I have been reading this tread with interest, there have been a lot of good points raised by people on both sides of the argument.
What I find is that the 'wannabes' as previously stated seem to be looking at the whole aviation industry through rose tinted glasses. This in itself is not a problem, what the problem seems to be is that when an experienced pilot makes a post on this forum pointing out the realities of life as a pilot he or she is cut down.
The main reply seems to be along the lines of 'I love flying and have always wanted to be a pilot so will not get bored and certainly won't winge!'. I must admit that when I was a wannabe I held this exact view, I thought 'hey if you don't like the job and want to winge then give up and let someone like me who loves flying do the job'.
What people have to realise is that most of us love flying and have always wanted to be pilots, if you didn't then the chances of putting up with all of the trials and tribulations along the way would be slim. The harsh reality is though that a love of flying and all things aviation will not stop you from becoming bored and disenchanted with the job, especially when you can see conditions becoming worse by the month.
Yes we are protected by 'flight time limitations', I can tell you though that when you fly to the limits of these limitations day in day out you soon start to wonder whether they do in fact prevent fatigue. I have done all sorts of work from office to labouring and have never been as knackered as I am at the end of a six day stint doing six sectors a day with twenty five minute turn arounds.
In the past this was compensated for by the 'bennefits and pay' that a pilot could expect, these to though have all but dissappeared, it is cheaper for me to book travel through a travel agent than to buy a ticket from 'staff travel'. If I want anything to drink besides water on board the aircraft I have to pay 'normal rates', no discount for staff, I can't run into the terminal to buy a can of coke becuase you get searched both ways which in itself is not a problem except when you have twenty five minutes to offload, reload, fuel, complete paperwork and get underway for the next sector. As for the pay, yes some senior jobs do certainly get paid well. This is not a comfort though when your average wage is used to maintain the tens of thousands of pounds of debt you will accrew on the way to your licence.
Having said all of this, the flying ultimately makes up for all of this, just please enter the industry with eyes open.
A.H
