Pay €70,000 to get up at 0400, drive an old banger or a TT you can't afford 50km to work, have your bag rifled by failed plods, get dicked about by ramp operatives quoting health and safety tosh, ATC slots that are unacheivable, sector times that are far too short, management intimidation, foul mouthed base captains shouting at you across the crewroom, cabin crew who can't cope with the pressure and expect the police to come and sort out every passenger who complains. Junior captains so stressed out they can't think straight.....and you get to spend all your days off commuting.
That's what it's like.
Bargain.
Or...
Instrument rating plus 7 years, have a command on 60 tonne jet, training loans paid off and earning approx £90k.
Yesterday, flew to south of France. A routine flight with no weather /slots/ pax issues. Only an hour or so in the cruise, so had time for a coffee and a natter with the FO on the way down, just enough time for lunch, the paper and a sudoku on the way home.
Today, on standby, being paid to sit at home watching the cricket. It's beer o clock in an hour.
"Better than working for a living" has been said by many a pilot.