Originally Posted by
Uplinker
I would urge you to re-read post #12, and also post #6.
Don Coyote sums it up very well - aviation does have a glamorous image, and yes, piloting a modern jetliner can be exciting and thrilling - but also tedious and knackering - and the downsides are becoming greater and greater. Particularly rostering and the work-life balance, but also restrictions such as taking minimum fuel or MEL defects etc. The locked cockpit door has removed a lot of the fun of the job too.
And it sounds great to fly to, say, New York or San Francisco, but these days you might very well only have 18-24 hours there, so not long enough to do any meaningful sight seeing, and barely worth taking your family, (who probably won't be allowed to travel in the crew transport). I usually managed a 5-10km jog around Central Park or the city, but there isn't really enough time to hire a car and go somewhere. Shopping? well the pound is approaching parity with the dollar, so that has limited appeal now. You cannot drink much, (or anything), of course, and will probably need to (try to) sleep in the afternoon in the hotel before your flight home; while the cleaners are working and vacuuming outside your room, or the hotel-door slamming display team are staying on your corridor.
Or short-haul; doing 4 sectors a day with 40 minute turnarounds.
This sums up my feelings on long haul - I love travelling, but I love to travel with my family and have enough time to have a good explore out of the cities; I am blessed with a wife who enjoys wandering in new countries and exploring. Part time short haul is a lot more manageable but comes with a commensurate reduction in wages and of course there is no guarantee you will get it, and the reason it has to be part time in the end is that it is absolutely punishing and a very intense lifestyle at work.
The chap who first taught me aerobatics was a career Instructor and aerobatic pilot, and I can still remember him saying “When you first got a driving licence I strongly suspect the last thing you wanted to go out and drive was the largest bus you could find in order to go up and down motorways for hours at a time.” This was a guy with time on Harvards, chipmunks, an L39, almost any light twin you care to name… and that’s where the real flying pleasure is (or perhaps the grass is greener?).
There are “flying” parts of the job I love, absolutely, but for me the real pleasure at work comes around working with my colleagues and, surprisingly, making the difference for customers - even if that is just taking the time for a chat whilst waiting for assistance to arrive for someone who needs a wheelchair, or being able to sort someone’s connection, or even just delivering the news that we no longer have a 90 minute slot 😂.