Desirable job
I'm an ex BA Manager who left a comfortable well paid job to pay for my own ATPL course because all my life I have wanted to be a pilot. The attractions are:
I Love flying aeroplanes
I love travelling and seeing new places
I love the fact that it's a job with defined parameters ie when the flight is finished you go home rather than taking problems home
I love the fact flying gives you a greater degree of flexibility over where you live because you work shift hours and don't have to live within commuting distance of a big city centre
I believe even now in many companies such as BA/Virgin/Channel Express etc pilots are respected
I love the fact that there is always something new to learn about flying whereas most office jobs don't really require much ongoing learning
It still has glamour due to the uniforms and the travel - I know I will feel desperately proud the day I first wear an airline uniform.
However, I worry that the likes of O'Leary are treating pilots so badly that this could spread to other operators and even diminish safety. I will have sunk over £100000 into this career change (with loss of earnings for 18 months plus training costs) and it's not a very good investment in purely financial terms - it will be some years before I am even financially back where I was.
Would I do it again - yes, but I do feel that it isn't quite the job it once was - ten years ago there was a possibility of long layovers in Mauritius etc earning £90000 a year, but now it's looking more like £30000 a year for shuttling to Europe 3 times a day which isn't quite the same!!
Desk-pilot