Originally Posted by
Daddy Fantastic
It is so funny you say that because it is exactly how I feel. I have just been hired by a major cargo carrier and will never ever go back to airlines. Im in my mid 40's but people kept asking why I hated flying. They could not understand that a pilot can love being a pilot but hate the airline industry, mainly because of how it is run and the absolute muppets that are in charge, their greed and basic dislike for pilots.
I have a young daughter who keeps saying 'Daddy I want to be a pilot like you' now as a father I will support her 110% and help wherever I can but I hope when she is older she does something non aviation related. I know its tough when you are a youngster and you get the flying bug, its like an addiction but my advice now is if you are thinking about studying now just after high school or even early 20's still, get something uselful like a Law/Business management degree, medical degree, IT Programmer etc.....
You can always work for a few years and become a pilot in your late 20s and early 30s and have a brilliant airline career but if the pooh hits the fan you will be well positioned to go back to what you know with experience in the bank. Its the advice I would give my own daughter if she were 18 now. Airline flying is not for everyone and it certainly is not the be all and end all of aviation. Most of it is mundane, frustrating and quite irksome.
Fly King Air's for the RFDS or Dash 8 for the coastguard, will be much more fun flying without the idiotic and useless airline management to deal with. You could probably do that while still being a doctor or lawyer.
True to some degree but, someone with an unrelated degree to flying (specialised) with no experience in the field will find it difficult to go back to that field if they lose their flying job.
I say be a doctor, lawyer etc and fly for fun on the side, or go all in day one being pilot for a career. You can always re-skill after the fact if the flying career doesn’t work out.
Aviation unfortunately is all about getting experience ahead of the guy next to you.