When we say Quality of Life (QoL), we are often referring to time home vs. away, scheduling predictability, job security, and positive work environment. So lets compare the two in this manner first.

Airlines

The airlines are huge corporations with a ton of money coming in and in today’s economy, they have created such a need for their services they are not going away.  This is a form of security for pilots who are hired by a major, because they can count on the company being around for many years.  Additionally, the airline pilots have Unions backing them that are constantly negotiating for better pay and benefits.  Because of this, pilots generally have a greater job security and job satisfaction knowing they are not held at the whim of the company leaderships decisions.  

There is precedent that airlines are not that great at reacting to economic changes, and if you happen to be hired within a year or so before a company needs to downsize, you could be up for a furlough and be out of a job pretty quickly.  The Covid-19 pandemic was a great example of this and many pilots found themselves without a paycheck for a while.  This is just an acknowledgement that the airlines are not great at all times.

The airlines fly all kinds of routes and depending on the type of aircraft and route you fly, your schedule and time away will be different.  The typical CONUS trips are 3-4 days away at a time and some companies you may even be home each night after your flight.  This kind of schedule may not be that hard on the family and when you are off, you are completely off.  

There is no flight planning or coordinating with users on your part.  You arrive to the aircraft with everything provided and once your day is complete, you leave.  If you fly internationally, you will likely be gone for more days at a time, but then you also get more days off at home as a benefit.  

Generally, in the beginning you will spend approximately half the month away but broken up over the month.  Many veterans have stated they were away from home more often as an airline pilot, then they were in the military.  This is a tradeoff for the pay and benefits.  

The scheduling can be tricky at times and depending on the company, you may not know your schedule more then a month out.  As of this writing, Southwest is the only company that had a different scheduling process then all the others and it seems fairly adjustable. Additionally, once scheduled, things generally don’t change unless you initiate it. 

The greater your seniority, the greater your schedule flexibility is, and the more you get to pick and choose the flights you want to fly, on the days you want to work.  Seniority is seemingly the largest factor in your QoL in the airlines and depending on how quickly the company grows or the top pilots retire, your time at the bottom of the list could be very short (circa 2022/2023) or be very long if things are stagnant.

Corporate / Charter

The job security at a corporate or charter company is dependent a lot on how profitable the company is.  It can be very hit or miss based on the economy.  Charter companies and corporate flight departments depend on wealthy people being willing to spend their money on luxury jets.  A large charter company like NetJets will be a much safer bet then a smaller one, just like a larger corporate company like SpaceX will be a more secure option then a smaller company.  Unfortunately, if you fly a corporate jet and the company/owner decides to downsize, your job could be in jeopardy overnight, or you may just be moved to a new model.  There are generally no unions to back you up if there are issues and no one to help save your job from corporate leadership’s on the spot decisions.  I am not saying this occurs very often, but it is more likely to occur here then in the airlines.

The scheduling can go both ways in this world.  You could be a part of a company that hands you a schedule and you know when you are working months in advance, or you could be on the hook to fly whenever the CEO calls you.  The typical Charter operation generally offers schedules such as 12/10, 9/4, 8/6, or 7/7 (on duty/off duty).  Others are beginning to create schedules that mirror the airlines way of scheduling, it just depends on the company.  When you are on duty, you are on the hook to fly.  During your On days, you may be sitting at home with no requirements because nothing was scheduled, or you could be away from home the entire time, living out of hotels for a week or more.  There are charter organizations that only fly you 50-75% of your on days, which means you are home, more than you are away.  Each charter company is structured differently, so make sure the schedule matches the QoL you are looking for.

Then there are also operations that will have you home every night, or corporations where you hardly fly at all, but still make great money. There are those unicorn jobs that pay very well and fly very little with great leadership, but as expected, those are tough to come by.

Job satisfaction is person dependent, but many pilots love this lifestyle because of the change in environment, the people they get to fly with, the greater control of the operations and the ever increasing quality of life that the companies are producing.  

A lot of pilots here love their jobs and generally only consider moving to the airlines due to the retirement potential, but outside of that, many would say they are very happy where they are at.  They don’t have to see the inside of airport terminals constantly like Airline pilots and they get to avoid the TSA line.

Many younger charter pilots are building hours to eventually be competitive for the airlines, but the more seasoned pilots are generally there to stay as long as QoL is good.  Corporate pilots often find the job that fits their lifestyle and then they stay with that company as long as possible.  It is interesting that finding pilots that have stayed with a company for more than 15 years is often not the norm.  In fact, many companies are often hiring because their pilots are leaving for the Major Airlines retirement potential.  

The smaller the flight department, the more likely the pilots develop a strong friendship and camaraderie that is hard to imagine in the airlines.  Knowing who you are flying with and overnighting with at destinations is a good thing.  Not having to introduce yourself to thousands of pilots over the years is a huge plus.

When they fly their clients somewhere, they may also get to stay and experience the location for some time before moving on to the next location.  Wealthy people like to go to nice places for multiple nights, which means you get to go to those nice places also.  Imagine spending winter days in the Caribbean or in the Colorado mountains, and air-lining out your spouse to stay with you.  This is a perk that many Airline pilots do not experience very often.  Some long haul pilots get days off in interesting places, but standard CONUS pilots generally do not.

CAUTION: Training contracts are something that must be considered.  Attaining a type rating on a business jet is expensive for the company and can be very lucrative to you.  For that reason, and understandably, they would like some assurance that you are not going to get qualified and run somewhere else.  MPT believes that a 1-year employment contract is the most anyone should agree to.  This will be beneficial to you and the company.  You will attain experience and time in the aircraft and the company will get their money’s worth.  After a year, if you are unhappy with the job, you now have a great opportunity to contract yourself out and the potential for earnings is huge.