-No, the enthusiasm is still here, though there is the odd
day that you get in any line of work. Speaking for myself, I`m fortunate not to have very many of those days each year
.
-Aviation vs good advice is a diffucult and sometimes touchy matter. You can ask 100 professioal pilots this questions and probably get 1000 (not 100
) different pieces of advice - all depending on where they have been and where they are now in their career. My personal advice would be to go for it! ...provided... that this is what you really really really want to do with your life, and you know you can keep your goals in sight through many many setbacks and disappointments while jobhunting. Lots of
companies and lots of backstabbers who claim to be colleagues
, but on the otherhand there are still some very good companies around and some good colleagues who will try to help you out with good advice and point you in the right direction
. Take care of them
.
-The industry is about what I expected it to be. It`s far from the glamour you could expect if you`ve only been referred to the 1960s and 1970s T&Cs. For some people their goal is a fasttrack to a mid-range jet airliner, while others take the more scenic route. Whatever floats your boat really, as long as you don`t pay your way past everyone else. This keeps bringing everyones T&Cs down and it is destroying what used to be a very glamourous lifestyle.
-I am very happy with my career. Have taken the more scenic route and never paid for å job. Have flown as instructor (very demanding and rewarding, and should almost be mandatory), flown for a smaller company on cargoruns (very good hands on and real world ops experience, should also be mandatory), and I am now with a company where I am planning to eventually reitire (am now a mere 32). One of the reasons I chose to apply to this comapny is that it is not just your average push-button-fully-automated type of flying. The flying requires some old fashioned stick and rudder skills as well as a thorough knowledge of local conditions. T&Cs are competitive to major airlines when you sum it all up, and the company has a very nice attitude at all levels. If I had the chance of getting a greencard while I was doing the FAA tickets I would most likely have stayed there, mostly due to the insane way the conversion was done at the time. Talk about hardships
. But again, persistance pays off
.
BTW, there are several threads around the forum regarding these matters and you can probably get some input there as well.
All the best and happy landings