Originally Posted by
Bonegi1
Interesting thread. I spent 20 years flying jet transport aircraft as a Skipper for several airlines.
Great job, the money was good but eventually got well and truly sick of the 03:00 sign-ons, back-of-the-clock flying, living in hotels, traffic on the way to the airport,
sim checks and being away from home.
Now work for a professional small operation with an airline mindset regarding safety and SOPs, no shift work, no sim, at home 98% of the time, no traffic, no egos.
I suspect I will live at least 5-10 years longer and still have wife number 1 !
One thing I was careful to do was invest my income with some thought so when the shiny jet syndrome wore off I had a choice to do something else.
I still fly small aircraft every now and then which is actually more fun that sitting in a jet at 40,000 ft with the autopilot engaged.
Having said that, was glad I had the opportunity to be an airline skipper but not interested in going back to it.
spot on, been there done that! When I started to dread going to work that was a sign!
Flying at the top end was at the end if the day just a job that allowed me to enjoy myself outside of the industry -)