Is airline flying really for you??

[daydreamer89]

Airline flying is not for me

(I wrote this rant "stream of consciousness" style. Sorry for being somewhat incoherent.)


Thank you for posting about your past experiences in the aviation industry EVERYONE, especially Mr. Skyhigh. I truly appreciate what you’re doing, and I’ll tell you how you and others on this board and on PPRUNE.org, who tell of the realities of this career path, of both good and bad, have helped me realize this isn’t for me.

I always thought this job was for me. That since it was my passion it would mean I would never get bored at work. Finishing high school, I was really close to cashing out the equivalent of 100k for an “Aviation College” in my home country. That’s about the time when I started reading on the forums of pprune.org. I started to find out about the realities of being an airline pilot, however I was positive and was very much still in “love”. All the negativities and people saying the hardships one has to go through only fueled my own determination. “Hah, they aren’t determined enough” I thought, “I won’t end up like them, I know what it takes and will make it no matter what. I’ve loved aircraft since I’ve been a little kid, heck I was on an airliner a week after I was born. If this isn’t for me, nothing is.”

Knowing the unstable nature of the industry I chose to go to uni and study aeronautical engineering. (This is where I’m at now). I have spent the last year and a half daydreaming about being on the flight deck running check lists and flying around the world in a boeing. I even laid out a grand plan where I figured out the costs of each of the ratings and how I would progress to my first airline job. I had the bug.

I was fully aware of the many hardships that go along with an airline career, yet i was 110% sure I wanted to go for it. It’s going to be worth it when I get to the RHS of a Boeing I thought. All this time I’m completely sure I would enjoy flying an airliner. The question is, how do I know if I really will enjoy flying an airliner when I haven’t done it? Havin been in a friend’s dad’s Cessna, I thought I confirmed that airline flying was definitely for me. No, the only thing I had confirmed was that flying in a Cessna was really awesome. As for the airline flying, I could only imagine the job in my head. It was good dreaming about it. The reality as I found out is so different, and I’m referring to the airline flying itself, not about the awful pay/benefits that comes with the some of the jobs.

I found out what it’s really like to work on the flight deck after watching cockpit videos. I was bored out of my mind watching them. Sure the view was great at times, but most of the work seemed so boring to me, and they do this many hours each day for several days at a time! After 1 hour I was bored to death. No wonder I’m reading about BA captains who can’t wait to retire and who say “airlines are not the be all end all”. I used to be baffled by this. And thinking about it, although I’m always excited to get to the airport and see planes, love air shows, enjoy the take-off part, but other than that I’m always kinda bored during a flight. It was the same boredom when watching these videos.

The interesting thing is that the first time I watched the video I was trying to deny that I was bored by it. It was exciting to watch the first 20 minutes, but then I was just forcing myself to watch. After watching several other videos, I’ve started to come to terms with the truth. I find airline flying boring.
The same thing happens when I play flight sim. I find flying the Cessna was fun and free, learning and “flying” the 737 was boring (all those damned procedures, fms and stuff, I WANNA FLY DAMMIT and be free).

It was almost painful to admit this, but now I have, especially when the other things about the job are included. But the fun and excitement factor of airline flying was the main thing that was keeping the fire burning in me, but now I know (for me at least) that airline flying is downright boring. The freedom and fun of flying exists in my opinion in GA, not in airline flying. Watch cockpit videos and see if that type of flying is “free” and exciting, do you see yourself doing that type of flying the rest of your life? For me, not worth the hardships, not worth the money that has to be spent on training, not worth a big chunk of my life. I can’t believe that the end result of all the sacrifice of wannabees is the kind of flying I’m seeing in those cockpit videos. Again, no wonder all pilots say the best flying they did was during training and before getting into that boeing/airbus.

Why am I ranting about this you say? I know that many others dreaming about being a pilot must think that the job, the flying itself, must be awesome, just like a hobby, never boring, even though the benefits and pay are bad and you get shift work. They will do it for the flying. Just make sure you know what that type of flying is like before getting into it. I too thought flying a 747 must be so interesting and keep me happy if I ever got to fly one. Nope, whenever I feel the airline flying bug, I just watch these cockpit videos and get turned off straight away. And to think I was ready to sacrifice so much for this…..

RANT OVER.

I think to really enjoy the job, you need to enjoy operating an airliner, try that in FLIGHTSIM (download those realism add-ons for 737 etc) and also see if you enjoy watching cockpit videos. If you truly love that kind of flying, go for it. Don’t base your decision on how you imagine how flying an airliner will be.

Thank you FLIGHTSIM, thank you COCKPIT VIDEOS and last but not least thank you PPRUNE.org and APC forums. You let me see what the job is really like. I don’t like it, I like general aviation, not airline flying (although photos are pretty and I’m still amazed at the machines, just not the flying part).

If you got annoyed by my post, which you prolly did, i'm sorry i didn't make it shorter and more to the point. It was a rant after all. One and a half years worth of it.

[daria-ox]

At least you have realised that its not for you, and you have made a good point here, real flying is when you're in a small aircraft.. Cessna or whatever. In Boeings/Airbuses most of the time the autopilot is on. Yeah. But that's still flying. I love it. I just love being in the air. :8 and working as a pilot for airlines its not only flying the B737 from one place and back. Maybe sometimes it gets boring, but look on the other side, you'll see so many places if you'll get to the longhaul flights, that has a minus as well, as if you have a family, you might not see them that much. You'll meet so many new people, people work there not only for flying, it's the atmosphere (not always good is well), it's new experiences, working in a team. There's so many good and bad points. I heard a heck lot of them, and I still think flying is for me. It's been my dreams for a long time, and even sitting in a cockpit doing whatever, not especially interesting work isn't going to get me to quit. I want to get some real flying experience before I move to airlines, I want to instruct, maybe do some bush flying. There's so many different types of flying, but then when I have enough experience, and I feel like I'm ready and mature enough, I'll start looking for a job in airlines, and hopefully, will fly light aircrafts, in my free time. It's all gonna work out somehow. :) You can still do your PPL, and fly in your free time? :)

[nick14]

Thanks for the post, it made interesting reading at work.

I accept your view, and this is meant with all respect, have you considered the fact that you might not understand what is happening during the flights which is why you are bored?

Yes there are procedures that all commercial a/c adhere to but they are there for safety and effeciencey, just like the rules of the road.

May I offer the reasons I love flying. I love the constant learning curve presented on a daily basis, the drive to know and experience more, the feeling of satisfaction of executing an efficient and smooth flight (from planning to getting back into your car to go home), the points to bring forward from every day.

I respect the fact that you have made a tough descision and are so open about it, its not for everyone by any means. I wish you luck in what ever you do.
N

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

Good post Daydreamer, very frank and honest assessment and it must take some courage to admit to yourself that you dont actually want to continue with a lifelong dream. I also have friends in the industry who love flying, loved being instructors, got to the airlines, and hate it, but the pay is too good to leave for some.

So it's not for everyone, however Id also balance the thread by saying that Im an "airline pilot", however fly a regional TP, short sectors, busy busy airspace, into one of the most challenging airports around. Boring? No. Too busy to be bored. Home most nights after not too hard a days work. It's right for me, not sure long haul would be though. So flying a big shiny jet across the Pond is not the only type of flying around. The enjoyment factor in my job is huge and not a moment to be bored.

Just another thought for anyone reading this anyway.

Cheers.

[Chesty Morgan]

I'm incredulous. You are actually basing a life changing decision on MS Flight Sim and watching a Cockpit video.:ugh:

Mate, I get bored watching those cockpit videos, which is why I've only ever watched one and that was about 15 years ago. Flight Sim? Don't even have it anymore. Cockpit videos are for spotters and can in no way convey what it is actually like to fly and operate an airliner.

What you don't see, amongst other things, is the mental challenges, the thought processes and the FEEL of doing it.

Fly into Chambery in a 146, thunderstorms, snow, ice, howling winds, severe turbulence and you'll be FLYING that poor old 146 more than you've ever flown anything before or since.

Bin the flight sim, bin those silly videos. Talk to people who actually do it ask them the questions you want answered, keep the dream alive.

[peterporker]

Yeah flying airliners is very boring. But the constant worry of getting laid off/made redundant/furloughed/fired/failing medical/failing recurrent training/airline going bust/bankrupt/downsizing/rightsizing and then having no source of income and losing everything makes it a pretty interesting career. Never a dull moment in aviation.:ok:

[pilotmike]

Don’t base your decision on how you imagine how flying an airliner will be.
... Just like daydreamer has after managing to sit through a WHOLE video!

Credit where credit is due though, at least he managed to figure that being an airline pilot is actually WORK. Yes, it means flying exactly where your employer PAYS you to fly, exactly at the time he requires you to, exactly to his SOPs.

Newsflash... shocking discovery halts daydreaming airline pilot in his tracks...
learning and “flying” the 737 was boring (all those damned procedures, fms and stuff, I WANNA FLY DAMMIT and be free).

Wot!!?? A you gained a whole CPL/IR and 737 type rating's worth of knowledge from an hour on MS flightsim and 40 minutes watching a video?!

And there we all were thinking that pilots are given multi-million pound jets as toys, simply to blast around the sky in, having a laugh, just exactly how and where and when we please.

Thank goodness you've brought us down to earth with a sobering reminder of those pesky irritations like procedures and FMS etc. that occasionally get in the way of some jolly good flying capers. What a shame that procedures have to get in the way of an otherwise wonderful day out blasting around the skies, carefree and close to orgasmic ecstasy in our jets...

It looks as though the video was a very cheap investment by way of self selection, that inevitable process which weeds out those for whom a career as an airline pilot wouldn't suit. It has saved you from wasting a lot of money and from a lifetime of boredom and heartache.

[nick14]

:D well said pilotmike

[Lost man standing]

Daydreamer

I have never been able to sit through more than 5 minutes of a cockpit video. Flight sim 2000 (acquired free, not updated) bores me into trying fairly random challenges, usually with totally unsuitable aircraft. I love my job!

[Rj111]

Personally i find the cockpit videos quite interesting. Thought they do tend to focus on the t/o and landing bits. So perhaps 3 hours of them cruising would be less interesting. :p

I think wanting to be a pilot is more than about wanting to fly aircraft. It requires responsibility and professionalism. You are serving and important service to many people and i think that must provide you with some job satisfaction.

No job is a laugh a minute, but you spend a ridiculous amont of you life working, so it's pretty important to choose (or try and choose) one that you might find more interesting.

[daydreamer89]

You are definitely right about me not being able to see much of the job by just watching a video and playing a game. Thank you for uncovering that this really is a flawed way of trying to figure out what airline flying really is like, which makes me really glad i posted.

The thing is though, i'm trying to find out if this really is for me. I've been lurking on this forum for over a year now, trying to suck in as much info about airline life as possible. I've also sent mails to pilots asking them questions about the job. Although i now know a lot of the hardships that come with this career, i still don't know if I really would enjoy an airline job. I am passionate about aviation, but I really don't know what flying an airliner really is like. Therefore i can't really say it's going to be worth it for the flying.

This is such a huge investment that i want to confirm it is going to be worth it, and that i won't end up being one of those that whines all day about the job. I certainly am trying to do a "self selection" as you call it. I want to make it as realistic as possible so that i'm not just guessing i will enjoy the job.

I hear "if it's your passion, go for it, it will be worth it". How do any one of us thousands of wannabees know that it's REALLY our passion when we haven't tried airline flying beforehand. That's why i simulated how it would be like in my head with information gathered from this forum and others, and from pilots whom i've interviewed (so to speak). Then i watch the cockpit videos, and then i try some of it in a game. All to make my simulation of the airline job more realistic, and see if that is really what i'd like to do. I totally see that even with all of this info, i won't know exactly how it's like to be to command an airliner. But i definitely am less rosey eyed about it, and feeling that the infatuation with a pilot career is eroding. It's just a job, nothing glamorous.

I know for certain, that if i hadn't done all of this "self selection" i would have cashed out money and gone for an airline career and probably done all i could to fly a jet.

I'm thinking there's more to life than airline flying. Compared to a year ago when i was 200% determined and sure that i was born to be an aviator.

[INNflight]

IMO a good post.

He thinks (NOT knows) airline flying is boring and not for him.

That's great, so what?

I don't think airline flying is boring, but I also KNOW I do not want to get into it. I want to instruct, or spray crops, and after that, get to fly a Citation or a Lear for an owner or a corporation.

It's all about preferences. To be honest the thought of flying four legs a day between London and Amsterdam does not appeal to me either, yet of course I do not discredit the work of people who do.

Still imo, good post. :D

[Capt HardlyWorthit]

Dont knock the bloke because he speaks his mind. Flying airlines is boring..to some. Most who have done it for a while retreat into the gear up, gear down, go home mode. After dragging mud low level at knots silly, there is not much that can follow. I remember my first military instructor, "there is nothing difficult to this flying game, after all we teach our officers to do it"! A Flt Lt ex master pilot.

[daydreamer89]

I thought I replied already, but obviously the system didn't register.

Pilotmike, i am very grateful that you posted.

I see that my method of trying to see what It's really like to fly an airliner isn't nearly an accurate one. Obviously one doens't get to be the commander of the aircraft, thus I won't know what it's like (for better and for worse). Thank you for correcting my flawed perspective on this, therefore, like the captain who responded to my thread @ apc said, i'm making a right decision for the wrong reasons.

The thing about it is, I'm trying to find out if this career path really is for me or not as accurately as possible. I've been lurking on this site and the american equivalent for more than a year and sent emails to pilots asking them various questions. All this plus my watching videos and playing a game i fed into my brain and tried to simulate what it's like to be a pilot and if I'd enjoy it and feel that it will be worth the incredible sacrifices that goes along with becoming a pilot. All this time, i thought the flying itself must be worth all the sacrifice and although i don't like admitting it, i was also in love with the glamour (which i know doesn't exist, but it's hard to keep it at bay in my head!). Watching the videos showed me what pilots really do every day. It killed my infatuation in about half an hour because there is no glamour, there is real life airline flying. Operating it safely from a to b. I tried imagining myself in the RHS in one of those videos, and it was just so far away from what i thought and dreamed about.

Sorry for posting in a way that is a little offensive to pilots, i would've put more thought to it, but i was finding it really frustrating that my "passion" was killed in such a short period that i had to let out some steam myself.

The reason i posted was also to reach other wannabees, and ask them to do their mightiest to make sure their decision is not just based on an infatuation with a job that really only exist in their minds. Not only go in with open eyes to the conditions of the industry, but also that the flying prolly will not give you a feeling of freedom, glamour and fun. It is as you say, a job. Again i realize that watching cockpit videos don't even tell half the story, but it did kill some of my unrealistic thoughts about flying an airliner.

As i've posted on the apc forums, i think one has to differentiate between blind infatuation and true passion. My motivation for wanting to become a pilot iisn't based on true passion.

Again i recognize it is a flawed way of "self selection" as you say, and I must find other ways of finding out if this really is what i want to earn through many years of hardship.

[daydreamer89]

Chesty Morgan

I know it does sound crazy. But keep in mind, i've been lurking here for a long time and have been sending emails to pilots asking them questions about their jobs.

The reason i went for flight sim and cockpit videos is because:

Many say it's the flying itself that keeps them doing it. I wanted to see how that flying is like (cockpit video) and get a feel for what it is like to operate an airliner (flight sim), then see if i would enjoy it. That was my intention. I do know, as i said in my previous post to PilotMIke (which hasn't shown up yet???), that it is a flawed way of doing it.

I want to be as sure as i can get that it is something i will enjoy for the rest of my life after all the hardships.

[corsair]

Interesting, but I think pilotmike hit the nail on the head. At the end of the day it's just WORK. I don't fly airlines yet but intend to in due course not because of the nice uniforms, the shiny jets but the salary and the greater stability it brings. My current job is just that, a job. It pays occasionally and in truth it can be fun. But mostly it's tiring. Some people envy me when they hear I flew 6 or 7 hours in a day. But I just feel tired, hungry and glad to go home becaue I miss my wife and kids.

I do love flying though and I was a dreamer like so many others. When reality hit home. I found I still liked it. What helped was that I have spent years in basically crap jobs. The kind that turn you into a drone.

Daydreamer may be right, he might find flying airliners boring. But what he doesn't appear to realise is that everything has the potential to be boring. Many a student has left college with a very false view of the world. The problem with work is that it's relentless. There are no long summer breaks. No freedom to just head off. However interesting any job is. You mostly have to turn up every day and do it. Three years later, you'll still be there, five years later, seven years later. If you don't enjoy it, it will be hell.

I will say that basing a decision like that on cockpit videos and flight sim is wrong. Use the same method and you will say that driving a Formula 1 car is just going around in circles. If you get bored in an aircraft, you stop paying attention and that can get very exciting, very quickly. I have flown the same profile on FS as I do in reality. Gawd, it's tedious. No comparsion. The real thing on the other is always satisfying when done right even if I do want to go home. Quite simply cockpit videos and flight sims do not capture the reality of actually flying an aircraft. Despite what people think or tell you.

But, I'm not knocking Daydreamer's decision. Better to realise now than a few years down the line. But beware, aeronautical engineering can be dull as anything else. I can claim experience on that one.

[daydreamer89]

Corsair, you along with the others, have corrected my flawed perspective. Thank you.

[redsnail]

Flying for an airline isn't the only flying available.



Thank goodness.
:ok:

[Wireless]

I'd echo Corsair's view. I fly for an airline. I want to buy a light tailwheel aircraft in which to have some adventures on my days off. I owned one 11 years ago and miss it. When I flew twins on maritime patrols, I'd have great fun but the lifestyle could suck a bit. Girls don't like you disappearing halfway through a date to make a callout :}. At that time, on the little days off I had, I didn't want to go near a light aircraft.

Even with it's weird rosters (compared to a conventional office working pattern) airline flying has given me a more predictable lifestyle than GA. I enjoy it. Yes it can be tedious on 2 hour Paris cruise sometimes and I do wonder if my hand flying skills are dropping a little but you soon realise how much you have improved over the PPL days when you bring the aircraft in handflown into a small regional airport on a dark and dirty night.

[General_Kirby]

Cockpit videos are boring, they are only good if you've never seen inside a flight deck before so you can sit there and say wow... The few jumpseat rides I've done, fantastic experience but yeah in the cruise very boring. I think watching any job on a video is obviously very very different to actually sitting there yourself, being responsible using your brain. Im an ATCO and our job can LOOK boring, but when your sitting there plugged in it is anything but. Deciding whether you want/dont want to do a job is very silly in my opinion.

[Leezyjet]

Daydreamer,

Why not go and try out a REAL flight sim and then see how you like it. It will of course be a lot more expensive than MS FS at home, but will be a damn sight cheaper than doing all the training then finding out you don't like it and will give you a more realistic insight than the ones you have been using.

I'd also suggest to other wannabe's to spend a few hundred quid on a sim session in a full motion sim to see if you really do enjoy it before wasting thousands training to do a job only later to find you don't like it.

I've been in the industry for quite a while now on the ground and have jumpseated alot in the days when it was allowed and still went and had a session in a sim just after my PPL to see if it was worth continuing, and for me I think it was.

:ok:

[EpsilonVaz]

haha, cockpit videos are boring as hell. Even sitting in the jumpseat I pick up a newspaper and start reading.

But holy ****, when I am in the right hand seat of an A320, there is NOTHING, NOTHING I would rather be doing. I love the job, I love (most) the people I work with, I love the lifestyle. Sure, maybe I will grow out of it and look for something else later, who knows, but for now, HELL YEAH!

You really need to judge it on something else other than MS Flight Sim and a couple of youtube videos.

[smo-kin-hole]

I spent two years on a scheduled run. I had all the plates memorized, all the frequencies, every day was the same, except for freezing rain days.
It really is soul-sapping to do this.

I work charter now in a jet. Staying awake all night is tough, but I like the work and the pay is liveable. The situation changes every day. I would suggest going for it anyway. You open the door to possibilities you would never have seen.

One final thot: It's work. It's not supposed to be fun all the time. But when I think of that cubicle hellhole I did temp-work in to pay for flying, there is no contest. I'll dig ditches before I do that again. Good luck.

[2close]

I came into commercial aviation to be a FI, which is what I do now, full time.

I have never been interested in airline flying as I also felt I would be bored.

But the other day I was asked to do a freebie favour for a couple of friends of the boss, to give them a lift in one of our Senecas and to take a new CPL/IR student along for the ride.

The timetable was tight as the destination airport closed in 1 hour and the boss turned up late to let me in to the office to get my gear and plan the flight, which meant 75% power at low level to avoid the higher, stronger headwinds and negotiation with ATC for a direct route rather than the prescribed VFR routes in this neck of the woods and subtle positioning for a straight in approach after a max range call to the destination airport so they would know we are coming in and keep the doors open that few minutes longer, should we be delayed beyond 'close o'clock'. In a nutshell, all thinking on my feet to get the job done. The student became a very occupied "FO", assisting with the 'workload' which she loved as it gave the flight a sense of purpose for her. We made it with 2 minutes to spare and on the return leg the student got to fly back for the experience. Results all around!

Okay, so this was not airline flying by any stretch of the imagination but it gave me (and her) a small taste of what corporate flying is all about and there is a lot more to Commercial Air Transport than big shiny jets full of p***ed up :}, whining :{, puking :yuk: Brits on their way home from Costa del Pistalot.

2close

[fadedfootpaths]

Hi,

To pursue any career, you need to have the passion, involvement and determination.

If you think MS Flight Simulator made you feel that this isnt the right career option for you, then I am sure once you play some good first person shooter like halo, you would want to be Master Chief. Good Luck with saving the Planet:ugh::ugh::ugh:

I have been doing this for 2 years now and Every single day, I step out of the Cockpit, I just wish that it would be tomorrow, so I can get back up there again.

Good Luck and I hope you find something much much more interesting to do but according to me or most of the PPruners here, I am sure Flying is the best thing we have ever done in our lives:ok:

FFP:E

[daria-ox]

Flying is the best thing that happened in my life anyway :ok:

I can't imagine life without it. Without training, staring in the sky for hours, just dreaming about getting there soon :)

[BelArgUSA]

Many different kind of airlines...
Quite a difference between commuter flights and long haul international.
With one you would do 15 or 20 landings weekly, with the other 3 or 4 monthly.
Cargo or passengers, you might hate one and love the other.
Would hate to fly a "9 to 5" - 5 days a week roster...
Send me out for 10-15 days, then I can have vacations when home for 10 days.
xxx
Funny is, when I was a teenager, I wanted to be a fighter pilot.
No airline flying interested me... I wanted to be at Mach 2 and 55,000 ft.
I left the military as soon as I could to go with an airline.
Initially, I liked short haul. Got quickly tired of that.
I flew long haul for most of my career. My favorite is cargo.
Did contract 6 month with Cargolux, and 3 month with MK... were the best flying ever.
What you like - and what I like is completely different.
I love Chopin, you like hip-hop and rap...
xxx
:ok:
Happy contrails

[Diaz]

How about the other way round, what if I find cockpit videos interesting, though mostly as window into what a real cockpit is, what if I do find some aspects of flight sim interesting, does that necessarily mean an Airline job is for me? I'm not sure either, but I'm probably going to go down the same route, uni, then see where I go from there, but if anything, the more I learn about Airline flying the more I love it. Sat in the cruise, yeah, not so much flying to do, but I can get endless fun pocking arround into systems, same thing every day, well, I'd say that flying anyhting is more varied than office work, and god forbid I ever end up in Tescos, that is something that I would call mind-numbing, at least with flying the view out the window changes. Even the few times I've visted a cockpit on the ground, I have loved it, and want nothing more than to return to a cockpit. Yeah, sure, I loved the flying in the trial flight I did, but I loved even more the three or four times I've visted a cockpit, even though the last few times the crew seemed knackered and unhappy (probably cos of me), I still loved just looking at the screens and systems, taking in something so different to a "normal life". No matter what anybody tells me, I know flying an Airliner may not be the wisest choice, may not pay the best, may not give the best life, but dammit, I want to be there, to do something different to an office job, where I rarely venture further than 50 miles from my home, never mind half way across the world. I may be being naive about this, but despite everything I see and hear, despite the negatives that people talk about, I can't help thinking that this really is where I want to go, it just annoys me so much when people who seem to have barely even a fraction of my passion get a leg-up into training by rich relatives, and I can't help thinking that these people are the ones who will be so negative in a few years, and although I can't tell if I will enjoy it, or hate it with a passion, there is no way I can go through life without trying, else I will be for ever haunted by "what if".


Sorry if I rambled on a bit, and if it didn't make any sense, but I felt like I had to comment.

[206Fan]

Only thing i like is:

1)Helicopters
2)Beer
3)Women

:E

[Wireless]

Okay, so this was not airline flying by any stretch of the imagination but it gave me (and her) a small taste of what corporate flying is all about and there is a lot more to Commercial Air Transport than big shiny jets full of p***ed up , whining , puking Brits on their way home from Costa del Pistalot.

Sorry I'm not picking on you yourself here. Just noticed. Lots of cliches appear on here time and again. Most of which are uttered by those not actually flying for an airline. The one favourite that always crops up is "big shiny jet". Most airline crew couldn't care less about that shiny jet crap but even if you're flying Britain's finest back from costa del whatever. It's still an aircraft. A commercial aircraft. The weather maybe crap. The limits tight. Cat 1 only, CAT II not avail. Check the Notams about that Glide being U/S?! Some command decisions required. Some fuel and weather thinking going on. Liasing with Ops and Cabin crew whilst in the hold. Ice is in the area. can't think too long.

I've flown for the Coastguard, Air taxi etc but airlines flying isn't easy boring crap that so often gets spouted by those who've never done it. Try it and tell me what you think after you've done it on a Winter's night. Whatever/ whoever you're carrying even if it's Britain's finest bears no relation in how easy it is to the job of bring the ship safely to Earth.

[2close]

I agree with you, Wireless, the point about 'big shiny jets... pukin' Brits...yada yada' was that this is the concept that some people do have about CAT, which you allude to yourself. Obviously, my attempt at humour fell short of the mark.............apologies to anyone taking offence - none was meant.

I have flown up front trans-atlantic and into LHR so I am aware that there is a lot more to flying CAT than simply turning up at LGW, picking up the papers and the keys to the A340, jumping in, checking you've got enough motion lotion to get to the sunshine, pressing a few buttons on the FMS, wishing the pax a happy holiday and repeating for the about turn (except informing the pax that it will be cold, cloudy and pi**ing down in the UK on arrival ;)). No, I do know that there is a hell of a lot more to it than that.

There are many facets to CAT, be it Charter, Schedule, Air Taxi, Cargo, etc., each with its own challenges and rewards and there should always be one to satisfy even the most determined of critics.

One thing in life is an absolute certainty, you never know until you try and sitting, frustrated, on the sidelines doesn't achieve anything.

Remember that reading these pages you are only gaining the opinions of a small sample of the aircrew population. To some it is a joy (me!), to others a privilege (me again!) but to some it is just a job with the routine that goes with any job at some point or other (I challenge even the most starry eyed of airline pilots to state with absolute conviction that every day has been an absolute joy with total job satisfaction - we are all human!).......and when you do read these pages remember it is usually the critics that are more vocal than the content.

So I would say to anyone who hasn't tried it, don't write it off until you have far more idea of what is actually involved (particularly on the basis of a small sample of opinions and a PC based flight sim).

TTFN

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This has been a very interesting thread. My take is that if you don't find ALL aspects of flying interesting then some parts of it will bore you.
Flying a light aircraft is challenging because you are operating single crew with no automatics or navigation systems to help with your situational awareness. You are more at the mercy of the elements (generally speaking) and any errors that occur will be down to you, with little influence from external factors.
Flying "air taxi" is challenging because, although some of the above factors have been mitigated, commercial demands and increased safety requirements bring more pressure to bear. On top of this you are completely responsible for all aspects of the operation when away from base and this can be demanding and very time consuming.
Flying short haul turboprops is challenging because you are now required to operate to a strict set of standard operating procedures in an aircraft type far more complex than before whilst operating into much busier airspace time and time again in the course of a working day. Being part of a two crew operation may also be a new challenge.
Flying medium haul jets is challenging because you are now operating a very sophisticated aircraft into equally sophisticated airspace and over much greater distances dealing with more extreme weather than ever before. Decision making and problem solving skills become finely honed and you discover that more often than not people present you with the trickiest dilemmas not aeroplanes!
Flying long haul is challenging because these same demands are placed upon you but in situations where tiredness is a real factor. Basic flying skills may be eroded due to lack of "hands on" but you still fight to maintain the standards you know you are capable of. Even in the cruise you are constantly monitoring something, be it aircraft systems, fuel, the airspace you are in, whose airspace you will be in next, terrain awareness and possible emergency scenarios, suitable airfields should you need to divert, the weather at those airfields, en route weather/turbulence, the well being of the crew, of the passengers - then repeat.
In each of these scenarios there is a certain aspect of flying that is either hugely reduced or negated which is why I say if you don't find all aspects interesting then at some stage you will be bored.
These comments are aimed at the original poster in an attempt to demonstrate that if you love it enough then flying will NEVER be boring regardless of what kind of flying you are doing. I hope they achieve their purpose.
I've waffled on for far too long - sorry :O