Having watched flight line many times over the past two years, I have to say that I started off with the same opinion as the people at the beginning of this thread, but I think that most of it is a character he plays on the TV. He is obviously a very experienced pilot, and has been able to have an awful lot of aviation experiences over the years that most of us can only dream of.
I saw one episode this morning of him having a flight in a Mig 29, don't suppose I'll ever get the chance to break the sound barrier in one of those!
It's his whole character on flight line that keeps us all going back to watch it, if people hated him so much then they wouldn't keep watching!!
If he's now flying 747's as well, then well done Brendan.