Originally Posted by
Sam Ting Wong
For what it's worth, I personally deeply regret my career choice.
If your son has any creative spirit in him, any ambition, any curiosity, I would not recommend it. I find the job boring, tiring, overrated by the public and underrated by management. Out of a 12 hr flight I enjoy maybe the last 5 minutes, and only on the rare occasion I am not completely knackered.
Forget all the romantic stereotypes, there is zero adventure in this job left. All fun aspects have gone, life as an airline pilot is a constant struggle of fatigue, base changes, bankrupt employers and cost saving. The pay is going downhill since decades, and this will only accelerate further with more automation.
Pilots are the Uber driver of tomorrow.
Sorry to hear that.
I agree the job can be tiring, and there are periods of boredom in longhaul flying - however I still love the job and my passion for aviation hasn’t dwindled in the almost 3 decades I’ve been at it.
I don’t work for a low cost carrier and think we’re pretty well compensated and have a good work life balance with our rosters.
As plenty have said - it’s not for everyone. You can definitely earn the same money in other fields. Passion and perseverance are the only real pre-requisites to a happy career in aviation.