We all know why we started it. You really do have to love flying or else you just wouldn't bother. Yeah, the view is nice and I enjoy the flying but as the aircraft get bigger the less flying I do. (ie autopilot etc). The most fun I had flying was tootling around in bugsmashers in the Australian bush. (Aka GAFA). WHy didn't I stay? A$20,000 isn't enough to survive and plan a life. YOu just have to get onto the bigger toys just to ensure you'll have enough cash to retire on.
Flying passengers these days is just how PPT described it. Locked doors, no contact with the people and not much contact with the FA's. Every thing is done at a rapid pace and there's little time when on the ground to stretch your legs, let alone have a look at where you are. You'd better get used to sitting in squishy cramped flight decks. When you go to work you are treated as a potential threat every time you sign on. ie scanned, bags x-rayed, security checks that go back even further these days.
Now, that assumes you're flying something reasonable.
What if the best you can do at the moment is fly a "tired" old freighter? You've paid for that priviledge and your income is pretty poor. Heating? What's that? It's 2am, -20 OAT and not much better inside. Hungry? Tough. Nothing's open and Ops just rang to tell you about the 2 extra sectors you're now going to do.
Sleep? Forget it. Need to go to the toilet? Good luck. Every thing's shut.
Want to move on? Well, a few employers look at your instructing/turboprop experience with suspicion. Oh, you've flown turboprops, can't fly jets then. Gee, that's a lot of instructing you've done, couldn't get a charter job? Now you have to start watching the age v experience curve too.
Ahh, brilliant, got the good job at last. Oh no, recession and your seniority number just isn't high enough. Off you go, good luck.
No worries, you think, I'll do something else to tide me over. As many in Ansett found out, just what skills can an airline pilot bring to another industry. You got it, none. Better have some savings (haha) or another skill.
How's the health? Better keep it good for 40+ years. Don't get cancer and don't have a heart attack. Have a bad day in the sim and fail a check. Better not fail the next one or else you're out. No pressure hey?
Most of the time you'll find that the crew you work with are great. It's management that will wear you down. Just about every one I speak to will agree with me on that one.
So, some of you don't like what the experienced folk are saying. Listen carefully and weigh it all up. These days, I just want my pay to turn up on time, allowances paid in a reasonable time and a stable roster.
I feel I am one of the lucky ones. I have had a varied and interesting career so far. I have flown in some of the most amazing places and seen stuff that next to no one will see. I would hate to have gone straight from flight school into a jet. I would have missed out on too much fun and learning. Am I rich? No. Spent the lot converting my Australian ATPL to a JAR one. Would I do it again? Possibly, but certainly I would do things in a different way.
Note, the flying schools will not tell you this.
Good luck, caveat emptor.