Harsh Realities of being an airline pilot

[sevenstrokeroll]

when you start your career, you aren't told about the bad part of being a pilot.

the uniform, the pay, the glamour, the travel, the jets, all are cool...BUT:

this thread is to awaken new or wanabee pilots to the reality of being a pilot:

1. you can lose your job at a moment's notice

2. management will tell you everything is OK and then lock up the airline the next day.

3. a wink and a nod at flying and breaking the rules...just this once

I hope you all will add to this.

[galaxy flyer]

4. It is a great job except for going out on all these trips.

5. After 45, the 6-month physicals start taking on new meaning each time.

6. No one in any other profession (craft?) has to take an exam, which can end their career, every year. Imagine lawyers under this regime.

7. Seniority, when you have it, is great, but horrible if you have to start over at 50.

8. The glamour wears off when sleeping in a crew room having commuting into the base at 3 am.

I'll stop here.

GF

[Mercenary Pilot]

9. Rich dreamers will offer to pay your employer to do your job.

10. You will work 10 hours without a proper break.

11. You have to deal with ridiculous security on a daily basis.

12. Colleges who accept the first "offer" management proposes.

13. Training being used as an area where cut backs can be made

14. Flying with pilots who continue to whine even after the gear has gone up ;)

[Artie Fufkin]

15. Flying for 12 hours with a captain who refused to stop, apologise for or even acknowledge his satanic farts. 12 bloody hours of retching. Not pleasant.

[Hyph]

Pah! You think that's going to put off any wannabees?

I know there are many people working in IT who are in the process of, or intending to, transition to a flying career.

I have helpfully compiled the following list to allow you to compare and contrast the worlds of flying and computing... :}

1 - You can lose your job at a moment's notice.

2 - Management will tell you everything is OK and then lock up the company the next day, disappearing with your pay, bonuses and stock options.

3 - Blatent bullying and deliberate obfuscation of working hours. "Brussels is trying to tell you what to do... how dare they! The rules aren't there for your protection, you know. They're trying to stop you from choosing how long you work. Don't let them bully you. Here, sign this mandatory opt-out form...". Working Time Directive? What Working Time Directive? :oh:

4 - It is a great job providing you like being indoors all the time. With no natural light. Or females. :ugh:

5 - Any mistake at any time can end your career.

6 - Any mistake at any time by any other person can end your career.

7 - Seniority means you won't be able to get another job.

8 - Glamour? What glamour? :* It is universally thought of as a boring job. Because it is.

9 - Dreamers (aka customers) will demand the impossible and will want it for free, then they'll get all upset when you tell them they can't have it and/or it will cost more than think is reasonable.

10 - You will work whatever hours you're told without any kind of break. See 5 and 6. :\

11 - You have to deal with ridiculous security on a daily basis.

12 - Colleagues who accept the first "offer" management proposes.

13 - Everything you knew yesterday has changed. And it will change again tomorrow. Your skills are always out of date. You have to provide your own training on a constant basis. :{

14 - Working with colleagues who either continually whine about how bad their job is, or insist on telling you about their final salary pension scheme (because they've been in the job since the dawn of time - see 7) or how they've paid off the mortgage on the back of some big deal that happened in 1980.

15 - You are comfortable in all-male environments. See 4.

16 - You are never off work. The company "owns" you and can therefore call you at home at any time of the day or night. :ouch:

17 - You are never off work even when the company isn't encroaching on your free time. Friends, family and casual acquaintances will plague you with all their PC problems, even though you haven't actually "worked" with PCs for over ten years. And they will never ever feel that they owe you any more than a simple "thanks very much" despite the fact that you've spent the best part of a day trying to clear out all the malware and junk that their Little Jonnie has infested the computer with.

18 - You won't ever get any kind of pay rise because "the company is having a bad year".

Need I go on? :ok:

This is why we all want to switch to the easy life of airline pilots.

[radical_100]

Well, a job in the IT industry is definitely more *secure* than an airline job. But then in the subcontinent at least, a pilot's job pays more than an IT job.

And in the rest of the world AND here, a pilot's job is much more fun....(as I see it)

[HOGJAC]

Haven't read anything yet that has put me off, probably wont read anything that will put me off.
Game Over.
Try Again.

[Wild_Blue]

How about the emotional aspect of the whole thing?

16. You have to listen to your child say "Daddy" for the first time but it's over the phone

17. You have to listen to your wife screaming with joy on the phone as your child takes those first few stumbling steps when you are at a off-base home.

So many reasons why NOT to be an airline pilot..... but then again... would any of us actually do anything different if we were given the chance to start over? :) I think NOT :ok:

[Sam-MAN]

I'd love to find a job anywhere in the world that doesn't have any drawbacks :ok:

Being a pilot is just the same as any other job, has its pros and cons... :=

[Funderblaster]

Get a grip !!! best job in the world, period !!
If you have that many moans about it there is an easy solution, you know where the door is & let the guys that would give their right arm to do the job we do have a go ! :ugh:

[speedrestriction]

No "Harsh" realities but plenty of normal hassles that occur in most jobs.

Ultimately, working for an airline means being part of a commercial enterprise whose sole goal is making money, and hopefully lots of it. Anyone (I doubt there are really that many) expecting to work for a jolly old flying club needs to wake up and smell the instant coffee.

sr

[XX621]

You guys are missing the point, with respect.

All jobs have similar risks and irritations. You're simply splitting hairs debating it in detail.

It boils down to where do you want to spend MOST of your life and doing WHAT.

In other words, what's your "calling" and which job will give you the most "colourful" life.

Some people argue that with a good, well paid, job you can do anything. True...with one small problem...you don't have any time in which to do it.

[assymetricdrift]

To continue with the emotional aspect:

18/ Having to accept that you will hardly ever be there for your family. For example, working on Christmas Day, when other fathers/mothers are at home with their families.

19/ Having to listen every night to the same old moans from your partner. These include "Oh it would be nice to have a dinner party in September, we'll have it round here! - Oh, what do you mean you haven't got your roster yet? Oh what do you mean that you might not even be at this airport then?", "I wish that we were more like other couples", "I wish our relationship has the same priority as your job" etc...

And then it comes down to the dreaded: "Oh, I'm going off for a meal with Jim - you remember Jim right? He's the guy that looks like a cross between a brick house and Brad Pitt. You know I always fancied Brad Pitt didn't you?".

[dubble_dubble]

:}

Pilots DEFINETLY need a strong/independant/educated wifey to be able to handle all the times away from home.

[chchflyboy]

yeah either an independant/faithful wife or just none at all.
then again you could do the whole 'different area codes' rule.:E
what you reckon? if you had the choice would you be single whilst being a pilot? is it worth missing those qualities of life?
xx621- I totally agree, if being a pilot isn't for you- then find something that is. follow your dreams, be what you want and who you want! (just keep in mind the pro's and con's)

[preduk]

Wow... 19 things wrong with the job... is that all??

I could give you at least 300 things wrong with an office job!

[Maude Charlee]

This thread simply serves to show that too many pilots come into the job without ever having had to do a 'real' job before learning to fly.

whinge, whinge, whinge

[SinBin]

Having done a 'real' job, 9-5 boredom, for the best part of a decade prior to being an airline pilot, I wouldn't change a thing now, best job in the world and I spend **** loads of time at home with my wife and son. Not many dads get to take and pick their kids up from school, and spend time with them during the day on work days.

I second the anti whingers sentiment. It's the people who whinge in the flight deck from report to off duty who haven't done anything else. If you don't like spending time away from home, then don't go long haul. Simple!!

[JohnPits]

Agree completely with Sinbin and Maude Charlee, I live in London and work in London need I say more.

[Mercenary Pilot]

I would never do anything else but that doesn't mean I'm going to just accept whatever gets put my way by somebody who has very little understanding of line flying or in-flight risk assessment (AKA the beancounters). In the case of the UK (and US) airline industry, it's certainly far from peachy for many pilots at the moment!

And to those who don't think this is a "real" job, I think you need to start taking your career a little more seriously! For most of us It's not just some flying club, we train hard, it's how we earn our living and we want be treated like the professionals we are and not some easily replaced button pusher.

But I guess this is all fairly irrelevant considering its in the wannabes section, the harshest reality of being an airline pilot is that many people simply just don't make it.

Regards

MP

P.S. Can't somebody start a positive thread on here for once? You lot are starting to get me down now!

;)

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

Like anything in life really isnt it. Ups and downs, but hopefully you have more ups than downs. I've done the office life, now in my fifth year airline flying, second airline. I wouldnt go back to an office for a big gold clock.

HOWEVER........there are times when all that entails with working for an airline starts to p you off. VERY long days at times, and it is far more tiring than a long day in the office. Plenty of dicking about by ops at times, plans have to be shelved at short notice which doesnt always go down well with Ms Shankly, and although it may sound petty, after a while you do sometimes wish for a more "regular" life. However, you then remember the days of previous jobs and yeah, I'm glad I do what I do. But to those who say oh stop moaning you lot, please be a bit mindful and respectful that some of us at the coalface are only trying to say the realities as we see them, and its not always rosy in the garden at 37000.

And some guys might have posted on here after a long 12 hour day, where nothing seems to go right, wx is gash and youre bloody knackered.
All you guys who will make it into this game, and you will with a bit of determination and nouse, you WILL at some time think the same as some of the experienced guys on here and have some of your own mutterings of discontent with your airline, I guarantee it!

Best job in the world? Mmm, I dont think so. A bloody good job which you enjoy, MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, then yeah I think thats fair to say. For me anyway.

[SinBin]

I suppose it also depends on which airline you work for! My company is pretty dam good with interesting routes, fairly good Ts and Cs, good pay and the option not to spend every night away from home, though I do have to negotiate LHR which is a horrendous place. 2 sector days are pretty common at the moment and sometimes get home before lunch!

Also what you have to think of is do I take work home with me? Never!! Am I stressed? No because I don't worry about work anymore

I take my job very seriously thanks MP but to me it's a vocational profession rather than a job for a job's sake. I don't view it as work but something I do and get great satisfaction from, to the extent I look forward to going to work and not having the Sunday night dread of the week ahead, which I had for nearly a decade.

Any ups and downs are the same in any job, plus 12 hour days at a most now not 16 or even 18 hours as in my last job with no legal cap on it!!

[Put1992]

Every job has it's bad points. How did you guys discover the bad points of becoming a pilot? Bet it wasn't pprune.You went and did it. Regret regretting :)

wannabes, you have a goal, try your best to get there. Can't say you haven't tried then!

Don't let an online forum defer you from what you want to do.

[tarmac-]

Either way, i've just left my cruddy 9-5 office job, dealing with complete fukwits all day. Im 21 and have been working offices for the last 4 years, currently earning 70k a year. When it comes down to it, at this point in my life, the money means nothing so i'm just going to go ahead n do what ever it takes to get into an airline, regardless if it means moving half way around the world for a few years to get the hours up .... just the sorta thing you old timers wanna hear :=

[Wild_Blue]

How about the emotional aspect of the whole thing?

16. You have to listen to your child say "Daddy" for the first time but it's over the phone

17. You have to listen to your wife screaming with joy on the phone as your child takes those first few stumbling steps when you are at a off-base home.

So many reasons why NOT to be an airline pilot..... but then again... would any of us actually do anything different if we were given the chance to start over? :) I think NOT :ok:


All of you guys just proved what I said in the last part of my earlier post :)
No matter how many hardships there are or miseries you may encounter, none of us would have done a thing different! ;)

Best of luck to all those aspiring to and working hard to get in here..... It's not all bad and definitely, there are, more pros than there are cons!

Work hard, do your best and in the end you will value that first airline job! Then one day when you all have also seen as many dawns and dusks as some of us have seen from up here, remember to help that young, eager junior guy out as well, for he was, once upon a time, you. Never forget your roots!:ok:

Wild Blue out!

[AvEnthusiast]

WB,

Bravo for this part:

"Then one day when you all have also seen as many dawns and dusks as some of us have seen from up here, remember to help that young, eager junior guy out as well, for he was, once upon a time, you. Never forget your roots!:ok:"

I think it's in blood and anything like this won't stop you. Despite the present situation (fuel prices hiting FTOs, and airlines, merger of airlines, overcrewed, surplus) I'm about to start my flight training and spend all my savings so far on it. Maybe some say it's sillines, but yes I'm crazy 4; because I can't think of these odds and ends as my desire grabs me toward it and doesn't let me think of it.

Anhanh! aside from being in blood and childhood desire I started active efforts to get into this career in my 16 or 17 and suffered alot finally at this age I have been able to do some saving and start my training, and I hope that fuel prices don't create any probelm for me this time, as I have limited budget.

[EK4457]

As if PPRUNE needs a thread for pilots to moan on!

Having said that, it's very interesting. I also have yet to read anything which has come close to changing my mind.

I left uni and went into a 'top' graduate job with one of the big 4 financial institutions. Absolutely horrendous. Much worse than my jobs in call centres and building sites. We were all told by high up that a position in middle management earning £60k per year was as good as life gets.

There is not one single point on this thread which I have never experienced to a much higher degree. I've worked in airline ops for 4 years and am under no illusion as to what is required of a pilot.

I used to work 18 hour days, take work home, spend 3 hours a day in rush hour traffic and have zero job satisfaction just to name a few. None apply to a pilot.

It seems to me that the main complaint is long haulers not spending enough time at home. :confused: Well, do short haul then!

EK

[tom775257]

Well I personally know two people who left Airbus 320 jobs to become unemployed - they couldn't stand working for my previous employer any more. We were treated like utter Sh*t most of the time. It got to a point I was dreading going to work due to being used by both the management and the pilots against each other (being a foreign pilot). Leave was not allowed so I worked 1 year 5 months with only 2 days leave taken. Mixed earlies and lates also, so one night I would fly overnight to Moscow, landing midday back at base, then the next day I would fly a 5:15 report 3 hours each way flight to Heathrow. It certainly was a harsh job, all my friends in various professions were amazed at the pathetic working life. Try working 7 days in a row long flights, mixed times, and then shoot a night NDB into Benghazi. Oh yeah got paid around £20,000 per annum.

The airline I work for now is excellent, good T+Cs, well managed, great people etc. The upshot is I look forward to work now. A day at work is a nice fun day out with friends with some flying thrown in (generally). Even the management pilots are ace - at my old airline I used to have to call them Sir or Captain. Never first name terms.

I used to instruct, that was 6 days a week, 11,000 per year, what a waste of time, didn't teach me much about flying, just ball ache really. Not even scheduled a lunch break. No flying because of bad wx? No worries, go sweep the hanger, clean the aircraft etc. Some mild satisfaction but generally just plain hard work.

So all in all flying jobs can be great, they can also be ****e. Get the good job, but at first you might have to do some poor ones. From my first airline I got what I needed, good experience having flown to most airports in Europe now, also multiple wet leases around the place. Finally I have what I want thankfully.

[EK4457]

tom775257, I'm sure the info you have given is illigal for a pilot to work.

Who were they?

EK

[lazysundays]

This thread's even better that Monty Python's 'Four Yorkshiremen'

[equinox_code]

you guys don't know how lucky you are.

i'm working my balls off doing telesales on a depressing industrial estate so i can pay off my debts so i can finish my degree in a subject i dislike just so i can get a job that gives me the faintest glimour of hope of eventually raising the cash needed to finance my aspirations of becoming a pilot.

yes, i'm aware of the pros and (numerous) cons of this industry. this thread could reach page 100 and my enthusiasm wouldn't be dented.

[spinnaker]

This thread's even better that Monty Python's 'Four Yorkshiremen'

....and we used to lick runway clean wit our tongues, before the first sector of the day, the chief pilot would thrash us, then kill us and dance on our grave singing hallelujah.

Tell the wannabies of today that, and they wont believe you.:E

[ReallyAnnoyed]

Whatever airline pilots write in this thread, it won't change any wannabe mind reading it, for they have already made up their minds. To them, it is still a dream job and despite highlighted negative points they are miniscule in wannabe eyes. You lot should have more respect for our hard work - I had to run a lot to win my badminton game today while I was on stand by :}

[excrab]

The "Harsh realities of being an airline pilot"

I was having a real "I've had enough of this day" before I went to work this afternoon. Can't be bothered driving to work, argueing with security, making my own sandwiches etc etc.

Then I did four sectors up and down the UK in a not especially new or clean medium jet, and on the last sector it being almost mid summer and still only dusk at 2230 local even a major suburban sprawl in the middle of the UK looked beautiful with the street lights just coming on and building high pressure making the clouds dissapear and the sky turn blue. I've been doing this for 27 years and the F/O I was with for 20 and we agreed it was a privilege to be able to look out of those flight deck windows as we were tonight.

It doesn't matter if you're in a boeing or an airbus or a jetstream or a shed, if you want harsh realities then spend your life hitting bits of metal on a production line or washing dishes or down a coal mine, retire at 65 and die two years later of some horrid industrial disease. No one said you had to spend a small fortune getting your licences, it was your choice - if your not happy s*d off and do something else and let someone fly the aeroplane who is going to enjoy it.

[Jumbo744]

EXCRAB :D:D :ok:

[Megaton]

To echo excrab's comments I spent all last week hand flying visual approaches into Scottish airports. The views were fantastic, the banter even better and the days were topped off with a run round Arthur' Seat and a beer with the cabin crew. And I was being paid for all this :-)

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

Best job in the world? Probably not me that's got it, but Bruce Dickinson, hmmm yeah I think he comes pretty close. International rock star and airline pilot. But I'll settle for half of that.

It is a great job, and I'm pretty sure most of us look fwd to going into work, which to me anyway, is worth its weight in gold. As long as you come in with your eyes wide open, theres no reason why it wouldnt be anything else but a fantastic career. I just think it's important for some wannabees to hear the day to day grumbles, as well as the positives, of life as we see it.
I know most guys will have a good idea of what its about, however youd be surprised at some of the newbees "notions" of what its "meant to be like" to how it actually is, seriously. And if this thread and others similar can point out a few home truths to those less in the know, then its a good thing.

I know, come hell or high water, most lads wil train and get there, and very good luck. I'll just point out a case of one new guy flying for a nightfreight airline, complaining he was sick of getting rostered nights all the time!

As I say, youd be surprised...................

Right, thats my two penneth, Strangeways Here We Come...........

[Wild_Blue]

I don't think that this thread was started with the intention of putting off 'wannabe' pilots. In that case I would not have posted at all....

From my point of view, it was just to give an insight into the realities of this job. It's not the easiest in the world to deal with and especially if you are a family man, it plays hell with that part of your life sometimes. Mrs. Wild_Blue has often proven me right on that point :}

I have said in both my posts, no matter how many "Harsh Realities' there are in this job just like in any other (maybe a little more so than others), none of us would have done a thing different if we were given a second chance, That's called passion. The single most important thing you must have when you decide to dive into this career is passion. If that passion you have runs out one day, you can bet your boots, you will grow tired of this job. You will complain and b***h and act like a total ass and be hated by all those in you airline.

So all I say to you youngsters is listen with your ears open. Always read the fine print in everything in life. Getting this job has not been easy at all for most of us. I don't even need to go there. For some of us this is just a second life. At an earlier life, like mine, passion for flying and especially for living is what kept all those missiles from blowing me to kingdom come :}

Go at it with all your heart and one day you will succeed and when you do, don't forget how you got here and where you came from......:ok:

Wild_Blue Out!

[wiggy]

Wild_Blue :ok:


I reckon it was a great job to go into and for those of us lucky enough to be near the top of the tree with a major I still don't think there is much to beat it...I certainly wouldn't swop my seat for one in an office...but do not underestimate the effect it has on family life - as someone else has posted earlier missing the kids first words/steps/nativity play does have effect after a while.

I said "was" a great job to go into; the World has changed over > 30 years and I don't see the newbies now having the same rewards in terms of a career path, money or lifestyle that I had. I'm certainly not going to encourage my kids to be pilots..but you can't tell the youth of today anything :}

[TheManFromThatPlace]

No wonder pilots have such a reputation for whinging. Some of you people sound like you've never done a real day's work in your life if you think flying is an especially hard job. No one holds a gun to your head to make you fly. If you don't like it, do us all a favour, stop moaning about it and get another job.