To those of you who are embarking on another career, best of luck.....there will be some things you miss, and some things you don't, but life is far too short and uncertain to spend all your time worrying about your job, your paycheck, and its security.
I don't usually launch into divulging a whole lot of personal info but this seems like a decent time to share.....
As far as memories go, those of you with USAirways aka Agony Air can be proud of many of the things your company achieved over the years. Even as a kid I would "analyze" passenger traffic trends....maybe in a prior post I let you know that my dad was a local service airline guy....albeit with Trans-Texas. Nonetheless, he would bring home industry publications for me to play with (I can't believe the stuff I used to come up with in the mid-60s....not only before Excel...but before TI calculators. I guess that explains why I am the only person in my building who keeps a very old, very tired 10 key adding machine on my desk). At any rate...besides the OAG he brought me the annual "Association of Local Transport Airlines" issue of Air Transport World. One of the articles was how, of all the local service airlines out there.....one had managed to board A MILLION PASSENGERS in one year out of a single station. I think it was somewhere around 1965 or 1966 and the station was Pittsburgh. I just recall being totally incredulous about the sheer size of that accomplishment, especially when you compared it to some of the boardings at "good" TTa stations...places like Lake Charles, Abilene, and harlingen...which managed 40 to 50 thousand passengers a year. Lord how times have changed.
Once upon a time I spent 4 yrs in a Res office. Then I finished my degree and moved on to a position as a Petroleum Engineer. Somewhere in there, out of either patriotism or the fact that I looked at boot camp as a 4 month leave of absence which would be just like going to a health spa only with drill sergeants yelling at you, I joined the Army reserve. Many of you have read how I dissect your management from time to time...I seldom mince words. Well, I didn't mince words with the management of my company, either. They put me in charge of a regional office and we went from a 12% to a 35% market share in a year's time. Still, I didn't sniff the boss' rear end and the running joke was "how low will oil go before they get rid of ELP?" Well, the answer was $11.20 a barrel.
So kicked out of the oil & gas industry I decided to go play Lieutenant in the Army for 3 yrs and then everything should be back to normal. 19 yrs later here I am, a year away from retiring, and while it hasn't been nonstop fun, I have to say it's been rewarding, I've had some good times, met some good people, and don't regret a single thing I've done.
The bottom line of my rambling tonight is basically to say "been there & done that." It can be tough at times, sort of like jumping out of a plane at airborne school.....the first time it is fear of the unknown, the second time it's fear of the known. But my most sincere wishes for all of you who are looking, then leaping....is that you find something to do that is satisfying, rewarding, hopefully reasonably lucrative, and stable. God knows you U folks could use a little stability.
Do I still miss taking calls at res? Sure. Nobody could talk folks in to standby better than me, and for four years managed to accumulate a 26.7 call per hour average. Do I miss roaming around in the middle of noplace going from drilling rig to drilling rig? Don't miss the hours, don't miss sleeping in the Chevrolet motel, but of course I miss some of the excitement. I'm sure I will miss some things about the Army when I leave...... It'll be the same thing for you guys. But when you make the break, make it cleanly and don't look back and don't second guess yourselves.
Good for you! My wife and daughter are both in the medical field. Trust me, you will be in much more secure employment! If you are familiar with Cav, he seems to be striking quite a different tone since he has pursued his new endeavor 
