The only time I get bored is when approaching a busy airport like Doha, where you’re sometimes made to go miles downwind, and you’re dragging it in on a 20 mile final below the glide etc. which is tedious and takes all the skill / challenge out of flying an approach. But this isn’t the aircraft, it’s the traffic environment. And sometimes on a very long flight, but it usually means I’m going / been somewhere nice. Would I want to go back to the days of flying NDB letdowns in the Caribbean etc? No thanks. There are plenty of challenging approaches out there no matter how much automation you have, just with less chance of flying into the ground. Flying a big aircraft safely on a steep approach / short runway / high altitude (low density) airport / crosswind etc is professionally satisfying.
And because we more often than not fly way inside the envelope of the aircraft, with long approaches etc it’s easy to forget sometimes what a high performance machine you’re flying
and how fast you’re going. A full thrust takeoff or go-around in wind shear can be quite startling how much thrust and performance is suddenly in your hands.
Last edited by Propellerhead; 24th February 2026 at 15:12.