considerably more than US, humble as they may seem. Try to pick something flexible that you can combine with flying and then you'll never have to worry about what US does. You can enjoy the flying and forget the rest. Your goal should be to be their worst nightmare come CHAOS. A flight attendant with an alternate income.
Truth to tell I really don't know why anyone with less than 10 years would stay at US. Unless. Unless you really like the lifestyle, and that's the rub isn't it? The job kind of ruins you for a daily 8-5 grind doesn't it? Still, there are many factors at work. Airline pilot and flight attendant jobs are not easy to get. Your best evidence is Mr. Parker's statement, despite US' crummy reputation, apparently there are about a thousand people a month who would love the chance to be quick called at 1am to be paid $30, because oops, it's cancelled and you got out of bed to make a 2 hour minimum.
Right now also may not be the best time. If you turn on NPR or listen to the news, the major topic of conversation is the either "in progress" or "looming" recession in the United States. You can expect all hiring to contract, and money to seize up. Also, if Delta and NWA do actually decide to dance, there may be furloughs from either or both of them, as they get synergistic. Hence, more people who are addicted to jet fuel out and available for that $30.
Here's my humble opinion: go to school. Check the latest labor stats and choose training in something that people will always need. There are a bunch of associate degree programs that get you qualified in jobs that pay considerably more than US, humble as they may seem. Try to pick something flexible that you can combine with flying and then you'll never have to worry about what US does. You can enjoy the flying and forget the rest. Your goal should be to be their worst nightmare come CHAOS. A flight attendant with an alternate income.
FlightChic
Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2007
- Messages
- 954
- Reaction score
- 0
I totally agree with Galley Princess. Even though this place may suck, you should take advantage of the free time and take classes and create a backup plan so you can quit down the road and have a job you enjoy or in case you are furloughed. You would be crazy NOT to with the way this industry is. You can take classes online or if you live in base and have enough flexibility you could take them on campus. I hear flight attendants say they would love to quit but can't because they have no other education and nothing to fall back on but they are stuck. When I ask them about going back to school they say they can't. It must suck to be them. Do I like making $1100 a month (this is what I made each month this Fall except in December I made $1300 and for September I made $1000)? HELL NO! But I am utlizing my free time for classes and other things. That keeps me sane and that's the only reason I haven't quit.
I have worked other jobs outside of US Airways. As much as this place sucks, there are other jobs that are so much more stressful and require so much more of your time and effort. Life at US Airways is a cakewalk compared to other things you may experience at other jobs in the real world. One day soon I will leave here and go back to the real world, but for now this is a stepping stone.
And get a REAL job? Are you out of your mind? Have you ever had a trip start at 8am and had to drive in rush hour? If I had to do that every day, I'd be a basket case.
Plus, you have to account for the glamour factor. What other job places you in a position of such high regard and esteem?
In all seriousness...I have had real jobs. This is way-way better.
USCREW
Veteran
This is a fantastic job if you don't need it.
Except when they call and I am still at the spa with cucumbers on my eyes. Nothing irritates me more....
:rant:
"He had had a nice, good, idle time all the while-plenty of company-and the fence had three coats of whitewash on it! If he hadn’t run out of whitewash, he would have bankrupted every boy in the village.
Tom said to himself that it was not such a hollow world, after all. He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it-namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain. If he had been a great and wise philosopher, like the writer of this book, he would now have comprehended that Work consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do, and that Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do."
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain.
Trust me on this, this job is Play.
I was told before I took the March 2005 Vol-Sep that I was making a mistake and would regret it and so on and so forth.It takes some balls to leave a secure position but on the other hand I had issues dealing with the constant worry and negativity and plain depression from listening to the daily baloney from all my co-workers.It was so depressing going in everyday and hearing this same old mantra for eight hours.Come in and the daylite people were huddled over in their little corner and the afternoon people would come over,sit down and ask kind of cautiously"what'd ya hear"...every frigging day.
As a mechanic,I had issues with the next contract and the dire possibility of base maintenance being pulled out of PIT during the next round of neg's coming up soon in 2009.When I contact friends still there....I get the same dismal message as how they just come in and do their job,can't wait to get out of there and go home....the local union won't make any wav's and cater to the company"because they'll shut down PIT".
From what I've been told,the company will guarantee 1000 jobs in base but is mum as to where...as under the present contract,it dictates in PIT and CLT-500 each city.....the PIT lease is up 2009 BTW...so they now worry and I still feel for them,they are my friends.
Its like going into a bar some 5-10 years later and the same people are still there sitting.
I found decent work...a few bucks lower than U,but I don't have this BS hovering over my head and messing with my mind anymore...I sleep well.I'm happy...I do not miss the airline except I miss the people I used to work with.They were all nice people and have to do what they have to do and I do not fault any of them whatsoever.
Dell
As a mechanic,I had issues with the next contract and the dire possibility of base maintenance being pulled out of PIT during the next round of neg's coming up soon in 2009.When I contact friends still there....I get the same dismal message as how they just come in and do their job,can't wait to get out of there and go home....the local union won't make any wav's and cater to the company"because they'll shut down PIT".
From what I've been told,the company will guarantee 1000 jobs in base but is mum as to where...as under the present contract,it dictates in PIT and CLT-500 each city.....the PIT lease is up 2009 BTW...so they now worry and I still feel for them,they are my friends.
Its like going into a bar some 5-10 years later and the same people are still there sitting.
I found decent work...a few bucks lower than U,but I don't have this BS hovering over my head and messing with my mind anymore...I sleep well.I'm happy...I do not miss the airline except I miss the people I used to work with.They were all nice people and have to do what they have to do and I do not fault any of them whatsoever.
Dell
signals
Veteran
Things to consider:
How many years do you have invested? What is your education? What is your age?(sad but true)
Do you have another job lined up? Are the BENEFITS equal or better? Do you have to start over and lose vacation or sick or any PAID time? How long before you get it back? Are you union? Retirement? Pay?
Is the job harder or easier?
These and perhaps a million other questions should be pondered before thinking of quitting a job.
N965VJ
Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2005
- Messages
- 3,255
- Reaction score
- 149
Working for US was a blast!
I just couldn’t afford to work there anymore.
I just couldn’t afford to work there anymore.
Seatacus
Veteran
After 35 years and turning 55 I left. I had no job lined up. The airline job was not fun anymore. I was tired of saying I am sorry to our customers and I asked myself what could be worse than this. Now I am employed again with better pay and benefits. Did I do the right thing by leaving? You bet I did................I should have done it a long time ago.
signals
Veteran
I don't work for the airlines, and I am glad it worked for you. In my job it seems we have an increase in ex-airline employees, because we offer better. My questions were things to ponder, and you are a success story.
Turning 55 after 35 means a different thing to me, though. I can retire at 55 and with 35 years invested, I will receive FULL retirement benefits...including medical insurance. I'm sure yours is totally different. This may explain why ex-airline employees seek employment in my field of employment.
What bothers me is why AEexpress and UAL employees are the ones who seek employment? The others seem content!
