Only done it commercially for 5 years but it's still as exciting now as it was day one. In fact I enjoy it more as my experience increases, I feel more involved and more comfortable making decisions. The responsibility of being an airline pilot is great, there aren't many jobs that have a give you a similar amount of responsibility and have people trust you with their lives. I think it's good the fact that it's a tough career to get into. I feel for those who have been unlucky with timing and am not relating to the recession etc, however I think it's good that the training involved is generally intense and very hard work, it prevents those who aren't all that interested from applying (as does the price).
I also enjoy flying the aircraft. For all the non-believers out there I'm not one, I do feel like I'm flying the aircraft even though it's fly-by-wire. It's far more complex than my previous Piper however when I take the autopilot to be totally honest I can't see the difference between me hand-flying the Airbus and hand-flying the Piper (I know many will disagree!).
Love my job, don't enjoy getting up at 3am but when I think about the fact that I'm getting up at 3am to fly it makes it a whole lot easier.
I appreciate I have been fortunate in that I got a job straight out of training with one of Europe's largest airlines however I'd be just as happy doing it in another company - PROVIDED I wasn't being ripped of with a type rating and got paid decently to do the job that certainly warrants the pay it has in some (albeit few now) airlines.
Last edited by wheelie my boeing; 9th Nov 2012 at 19:15.