2 job offers - need advice

[Conflicted in Aviation]

Don't want to be identified on here -- using a throwaway.

Hi everyone,

I'm so conflicted and really don't know what to do.

I am pending an Academy class date, I am from the Jan 2020 bid.

I also just got hired to be a flight attendant with a major/legacy airline.

I never thought I would get both of these opportunities in just a few short months.

Both roles are so different and I'm not sure what would make me happier.

any thoughts?

 

[Usm4r1n3]

ATC for money.

Flight attendant if you want to fight meth heads on a plane.

 

[Spaceforce]

Hi everyone,

I'm so conflicted and really don't know what to do.

I am pending an Academy class date, I am from the Jan 2020 bid.

I also just got hired to be a flight attendant with a major/legacy airline.

I never thought I would get both of these opportunities in just a few short months.

Both roles are so different and I'm not sure what would make me happier.

any thoughts?

ATC is legit the best job I’ve ever had. There are times where your so far down the shitter that I enjoy pulling myself back out. Sitting there just working. ATC has better benefits, more money, and you get to be home every night (other than mids) Plus lots of breaks

Flight attendants- hard pass. If atc does not work out for you, I’m sure the airliners will still be hiring. Having to deal with people in person packed in a plane, getting punch in the face, overnight stays not at home. Free flights to anywhere.

IMO- ATC.

 

[AnyTrafficPleaseAdvise]

Both have their pros and cons and only you can ultimately make that decision by weighing them both out. As crudely stated above right now is a weird time to be a flight attendant because of the uptick in violence on airplanes. I’m sure it’s just a temporary rise but it’s hard to be certain. Our federal benefits such as insurance and retirement are difficult to beat, but the ability to fly standby anywhere in the world with a mainline legacy carrier is an incredible benefit. Both come with a lot of uncertainty. As a flight attendant you’re probably not going to be based at home and it’s likely you’ll have a crashpad at least temporarily. With ATC you don’t know where you’ll work until you’re done with the academy, but once you make it through OKC you will be home everyday after work. Flight attendants and ATC also have strange schedules. ATC has the rotating shift work and Flight attendants do have some flexibility, but their schedules are released a month at a time. With low seniority comes rough trips, short layovers in undesirable destinations, sitting standby at the airport, and sometimes even sitting on standby at home. That’s one huge advantage of ATC: when you leave the building you don’t have to answer a phone. There is no standby controller. One other con of the airline industry is air travel demand is subject to the business cycle. It seems like every ~10 years there’s an event that kills air travel demand (9/11, 2008 recession, COVID-19 etc), and when air travel demand dies furloughs follow for airlines. In the federal government it’s highly unlikely you’ll ever lose a paycheck even through all the uncertainty of the business cycle although Covid was a strange year for us as well.

 

[FightingIrish2012]

ATC for money.

Flight attendant if you want to fight meth heads on a plane.

ATC for money and flight attendant for fighting meth heads on a plane? You must be one of the #bestjobintheworld guys and a CNN paranoia subscriber guy.

The money might be a lot more comparable then you think if this person gets stuck in terminal and a level 5 or 6 facility for 10 years. The flight attendant job nets you free travel for life, but the schedule probably will suck the first 5 years.

I’m not saying ATC is not still the better overall package in most cases, but this question does not have a obvious answer and is a lot closer then 90% of people might think.

 

[32andBelow]

Atc is so much better than flight attendant.

 

[Peter Gibbons]

I'd say you gotta fit what works for your lifestyle. If I was still young and single I'd almost certainly take the job that offers more cheap/free travel (at least as long as it takes for me to get lifetime flight bennies).

Atc probably better on the benefits/pay/stability front, but it comes with its own challenges when it comes to training, job related stress and actual quality of life that comes with the uncertainty you will ever get to where you want to be location wise. My understanding is FAs can basically live anywhere and commute. Aside from that there's mandatory OT, the inability to get spot leave when you need it without burnng sick unless you bid it a year in advance, etc etc.

End of the day gotta make the decision that works best for you.... can you be fulfilled slinging drinks and showing people how to work a seat belt in exchange for decent pay and great travel opportunities or do you actually want to be challenged at work and have better pay (possibly, maybe, that depends) and a little more stability, but maybe box yourself in for years of living somewhere you don't want to with no way of changing that without changing careers?

This job isn't the end all be all, and it certainly comes with a lot of pitfalls you don't find anywhere else, even in the industry. If you decide to go the FA route there's plenty of other jobs in the big airlines to move into that'll offer the pay and most of the stability down the road if that's something you later decide you want or need.

 

[Conflicted in Aviation]

If you decide to go the FA route there's plenty of other jobs in the big airlines to move into that'll offer the pay and most of the stability down the road if that's something you later decide you want or need.

I haven't considered that part, so thank you for bringing that up.

I would like to become a mother one day, and I'm not too sure how I'd feel leaving my children for 14 days of the month every single month. Although I would LOVE to travel standby with my kids while the future hubby works at home, so the standby benefits are hard to pass.

And I do know FAs who transitioned to a more corporate/desk role within the company in order to become full-time parents.

I think you just made my decision harder lol.

 

[Peter Gibbons]

I haven't considered that part, so thank you for bringing that up.

I would like to become a mother one day, and I'm not too sure how I'd feel leaving my children for 14 days of the month every single month. Although I would LOVE to travel standby with my kids while the future hubby works.

And I do know FAs who transitioned to a more corporate role within the company in order to become full-time parents.

I think you just made my decision harder lol.

Speaking from experience being a parent in ATC isn't much easier. I see my wife like two ships passing in the night 3 or 4 days a week between both of us working, I'm working Thanksgiving, Christmas, and new years this year, and I miss out on a ton of stuff working evenings and weekends.

Yes I'm "home" every night, but it doesn't make my wife's job any easier when that's at 9 or 11 on my night shifts.

We've been fortunate enough to work out the scheduling so we don't need daycare and I do actually get to see my kid every day, but I know it's tough on my wife sometimes.

So it's not all rainbows and unicorns on this end either when it comes to family life.

 

[BillORapey]

ATC for money and flight attendant for fighting meth heads on a plane? You must be one of the #bestjobintheworld guys and a CNN paranoia subscriber guy.

The money might be a lot more comparable then you think if this person gets stuck in terminal and a level 5 or 6 facility for 10 years. The flight attendant job nets you free travel for life, but the schedule probably will suck the first 5 years.

I’m not saying ATC is not still the better overall package in most cases, but this question does not have a obvious answer and is a lot closer then 90% of people might think.

Of course some asshole goes straight to politics.
This is a no brainer because FA is a shit job that pays less. You don’t have to be delusional and ignore all the downsides to Air Traffic. It’s still better. And has a pension.
But yeah don’t go to terminal but if you have to and it’s not where you want to stay then go to a tower with no radar.

 

[DankVectorz]

FA could be a cool job when young and single, but seems like it would be a terrible career.

 

[Robert_Boucher]

I was at DAL before this and the flight benefits was definitely a major perk that I miss. I would approach it with this train of thought as well. If you want the money pursue ATC, but if you want the travel lifestyle go with being an FA. Like someone else said you don't have to be an FA forever if you want just use it to get a foot in the door.

I do love this job but man it would be nice to be able to random 3 day trips whenever.

 

[kombucha23]

You can always re-apply for FA, I’d imagine. Not many opportunities to go to the academy to become an ATC. I’d say go for the academy and see if you can postpone an offer from the airline until you see what happens with ATC.

 

[Conflicted in Aviation]

I was at DAL before this and the flight benefits was definitely a major perk that I miss. I would approach it with this train of thought as well. If you want the money pursue ATC, but if you want the travel lifestyle go with being an FA. Like someone else said you don't have to be an FA forever if you want just use it to get a foot in the door.

I do love this job but man it would be nice to be able to random 3 day trips whenever.

how long were you with DAL? What made you make the change?

You can always re-apply for FA, I’d imagine. Not many opportunities to go to the academy to become an ATC. I’d say go for the academy and see if you can postpone an offer from the airline until you see what happens with ATC.

I think I will reach out to the airline and see if they can hold an offer for me if I don't pass the academy.

Should I mention to Recruiting that the offer is for ATC or would that not impact it?

 

[Motodog]

Pass travel is less of a benefit than it used to be with the airlines. As you know, most flights are very full the last 10-15 years, usually you’re better off buying a ticket else you hose up your whole trip getting bumped. And for me you’re comparing a job opening Cokes w little to no pension, to a career job, a profession.

 

[James]

I have done both jobs. Hands down atc is the way to go if for no other reason the retirement. The airlines will always be there. Trying to have a family, buy a house, and save for retirement on a flight attendant salary alone is extremely hard and most depend on their spouse’s income to make those things a reality or do something on the side like real estate. Go be a flight attendant when you retire and raise your future kids.

 

[tskiman]

I was at DAL before this and the flight benefits was definitely a major perk that I miss. I would approach it with this train of thought as well. If you want the money pursue ATC, but if you want the travel lifestyle go with being an FA. Like someone else said you don't have to be an FA forever if you want just use it to get a foot in the door.

I do love this job but man it would be nice to be able to random 3 day trips whenever.

You can take random 3 day trips whenever you want. That’s what sick leave is for and you can actually afford to do kick ass things on that random 3 day trip of you pursue ATC

 

[Robert_Boucher]

how long were you with DAL? What made you make the change?


I think I will reach out to the airline and see if they can hold an offer for me if I don't pass the academy.

Should I mention to Recruiting that the offer is for ATC or would that not impact it?

Almost 8 years. I left because of the lack of job security I don't think that it is bad within the FAs or pilot but the merit based jobs were getting axed every other year.

You can take random 3 day trips whenever you want. That’s what sick leave is for and you can actually afford to do kick ass things on that random 3 day trip of you pursue ATC

Yeah I can do that now but for a family of four I'm paying an arm and a leg for a trip out to the west coast. Working at DAL it only cost $50 a year. Sure you have to deal wit the getting bumped occasionally but with time you figure out how to nonrev with ease. With the money you save on flight you can still do pretty bomb things as well. Don't get me wrong I prefer the money over the flights but I'm just saying the flights can be a big deal for some people that don't want the money.

 

[julietoscar]

You're asking a forum of air traffic controllers if you should be an ATC or FA. Naturally everyone here is going to be pro-ATC. I'll give some downsides of ATC that no one likes to talk about and pros for FA/airline career.

ATC might be great money and benefits, if you're lucky enough to get en route or go to a tower you can easily transfer out of. There's a very real possibility of being stuck in bumfuck low-level tower for most of your career. You'll work nights and weekends for the majority of your career no matter what. Guys have worked for the agency for 20 years and can't get weekends off. Your family/social life will suffer, it's a fact and you can't do anything about it (although this won't be much different as an FA). It's not always easy to swap to the shifts you need. Generally work environments are toxic. "Banter" is all good and fun but in an agency with zero accountability, discrimination is rampant with persistent homophobia, racism, etc. Management pretends not to hear these comments so they don't have to do anything about it.

Being an FA, you'll make a lot less money but you can live anywhere you want. Flight benefits are severely underrated. Travel anywhere in the world, take day trips anywhere on your days off. When I was at the airlines we routinely took day trips to bermuda, Florida, weekend trips to Europe. First class across the country for $30. You'll never be able to have that experience as ATC. Yeah maybe if you get a level 12 in a cheap area of living you can afford to take cool trips, but only a couple times a year when you get leave approved. No such thing as spontaneous trips like that.

 

[Peter Gibbons]

You're asking a forum of air traffic controllers if you should be an ATC or FA. Naturally everyone here is going to be pro-ATC. I'll give some downsides of ATC that no one likes to talk about and pros for FA/airline career.

ATC might be great money and benefits, if you're lucky enough to get en route or go to a tower you can easily transfer out of. There's a very real possibility of being stuck in bumfuck low-level tower for most of your career. You'll work nights and weekends for the majority of your career no matter what. Guys have worked for the agency for 20 years and can't get weekends off. Your family/social life will suffer, it's a fact and you can't do anything about it (although this won't be much different as an FA). It's not always easy to swap to the shifts you need. Generally work environments are toxic. "Banter" is all good and fun but in an agency with zero accountability, discrimination is rampant with persistent homophobia, racism, etc. Management pretends not to hear these comments so they don't have to do anything about it.

Being an FA, you'll make a lot less money but you can live anywhere you want. Flight benefits are severely underrated. Travel anywhere in the world, take day trips anywhere on your days off. When I was at the airlines we routinely took day trips to bermuda, Florida, weekend trips to Europe. First class across the country for $30. You'll never be able to have that experience as ATC. Yeah maybe if you get a level 12 in a cheap area of living you can afford to take cool trips, but only a couple times a year when you get leave approved. No such thing as spontaneous trips like that.

All pretty accurate. Not that atc is a bad career, but there's way way too many people who think this is a dream job. It's really not.