Jet2 anyone?

[Bus14]

As this thread appears to have evolved into a Mil v Airline job satisfaction discussion, here's my take on it.

Firstly, while all opinions are valid, perhaps the most valid are from those, like me, who have done both jobs. In my case, 12 years of single seat fast jet plus guest appearances in helicopter and multi cockpits, followed by 26 years to date of airline flying.

The 12 years in the RAF had many awesome and exciting times, I was type rated at one time or another on every single seat jet in the RAF and flew the Harrier on the front line. I would dearly love the opportunity to fly any one of them again, even the Jaguar. In the commercial world I have operated Douglas, Boeing, and Airbus. By dint of right time right place (and quality RAF training) I achieved a quick command (2 years), and progressed quickly to TRE.

I didn't think that airline flying could be as satisfying as military flying, but it is. In airline flying I didn't think that instructing and examining in the sim could be as satisfying as line flying, but it almost is.

For me, the reason why the airline flying turned out to be so satisfying is, quite simply, that every trip is an operational mission. There is a job to be done despite everything that the weather, the rule book, French ATC, etc throws at you. That is the challenge. As with any job, you can make that appear routine and dull, or you can rise to the challenge of getting from A to B, and back to A again. If you can do that, and maintain a schedule, and use as little fuel as possible, and enjoy the company of your flight deck colleague, then there are all the makings of a good day at work. As a slight aside, I couldn't initially see how spending much of my winter working in the sim could be satisfying. Once again though, don't knock it until you've tried it. A 20% pay boost and, if you get it right, the respect of your candidates certainly offsets the downside, and every day I learn new things from the pilots under check.

Military flying isn't for everyone, and neither is commercial flying. The point that BEags has missed though is that we don't fly chavs to holiday resorts, we fly aircraft to airports. That's what all pilots do, and generations of ex-military pilots of all shades have achieved plenty of job satisfaction as airline pilots.

Back to the thread though - do I fancy flying a B737 for Jet2? No, on both counts. Tried 'oop north', didn't like it. And the 737, despite a few flat screen TVs, is a cramped ergonomic slum of a cockpit at the front end of an early 60s aircraft that's way past it's sell by date. I managed to like the Jaguar, but trying to make me like a B737 really would be a stretch.

Bus14
Have Fun, Don't Crash