Dilemma...ATC vs Air Canada...

ATC · Post by **ATC** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 7:53 am

Hi,

just need a couple of hints to figure out my career path...
I'm an air traffic controller, really good pay, lots of days off, good pension plan...the whole package you know...And I love my job.

Also have an airline pilot license, and I am in the hiring process at AC. ( I am 31 yrs old ).
It's quite a decision to let go my atc career.
Do you have any suggestions or arguments that would convince me that Air Canada is a step forward ( from my position ).

Thanx for your help !!

whipline · Post by **whipline** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 8:12 am

Stay at ATC. The wage at AC is horrible and will not come close to what you are making now for years. You will have to hold left seat on the 320 to equal your wage now. Just like ATC the Air Canada gig will become a "job" in a very short time and the glamor of flying short hops in the EMB will wear on you.

Job security, you are way more secure where you are. If you go to AC plan on being laid off at least once. With AC breaking records each month for load factors but not being able to turn a profit with those records I would also be prepared for another "shake up." Air Canada is spinning off all their assests and the next time they find themselves behind the eight ball there will be nothing left to bargain with.

But I no the grass is always greener on the other end of the mic!!

abc xyz · Post by **abc xyz** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 8:15 am

i like you found a job outside of the cockpit with all the same benefits you now enjoy. grass always looks greener - then reality sets in - its a job like any other. soon pilots will be flying 100 hr months with airport layovers and forever demands for wage and benefit concessions. The trend has started and will continue. 320 guys at AC are flying 18 days a month. go home to wash your clothes then back out the door.

ATC will never have those such demands placed on them. just my 2 cents. rent a plane fly when you want, where you want and still have a secure job to go to.

cheers

got to go play choo choo train now

Canus Chinookus · Post by **Canus Chinookus** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 9:34 am

take the stable job.

Long Keel · Post by **Long Keel** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 9:35 am

Do what makes you happiest, and marry a rich hot wife!

If you love flying, and will be happier flying than spending 40 hours a week til 60 then in your present job then switch. If you love what you do as much as you love flying stay where you are. 29 years is a long time to spend longing after "what might have been".

The Canadian dream is wealth without risk. AC is risk. The wealth in your case may not be financial but could be personal fufillment, with the chance to still have a decent wage within three years.

Dreamers rarely work in the civil service. More pilots are dreamers than realists. You have to be a bit of a dreamer to get here in the first place.

AC is a great job, but it is not without its downside. Layovers during Christmas, dark and dirty nights going into St. Johns, 3 nights in a row at an airport hotel can suck big time. Layovers in Cuba, San Diego, Zurich, Tokyo more than make up for it. I still feel a rush during each and every take off, and get a high from smooth landing in challenging conditions. I enjoy meeting different flight attendents and passengers daily. I couldn't do anything else and be as happy. Because of that I can live with the downsides, and try my best to erase them through collective bargaining within my professional association. The question is can you live with downsides, and are they bigger than the upsides.

Good luck. You don't need anyone's advise on what to do. Follow your heart.

Dockjock · Post by **Dockjock** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 9:43 am

What about taking a leave of absence from ATC to see how an AC career might pan out from the inside? If you could get a 2 or 3 yr leave, try it out, and then go back without penalty that would be the ideal scenario. Good luck, it is a nice problem to have!

dangerous · Post by **dangerous** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 10:15 am

Here's my advice. Forget the pay, benefits, etc. Only think of the job itself. You spend almost a third of you life working. Which would you rather be doing: flying big jets, or talking to people who fly big jets? By the way, both jobs have great benefits anyways. It may be a slightly different story if it was ATC vs working for free on the ramp hoping to get right seat on a Navajo. As long as you can provide a decent living for your family, do whatever job you enjoy the most. That's my $0.02, but I'm not with ATC or AC. Good luck!

neophyte · Post by **neophyte** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 10:26 am

Hey Long Keel - That was a solid post.

I agree with Long Keel 100% Do what makes you happy and don't wonder "what if".

Life is all about chance and risk but the biggest risk is never taking one.

Enjoy your lives cause you only live once.

N

Jaques Strappe · Post by **Jaques Strappe** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 10:43 am

abc xyz wrote: 320 guys at AC are flying 18 days a month. go home to wash your clothes then back out the door.

Not the case, contractual maximum is 16. That leaves 15 days a month to do laundry.

LongKeel said it best and if I may add, it sounds like you answered your own question.

dangerous · Post by **dangerous** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 10:51 am

By the way, what kind of hours do you have? I mean, you must have pretty good hours to get called by AC, so how did you manage to have a flying career and an ATC career? Whatever you did, good on you!

ATC · Post by **ATC** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 12:26 pm

Well, good replies...Thank you very much.

4000 hrs total ( mostly turboprop) to answer Dangerous..

The job security issue is a factor...But also, I feel a challenge with my present position... When I decided to quit flying, I was a bit bored by the nature of the job. I always imagined that flying the mainline would be different. But as Whipline said, probably after a while I'll come back to my previous feeling...

Long Keel · Post by **Long Keel** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 2:11 pm

Neophyte,

Thanks

for the kind words.

ATC, check your message box for further info.

Cheers,

lk

ATC · Post by **ATC** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 2:32 pm

Great !
Thank you,
Check PM

2low · Post by **2low** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 1:34 am

50...uh Bently uh....

Traf · Post by **Traf** » Sat Feb 18, 2006 10:47 am

If you got out b ecause you were bored of flying, going to AC will not improve that. IMHO, you would be nuts to make that jump. Being a pilot in Canada is quickly sliding downhill. Have a beer, and clear your head.