Post: #1

People are often looking for a career that allows them to travel frequently, provide them with good income, and a good life. This isn't my career, but if you fit this description, you should look into working for an airline, more specifically - flight dispatch, or Ops.

I have a relative, and several friends who work in Ops at an airline, and they all do it for the travel. They make relatively ok money ($50+K, and 80k in the upper echelon). My cousin has me on her travel benefits, so I've been using them for a couple of years - they truly are amazing.

The airline she works for is AirCanada, and with these benefits you essentially get to travel for dirt cheap. The discounts aren't limited to AirCanada. You can fly with American airlines, european (lufthansa, LOT, KLM for example). You're flying on standby which can be annoying, but the prices are worth it.

To put it into perspective, I recently flew to Romania. I took two flights there; Toronto to Amsterdam, and then Amsterdam to Bucharest. Total cost = $100. My return trip was $87.

In early December, I flew to Copenhagen for $100 total (round trip included).

The work schedule of someone in ops is quite good as well. They usually work on shift work (which isn't the greatest) but it usually rotates 4 days on, 4 days off, or 6 on, 6 off. You get standard vacation allotments as well.

I know people who go straight from work to the airport to travel. It's a decent job with some good perks.

You don't even need a university education, but there are several courses and certifications that you need. Estimated time to get certified etc..is around 6-months.

Note: Your flight benefits (depending on the union) kick in around 4-6 month mark.

So if you like travel, want a good salary - maybe working in Ops is ideal for you!

Post: #2

I have a fairly decent work schedule in my line of work but with all the paycuts it's starting to get pretty rough. My normal work schedule is 2 weeks on and 1 week off, but work has been pretty slow since the industry is doing poorly, so I'll usually work 5-8 weeks straight. I usually take home about $2000-2400 on a bad 2 week check, and about 3200-4000 when we have plenty of work. We get free housing (apartments) which helps us save some money, but when we're out in the field like I am right now we're typically working 14-18hrs a day. Back when things were good I could bring home $4000 every two weeks pretty easily with free housing and $46 a day for per diem.

Post: #3

^^ Are you in the oil industry? A few of my friends in Alberta had a similar arrangement and made pretty solid money.

Post: #4

Yes sir, but the industry is doing terrible right now. This was going to be THE year I travelled a shit ton, but it will be really dependent on how busy we can stay with the limited work available. January of last year I took home almost $11k that month, and this month id be lucky to touch just under half of that.

Post: #5

OP, can you make datasheet on how to break into this industry that way?