Hey armchair captains, is this Really our Dream Job ?

[jcomm 5,930]

I once had this Dream of becoming na airline pilot, and at my age, I still look back and feel that something was missing in my life, but the truth behind being a comercial pilot is not at all that "Pink" these days...

 

https://www.pprune.org/tech-log/606448-how-unhealthy-flying-being-commercial-pilot.html

[mikealpha 266]

Same here regarding age and airline pilot dream. The Airline pilots I know personally, their schedule, their family life, makes me scratch my head from time to time.

Well, occasionally go flying with some small iron, and building a A320 homecockpit is not too bad either :)

[tamsini 278]

Interesting topic. The erratic schedules must be extremely hard on the mind and body.

Also nice to see that in the two pages of responses, not one of them was from someone bashing another's opinion or post. Another big difference between our hobby and real-world, huh?

[zmak 331]

If you google colgan air flight 3407 

its clear the experience in turbo props being the step up to jets is a natural progression except they are so poorly paid that they sleep in the airport to avoid paying for motels which contributed to the crash. You cant do that with a family so its a tough life unless... you make it to the jets and even then there is no glamour or big paychecks unless you land a gig as a captain with Qantas or BA etc

Edited March 18, 2018 by zmak

[busdriver 258]

It's certainly not a bed of roses, and for years I missed everything from holidays to birthdays, to back to school nights.My wife is also a pilot (Airbus) and that actually has helped tremendously, with adjusting schedules, etc. Thankfully, my kids have adapted well to the crazy schedule, and the ups and downs of airline life. I'm also fortunate, that at this point in my career, I'm finally on the right side of the seniority curve.

[carlito777 712]

Airline pilot would be too boring over time for me personally. But I can fully understand that for others it is a dreamjob. 

[Nuno Pinto 1,397]

Yeah same here. It would be fun in the first year or so, then the novelty vanishes and it becomes a pain in the back unless you *really* enjoy it.

[ahsmatt7 1,199]

6 hours ago, zmak said:

If you google colgan air flight 3407 

its clear the experience in turbo props being the step up to jets is a natural progression except they are so poorly paid that they sleep in the airport to avoid paying for motels which contributed to the crash. You cant do that with a family so its a tough life unless... you make it to the jets and even then there is no glamour or big paychecks unless you land a gig as a captain with Qantas or BA etc

Those times are past us. At least in the states. One can make a decent living...If they are single or married without any kids.

Obviously, financial debt and responsibility are always variables.

 

For me personally, it's always been a child dream of mine. I finally got the opportunity to do it and I wouldn't look back.

The schedule at times is terrible and I wonder how long I'll live lol. However, we have to hold ourselves accountable when it comes to physical and mental health.

Now as a captain, I don't stay up late during overnights, go out with crews all the time or eat terribly. I make it point to be as well rested as possible and nourished because I have the hardest job on the airplane. 

It's also about perspective  and sacrifice.

My wife has Wednesday and Thursdays off each week. If I can't big a line with those days off, I voluntarily put myself on reserve so I can assured of said days off. She's appreciates it and I always get to see her she  I am home. It sucks having to be on reserve sometimes but that's where perspective comes in. I can be angry about it, or I can feel blessed thst I always get to be home with my wife. Besides, she's ATC and she understands my schedule because hers is just as rigorous. 

Long story short, I wouldn't trade it for the world....but it sure does grind my gears at times.

[bjratchf 80]

It definitely is a "lifestyle." It requires a little more effort to eat healthy and take care of yourself, and you must put forth that effort on days off to recoup- especially after long overwater crossings. 

I find that the europe flying is a double edged sword- love the overnight locations, but then the return to the USA on "day 3" involves a morning shuttle of around 7am-10am, just when the body still feels "middle of the night." 

Luckily there is choice and variety in aviation- so one can always bid other things. No one HAS to be an international widebody pilot- you can stay on the domestic jets and just gain seniority ther. My time on the narrow bodies saw guys flying it for their entire career- the lifestyle of the flying fit into theirs. 

 

[OzWhitey 3,353]

9 hours ago, bjratchf said:

It definitely is a "lifestyle." It requires a little more effort to eat healthy and take care of yourself, and you must put forth that effort on days off to recoup- especially after long overwater crossings. 

I find that the europe flying is a double edged sword- love the overnight locations, but then the return to the USA on "day 3" involves a morning shuttle of around 7am-10am, just when the body still feels "middle of the night." 

Luckily there is choice and variety in aviation- so one can always bid other things. No one HAS to be an international widebody pilot- you can stay on the domestic jets and just gain seniority ther. My time on the narrow bodies saw guys flying it for their entire career- the lifestyle of the flying fit into theirs. 

 

Like a lot of others, I end up having to work stupid shift hours too...but at least YOU get to fly planes while you're doing it!  :)

I do still wonder about becoming an ATP, but I suspect that as you get a little older, the early years of the career path would become even less enjoyable/viable.

[Patco Lch 1,465]

One of the things I have learned journeying through the years is few if anything this world offers turns out to be what you hope or think it will be and some times that can be for the best. I wanted to be hired by the FAA for an Air Traffic Control career more then I wanted to breath. This lead to five years of strife between management and staff along with working with a tower full of primadonnas who seem to think center of the universe ran right through their little heads. Near fist fights over procedural disagreement. Going to work with at times a sense of foreboding. For this I took my poor pregnant wife half way across the country.All this ended in the strike of 1981. Now I satisfy my aviation bug through the benign hobby of flight simming and am quite happy to do so.

Maybe it's good to have that little corner of your mind reserved for fanciful dreams that never seem to flesh out. Could only spoil them if they do.

[jon b 2,047]

On 18/03/2018 at 6:56 PM, ahsmatt7 said:

 

However, we have to hold ourselves accountable when it comes to physical and mental health.

Now as a captain, I don't stay up late during overnights, go out with crews all the time or eat terribly. I make it point to be as well rested as possible and nourished because I have the hardest job on the airplane. 

 

This is interesting, I’m with you., This  is becoming more and more widespread now, compared to how it used to be in years gone by, up late drinking and chasing the cabin crew All night.

The importance of good sleep cannot be overstated. 

‘With the arrival of iPads ,the internet and Netflix, it doesn’t  matter that you are awake at 4am local in some foreign country any more.

i don’t drink on a one nighter, off early to bed staying on my home time zone as best as I can ( I’m always travelling west across the Atlantic) Then an early night at about 8pm and 12 hours sleep when I return home resets the nights sleep lost on the return night flight.

I’ve done 21 years long haul so far and another 19 ahead of me so the only way to survive that is to live sensibly.

But apart from that, don’t kid yourself , being given a large sack of coins every month to fly big jets really is the best job in the world😉...honest.

Edited March 21, 2018 by jon b

[SKEWR 364]

I dreamed of being a pilot for NA since I was 10. Despite what I tried, that dream didn't come to reality. 

 

I've had my shift changed 6 times in 7 years from AM to PM back and forth (in a "people" company mind you). If I'm going to have my life disrupted, it sure would have been nice to fly planes. I understand that there are some pilots that aren't pleased with the life, but could you imagine a non-pilot job where there is no escape from neanderthal thinking, office politics and repetition of nonsensical tasks/audits?

 

For me, regardless of how my current work life is, I'd change in a second to be a airline pilot. Maybe next life time... :(

[ahsmatt7 1,199]

2 hours ago, jon b said:

This is interesting, I’m with you., This  is becoming more and more widespread now, compared to how it used to be in years gone by, up late drinking and chasing the cabin crew All night.

The importance of good sleep cannot be overstated. 

‘With the arrival of iPads ,the internet and Netflix, it doesn’t  matter that you are awake at 4am local in some foreign country any more.

i don’t drink on a one nighter, off early to bed staying on my home time zone as best as I can ( I’m always travelling west across the Atlantic) Then an early night at about 8pm and 12 hours sleep when I return home resets the nights sleep lost on the return night flight.

I’ve done 21 years long haul so far and another 19 ahead of me so the only way to survive that is to live sensibly.

But apart from that, don’t kid yourself , being given a large sack of coins every month to fly big jets really is the best job in the world😉...honest.

I don't know how you guys can do long haul. I'm not quite there in my career yet but man...how do you keep busy Lol?

Especially with someone who considers themselves to be "introverted."

[Chris Crawford 49]

I enjoy it more than I don't. It gets very stressful at times... especially when you get an ACARS message that says "contact crew scheduling upon arrival".