Originally Posted by
SSDK
Ehhh... Where do you actually get "glamour" these days? Banking? Medicine? Engineering? Tech? I think many of us are in a bit of a "bubble" when it comes to aviation. The decline in T&C's are present in most industries these days unfortunately. I for one do not envy my friends and family who has to deal with overtime, office politics and the dreaded (well for me anyway) 9-5 rutine! Before aviation I got to be part of all that and I will never ever go back if I can avoid it!
With that said, I can only recommend that everyone joins a union and stay active in it. I'm all for us fighting for better or preserved conditions. By the sound of it, a lot of people in this forum seem to be caught in really bad jobs out there...
I'm in Low cost (europe) with 15 years of flying experience and I still love my job. I'm well aware of the work/life balance issues that goes with it, but for me it's still very much worth my time and effort!
If you find yourself in a position where you have lost the love of the job or the industry, there is only one thing to do: ACT! You don't like the T&C's? You hate you colleagues? You hate nightstops? Do something! Get a new job or participate in the union work!
It will be a win/win for everyone! Your colleagues will be free of all the eternal moaning in the cruise and you just might find the spark that made you start in the first place! I know it's easier said than done, but what is the alternative?
I sometimes wonder if this mismatch between the "glamour" vs. "Reality" of being a pilot is due to social media, unrealistic propaganda by the flight schools or just an overall trend in our society. I mean, did anyone who did just 2 seconds of research really think that being a pilot contains any sort of "glamour"? It could be interesting to get a proper definition of that. It would certainly put things into perspective!
I know I might take a lot of Flak for being "too positive" but I really don't think it's as bad as people make it out to be...
There is no glamour in medicine, take it from me. Especially in hospital work; abusive patients and relatives, intransigent hospital managers, et al. GP work is boring unless you can get into private medicine. The NHS is badly broken so if any of you disgruntled airline pilots feel like a change of career, re-train as a doctor (if you're still in your twenties and have good A-level grades), or maybe an RGN or some ancillary medical job. I guarantee you'll want to be back flying commercially again pretty quickly. Several of my colleagues left GP work to train as commercial pilots and seem to be happier than at any time when they were practising medicine. I fly for pleasure and the day job is medicine: I know what I'd rather do but for me now it's too late. My dream of being an airline pilot is now lived out through my son who is an FO with a major carrier and who turned down a place at Uni to study medicine because he wanted to achieve his dream