HOWS YOUR SOCIAL LIFE BOYS?

[kennyboy]

How does being a pilot affect your lifestyle.
I have just commenced my CPL/IR training and was advised by a friend that the pilots lifestyle ie,away from home often,relocating etc, makes it difficult to establish friendships or have a 'normal' social life.
I'd be interested on your views on this.
Are you all 'socialites' or are you 'billy no-mates'??

[BUNYA]

Social life?

If I'd needed a social life my company would have issued me one!

[Dull]

You'll quite often find you're self in the pub on a Monday or Tuesday night on your own - it does keep the cost of a round down though.

[Prof2MDA]

I don't think it's been any problem. Just avoid the temptations that come along to keep things happy on the homefront, if you catch the drift.

My wife doesn't like it when I'm on the road, but she also knows that her friends husbands are actually gone more than I am most of the time, many leaving before the family is awake and home at or after dinner time. The weekends then are filled catching up on chores.

My schedule is either home or gone, so I think I actually have more time at home than I would if I worked a "normal" job. While I am always looking for ways to spend more time at home, I don't at all feel that I am shortchanging my wife and 3 kids.

The hardest part is just not being close by when something goes wrong. I've been on trips when kids have ended up in hospital, not to mention the various other things that have happened -- seems that nothing breaks until I leave. This last trip it was my wife's car, died my first day out. Fortunately the repair shop was near where I'd parked at the airport, so that helped. She ended up replacing the car, had finally reached the point where car payments were less than the repair bills on that beast, so she bought a new car while before I got home!

[LAVDUMPER]

Kennyboy,

It really depends on the type of flying you do. You could first separate it into scheduled or non-scheduled (aka Charter). Then you could further break it down to long-haul versus short-haul flying.

My impression of charter flying is that at certain times of the year (ie summer time), your flight schedule is extremely full and your social life subsides considerably. But then, during the glorious UK winter, your social life picks up again because of reduced winter flying. Longhaul flying for the charters provides blocks of time off after long sorties that could be used to build an OK social life.

Life on the scheduled side can vary depending on the airline and type of flying. Same story for the longhaul flying as the charters - blocks of days off after long sorties afield. Scheduled shorthaul flying can be extremely busy year-round and can leave little time for social life.

I once heard a Britannia 767 captain tell an aspiring airline pilot - "find your wife now - before you start on the line - and while you have time!!!!!!"

Any other opinions out there?

Cheers

[PPRuNe Pop]

Kennyboy. It is neither necesssary nor acceptable for a topic to be posted on several forums as you did with this one. Moderators have enough to do without removing or moving the same post on more than one forum.

PPRuNe Pop
Moderator
[email protected]

[scroggs]

Social life? I remember that - I had one once, I think, but it must have been before I joined my current employer! These days my only chance to socialise is while I'm away. Too knackered when I get home!