Airline Comparison – Part 2

If you’re just joining us, this is Part 2 of 3 in a series about choosing an airline to work for. In Part 1 of the article, I suggested that the single most important factor to consider when choosing an airline is: location.

The sad (or not-so-sad) truth is: location is so important that every other factor pales in comparison. No matter where you go, you’re going to find ways to optimize for pay and/or Quality of Life (QOL.) That said, if you end up deciding that you’d be happy in more than one location, or your ideal location plays host to more than one airline, here are some general things you can consider. (Part 3 of this article will have a fancy spreadsheet with some specific company data for direct comparison.)

Fun

I recently saw a post on TPN where someone had offers from Southwest and American and was trying to figure out which company would be more “fun” to work at.

The easy answer here is Southwest, right? It’s known for a laid-back, enthusiastic culture.

I feel like Virgin America might also fit that bill. They have been known for more of a hip/cool vibe than SWA, but it was still unique in a good way. (Sorry, but that culture will change now that Virgin is part of Alaska…what that ends up being is yet to be determined, of course. Their unique culture will try to hang on in some bases and some of it will seep into the combined company, but it is hard to say how much of it will give way to Alaska’s existing culture. Don’t mourn too hard though. Alaska beats-out even the big legacy airlines to win top industry awards every year. It’s a great company and any one of us would be lucky to work there.

The closest successor/peer for Virgin’s vibe might be JetBlue. It’s not a large airline and you may not make as much money there as at others, but it’s definitely a sharp company. If you read The Points Guy at all, you’ll hear rave reviews about JetBlue.

Now, having made these gross generalities, I assert that they’re all bullshit.

Any airline with thousands of pilots will be at least as diverse as any squadron, school, club, or other flying organization you’ve belonged to. Since we’re all pilots and we know that we’re generally better than everyone else on the planet, chances are most people in your organization will be easy to get along with.

Every once in a while, you’ll really click with someone you fly with. You’ll enjoy every minute of the trip. You’ll have to consciously force yourself to focus on flying because the flight deck conversation will be that enjoyable. You’ll go out to eat together every night of the trip because it’ll just make sense. When the trip is over, you’ll feel just a little disappointed that its all over.

There are also, unavoidably, goobers in any organization. You won’t have much in common and conversation will be forced. They’ll either avoid going out at layovers or you’ll wish they would. They’ll get wrapped around the axle over things that you regard as not nearly that important. Your inability to connect with this person will be as much your fault as it is his or hers, and you’ll feel oddly ashamed about it. Religious or not, you’ll praise God when the trip finally ends.

This is all just as true of FedEx as it is of Delta as it is of Southwest or anywhere else. Nothing about the big-picture company culture will apply universally to every pilot on an interpersonal level. If you’re a generally positive person who knows how to adapt and thrive as much as possible in interpersonal situations, you will enjoy life no matter what airline you join. If not…well…you probably don’t realize that you’ve been “that guy” or “that gal” for a long time, and your friends owe it to you to hold an intervention. (Maybe someday I’ll write a how-to post for making that happen.)

The Flying

Just as some people expect the overall company culture to govern interpersonal interactions, some people expect one airline or another to offer flying experiences more interesting than others. Sorry to break it to you, but that’s probably just not going to happen. I hate to crush your ego, but we are mostly glorified bus drivers.

The flying you do will consist of: SID, cruise, STAR, vectors visual (backed-up by the ILS.) Every time. Several times a day, depending on what you fly. Even if your company allows and encourages hand-flying when appropriate like mine does, you’ll be using the autopilot for at least 95% of your career.

Yes, maybe 5% of the time you’ll get some kind of interesting approaches. Flying down the Potomac (don’t get shot down for flying through the Prohibited areas!) to do an extremely un-airline-like, last-second, hayaka turn to land at DCA is fun! So are some of the visual approaches at LGA, JFK, and other places. You’ll enjoy those when you get to do them, but depending on your employer, it might be a very rare thing.

Some pilots think that flying bigger jets will equate to more interesting flying. I would venture to say, this couldn’t be further from the truth. The larger jets spend a greater percentage of their time in cruise. This is hours on end trying not to fall asleep (not allowed) by not reading or watching movies on an iPad (also not allowed!)

Some pilots think flying something new and sexy will be more interesting. It’s not much different. I’ve flown a lot of different aircraft, and I’ve ridden on a lot of jumpseats. An ILS is an ILS no matter what airplane you’re flying.

“100 above…minimums…land”

“Roger, autopilot off”

“Flare/retard”

“Land”

It doesn’t look much different whether you’re in a run-out MD88, a brand-new A321, or a T-38.

There are times when the flying is engaging. Trying to avoid turbulence so that you can improve the customers’ experience (and thus your profit sharing) is engaging. So is dodging thunderstorms, or planning for and executing a landing at an airport buried in snow and ice. I’m looking forward to landing a 737-700 at KEYW someday. It’s always as edifying to have passengers praise a good landing, as it is character-building when you are a little slow to open the flight deck door because you know they are about to give you crap for a terrible one.

Those few moments of engaged flying do make our jobs more fun. However, professional flying done well should be as boring as possible.

This job is enjoyable because of the people you work with and the places you get to go. It’s enjoyable because it lets you earn a ludicrous amount of money for a regular amount of [usually] very easy work, or still amazing money for relatively part-time job. That combination of time and money open up opportunities for you to pursue other things in life. If you want that to include “fun” stick-and-rudder flying then either go buy/build something fun to fly, or go work for the Guard or Reserve. As my good friend Shakes recently said, “The Guard and Reserves will still happily absorb every free minute you are willing to give them once you become an airline pilot!”