Baldie Man,
Like you, I have had to wait a bit before writing this in order to calm down a bit. Palgia is simply an example of everything that is wrong or can go wrong with this industry. He seems to think that you should do whatever it takes to get the job but apparently he doesn’t have any pride or dignity. Working for free is no better than prostitution and you should be treated like one if you do this. And paying to fly, well that’s for hobbyists not professionals. This stuff goes on in the US but fortunately it is fairly rare elsewhere.
When I was a new pilot, very naïve, with low hours and had just completed my instrument rating I was phoned up by the air taxi company I had just done my IR with. They needed a second pilot to come along for a flight the next day, would I do it. Sure I said, no problem, and money didn’t even come into my mind at the time except that for the first time ever I wouldn’t be paying hundreds an hour to fly a multi-engined aircraft. I did the flight the next day and as a sort of aside I mentioned the topic of money. Minimum wage I was told, but that I should be grateful because as far as he was concerned I was getting paid minimum wage PLUS a couple of hundred an hour which is what I would have paid for these hours if I was renting the aircraft to build hours. OK so for the eight hours I got that day I could consider myself 1600 better off plus a bit extra for minimum wage. I didn’t like the logic but at the time I was just happy to have helped out, gotten a bit of experience and some multi engine hours. But the next week when I went to collect my “paycheque” the owner was certainly surprised that I even wanted the money. He had obviously been banking that I wouldn’t bother and would work for free. OK minimum wage is almost nothing but I certainly would never work for free, not then, not now, not ever. I had to hassle them for several days to get that cheque. I never did get any more work from them, I suppose they found some other sucker to work for “minimum wage plus 200 and hour”.
Less than a year after that I walked into a major airline job with full salary, benefits and pension. I fly a large Boeing aircraft. Does that mean I should get paid minimum wage because if I had to rent the aircraft I would be paying god knows how many thousands an hour to fly and therefore I get paid thousands an hour in real terms? Not a chance. Never paid for a type rating (another abysmal practice) and never would. From reading the above postings there seems to be this general fear that these suckers who are sending out the “I will work for free” letters are getting jobs but as has been pointed out before, most are not and those that are, are getting jobs not worth having. “Good things come to those who wait” I was once told by a friend when I was despairing at being unemployed and I can tell you they were right.
FFF,
Having been an airline pilot for several years now I would like to give you some words of advice. Having fun while flying is of course very important, but important in terms of job satisfaction and nothing else. It is certainly not the most important thing. I know a lot of pilots (captains mainly) who are sick of flying but they do it because it is their job and they have lives - familes with children who depend on that paycheque that dad (or mom) brings home. The industry is unstable enough without these bottom feeders offering to work for free. Most people in this world hate their jobs and pilots are quite lucky in that there are probably more of us who love their jobs than there are who hate them. That does not mean that we should or would work for free or (god help us) pay to fly. If you pay to fly you are a hobbyist. Nothing more. Many pilots I fly with are part of a local flying club or pay to rent company Cherokees or own part or all of an aircraft. But that is done on their spare time, and it is completely separate from their day to day job which is commanding an aircraft with the responsibility of $100 million worth of machine and 330 men women and children who are depending on them to get them to their destination safely. That responsibility requires renumeration regardless of whether or not the pilot likes their job. Poor managers don’t like pilots, usually because they are secretly jealous because they hate their own jobs and wish they had made better career choices earlier on. I think it is fun to fly and personally I love it but I will tell you this: It is NOT FUN TO FLY WHEN YOU ARE GETTING UP FOR THE SIXTH MORNING IN A ROW AT 3AM, or are flying back from Greece at 2:30AM struggling to stay awake. That’s what they pay me for. I love to fly but it is not my hobby. That hobby ended when I got my first job and you would be well advised to keep that in mind if you intend to embark on a flying career.
Oh and by the way I just met some of our new 250 hour pilots who are now flying right seat B757. Great guys – worked hard to get where they are and are doing a great job considering the mountain they had to climb. What Palgia presents as facts are, in fact, not fact.
Lazlo
