What stress/tensions do Pilots have in daily life?

[dingdongbubble]

What are the sources of stress or tensions that pilots have in their daily lives? So they have care free jobs apart from when they are flying? Businessmen keep worrying about market pries and sales and stuff even when they are at home. Engineers ahve t meettigt deadlines. So what kind of problems do pilots ahve?

[redsnail]

In no particular order.

Alarm clock going off at 4am.

Getting adequate rest.

Reviewing manuals and procedures for the 6 monthly check(s).

Jet lag.

Paperwork.

Same issues in life that causes stress. Marriage, shifting house, death etc.

[Zyox]

PPRuNe :}

[dingdongbubble]

So do you think that the stress or tension or worry levels areless for pilots than for other folk?

[AlphaMale]

There is a lot of pressure and responsibility on a pilots shoulders so I imagine (if I was in a position of being a Capt. of an airliner) there would be a lot more stress.

Getting up at 4am after on a bad nights sleep of tossing and turning only to have to drive for an hour to the airport and then take charge of a very expensive bit of kit with 200+ souls on board.

Makes my job as a graphic designer/web designer look pretty easy. So long as I meet deadlines for clients then I don't worry after 17:00 and I don't get jet lag during my trip to work either ... wish I did none the less
;)

[redsnail]

The stresses are different. I don't think they're greater or lesser than any one else.

Eg. The garbage collector doesn't worry about the paper work but getting up early is the same but s/he has to worry about being run over or jamming their fingers.

A surgeon probably couldn't care less about the thunderstorm banging away over head but the noisy kids over the road kept him/her awake and now they're into their 4th hour of surgery.

[BitMoreRightRudder]

It depends on so many variables. I'd say the most important factor is what sort of character you are. Some people handle stress and pressure well, some don't. Of the captains I fly with I come across a whole range of personalities varying from so laid back his heart may stop any minute to the guy who spends his entire 4 sector day shi:mad::mad:ing bricks that he or I will do something to get him sacked.

Add to that such things as what sort of airline you work for, how many hours a year you do, how much stability is present in your roster, how much leave you get, how long your commute is, what type of flying you do, amount and length of sectors per day..........and of course if the cabin crew have any tea bags left. Basically I think you would find lifestyle and having a life outside the cockpit affects whether a pilot finds his/her job stressful.

Personally I don't find it stressful at all, but I'm an FO. Ask a captain!

[dingdongbubble]

hmm so pilots ahve the same level of worry except that its a different type of worry? what if you dont mind waking up at those odd hours? Do you get to sleep like 6 hours a day? (thats enough for me, i can work with 5 and 4 sometimes but 8 is more than enough for me)

[sparx007]

I guess whatever one does in life there will be stresses involved. At the end of the day the grass is always greener, or the sky always bluer behind that towering CB once aould say!!!!!!

I'm sure Christiano Ronaldo sometimes feels he could get away from it all and be an airline pilot.....but then its a nightmare trying to spend 120 g's a week!!!!! bugatti veyron anyone!!!!!!

Sparx

[Arfur Feck-Sake]

Being on standby is quite stressful for me. I can't settle down to any tasks requiring concentration, so it feels like wasted time. I can't have a drink. I can't relax in case the phone rings because when it does, I'll have to leap into action.

[Atreyu]

I agree standby is a nuisance. I think the other guys hit the nail on the head. I think the unpredictability of your working life can cause headaches outside of work too!

Atreyu:ok:

[Brainstorm]

Things that I can think of that are stressful in this job....

You spend your life sitting in a cabin that is at 8000 ft, and less oxygen makes you tired! To put that in perspective, at 10000 ft the oxygen masks go on. I have to say, I often feel very tired in this job, after a few days of flying and getting up at 4 am I don't even know my own name.

There is a lot of responsibility in this job as well, you just can't compare it to most other jobs. You have to make so many quick decisions that have to be right. If I were to cause an accident, my airline would probably go bust, and it would be Christmas for the press. If I cause an incident, I may lose my job or my license, or both.

And I have found that apparently everyone is allowed to screw things up (load masters, ops, rostering) but not the pilots. If the pilots don't spot other people's mistakes then they get into trouble. And at 2 in the morning.....

[speedrestriction]

Too much flying is a stress and strangely enough so is too little. I reckon 65 hours per month is just right. Looking for a car parking space can be annoying. Long queues at security is a stress. I agree with Arfur re the standbys. OPC/LPCs have also been known to slightly raise stress levels. The least stressful bit of the job, now that I think about it is probably the bit when the gear is safely tucked away in the bays.

sr

[Piltdown Man]

The most stressfull thing about flying is going to a destination where the weather is legal but "iffy" with minimum fuel or where you are asked to hold for an hour but you only have fuel for 20 minutes. In both cases, if the worst happens, you divert. Simple really, so not that stressful.

But the most difficult and stressful things about the job are dealing with the pondlife and knuckledraggers who are employed at airports. It normally starts when you drop off your overnight bag, gets worse when you pass the morons at security (how bloody pointless!) and goes downhill when you get on the ramp. The only thing you want the people in "system" to do is to stick to their jobs and their standard timings. Yet hardly a flight goes past without some muppet (or three) fouling up. Therefore I enjoy going to German airports where things normaly work and dislike UK airports where things rarely do.

Flying as such is not stressful, it is all of the associated niff-naff and trivia that winds you up.

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