Is being an Airline pilot still a fun job?

[GliderPilotSam]

Hi everyone,

First of all I'm really sorry if someone has already created a post just like this, I haven't seen any like this so far.

Anyway I have wanted to be a airline pilot for a good few years and next year will be the time for me to start applying to flight schools. I do a lot of gliding in my spare time at the London Gliding Club on there cadets scheme also happen to be solo in the process of getting my Bronze and Cross country to fly our cadet glider a ASW 19. I have spoken to a few people who used to be pilot and they reckon being a pilot is not the same as it was in the past which I do understand. But it being a pilot still a fun job? I want to see what airline pilots today actually make of there job and if it gets boring at all after 10 years?

[redsnail]

Define fun?
Yes the airline job has changed and will continue to change. :)
The modern airline operation in Europe is largely autopilot on ASAP, follow the SID, airway, STAR to an ILS. Autopilot off at the last minute. There are variations but that's largely it for most operations. Very SOP which is a good thing too.

I am fortunate in that I am not an airline pilot, but a biz jet pilot and while there's a lot of the above, there's also hand flown approaches into London City, visual approaches in the mountain airports and a lot more freedom to run the aircraft + great interaction with our passengers. Yes, we have a lot of SOPs and they help manage the day nicely. We are encouraged to hand fly empty sectors (usually the take off and approach and landing phases) to keep our manual skills sharp. I have on more than 1 occasion had to hand fly the whole flight. :ok:

[GliderPilotSam]

Being a Biz jet pilot sounds awesome, but did you find it hard to get a job as one and what is the salary like compared to an airline pilot?

[Lord Spandex Masher]

Wow, quite often I've hand flown the entire day, anywhere between four and seven sectors, with full loads of passengers two or three days in a row. Yes, 21 sectors up to three hours long with no autopilot. Now that keeps your skills sharp.

I think I've done one or two hundred approaches to LCY, thousands of visual approaches to Sion, Chambery and Funchal to name a few and all in things that are bigger and less manoeuvrable than itty bitty Cessnas.

I'm quite fortunate that I don't have to play the obsequious chauffeur to that fat, rich tosser or teenage boy bands...which, judging by the last post, looks like the only difference.

[tommoutrie]

hello Sam

I learnt to fly at LGC - in GBP and EVX and FBV and what I learned gliding has been invaluable over the years. I towed gliders at various UK clubs to build hours and flew aerial survey, aeromedical and charter piston twins to get my career going. I moved to business jets and am now sitting in Tortola in the BVI having just done a tour all round South America. The work is very varied and I still enjoy it enormously. Don't restrict yourself to the airline dream - whilst that can still be a very good career there are other ways to make a decent living in aviation. Keep gliding - you will find that the contacts you make through the sport will be invaluable to you as you progress.

good luck chap - go buzz the flamingos for me..

[JB007]

To answer your question, yes - I personally think it's still fun! But, I think that will depend on what opportunities you get laid before you and where your career will end up! Sadly, that's something you won't have ANY control over!

I work for a UK airline (of sorts!) with very varied world-wide flying, days can be long and I get last minute changes to go to work due to the nature of our business, but that's what I like and that's the fun part of the job for me.

[RTO]

next year will be the time for me to start applying to flight schools.
Don't do it. Captains and FO's all around are taking a part time education to escape aviation and get a decent job, it would be at best foolish to embark on the race to the bottom now.

[redsnail]

than itty bitty Cessnas.
I don't fly Cessnas. :ugh:

[fireflybob]

I have never thought of flying as "fun" although I am passionate about flying and have derived huge satisfaction from being a professional pilot.

My advice is if you are passionate about flying (yes even with the autopilot engaged) then go for it but don't be under any illusions about the airline industry which is now mainly in a race to the bottom with terms and conditions for pilots in a spiral dive.

In my opinion the flight deck of an airliner is not a place to have "fun" as the task is deadly serious. That doesn't mean you have to be poker faced and not have a bit of banter from time to time though.

[Lord Spandex Masher]

I don't fly Cessnas. :ugh:

You understand generalisations though?

[Jwscud]

Your post does read a bit like you'd got out of bed the wrong side LSM. Not to mention there are some rather good corporate jobs out there, not just fat cats and boy bands.

[JB007]

Looking at his posts, he works for Jet2 bless him - we should show great sympathy!

[Lord Spandex Masher]

Haha! Are you not happy with my choice JB? If I want your sympathy and opinion about what I do I'll ask for it.

I counter a post full of generalisations about airline flying by a biz jet jockey with generalisations about biz jet flying and examples of airline flying which are apparently similar and I'm the bad guy.

Notwithstanding that I can't quite see the relevance of biz jet flying to the OP's question about airline flying. He didn't ask for a comparison. It's trumpet blowing and irrelevant plain and simple.

But bravo for hand flying an empty aircraft for a whole flight when you didn't have a choice :D

[CAT3C AUTOLAND]

I have been flying jets for the last 8 years, previously a flight instructor, and personally I think it is a lot of fun. I dont think I have ever been bored. I still very much enjoy the job.

Every day is different, different issues and challenges to deal with, different crew, and a varied network. I have done numerous non flying related jobs in my life and being a professional pilot certainly makes me appreciate what I have and am thankful for the opportunities I have been given.

All the best :ok:

[GliderPilotSam]

Hi everyone thanks for all your replys. The impression I have been given is if your passionate about flying in this case I seriously am I still want to be an airline pilot or a biz jet. Flying a biz jet sounds awesome especially landing at LCY. Thanks for the responses everyone :)

[Contact Approach]

Best job in the world!!

[parkfell]

Better than having to work for a living......that is for certain.

If you have the passion and cannot think of anything else you really want to do, then go for it.

Just what you would like to fly is very much a personnel choice. Many newly qualified pilots want to go straight onto say a B737 or Airbus 319/320.

Whether you have that option is one thing, as this might not always be possible initially for various reasons.

Some might say that starting on smaller MP types would be more beneficial for Junior Birdmen. Doing 2 years or so on a turbo prop is a very sound beginning to any airline career. Far more fun.

Anyway, work hard and do well.

I started by gliding, first through school, and then at the local club on a K7, and then a syndicate member with a K8. A number of years ago !

[Luke SkyToddler]

It's 99% boredom, and 1% "holy :mad: this rules"

[haughtney1]

The most fun I've had flying remains to this day towing glider in a C172. In the intervening years I've flown as an instructor on piston and turbine singles and twins, flown small and large biz jets, and I've also flown every Boeing from 737-777 excluding the grand lady herself the 747. Given the choice, I'd be back in the C172 or C208 doing what I found to be the most fun aviating. Airline flying these days is a job, where I am it's as much about managing fatigue, balancing a work life balance and not letting the negative thoughts outweigh the positive ones. Is it a fun job? sometimes....mostly it's just a job.

[JB007]

Ditto with the above! Would go back to the turbo-prop tomorrow, most fun, most challenging and most satisfying! These choices are slim pickings now but as a new, low houred pilot, I would put most focus on a RHS in a prop!

I'm presently sat in 30 degrees in the Caribbean on a trip, but would still swap it for a visual onto 33 at Sumburgh any day!

[fireflybob]

Am retired from airline flying now. Generally I thoroughly enjoyed my career but am also relieved to be away from the industry.

I am now doing some light aircraft instructing which I have done on and off for many years. I can honestly say this is some of the most enjoyable flying for me as where I teach is a flying club so subject to some basic rules you can run things the way you want and you meet a lot of interesting people who want to learn to fly. It's also very satisfying when you see students progressing especially those who are not naturals but stick at it.

Given me a half mill map going cross country to a minor airfield on a nice day in a light aircraft and I'm a happy man.

[parkfell]

Ignore LST COMMENTS. He reminds me of a Second World War pilot I knew who kept on flying (in civilian flying) post 1945.

Those threads after my previous comments, I can fully relate to, and are to my mind, valid.

Yes, landing at LSI RW 33 is a great experience. Eye balling it in, levelling the wings at 100ft with a downward slope is a special experience.
My only advice was to cross abeam the Lighthouse at 600 FT. Do that and you are in the grove.

As a generalisation ~ the bigger the beastie the less fun you will have. Having said that, the learning experience can be very enjoyable. Better than working in an office any day.

[pudoc]

Best job ever!

A lot of people get into it for the wrong reasons and only enjoy it for the first few years. Then moan they want £100k a year and work twice a week. :rolleyes:

[turbopropulsion]

Please keep in mind this is a highly subjective opinion. In all honesty, I think the majority of people haven't chosen their career paths well. If you have any doubts then simply don't start! Another consideration to keep in mind is family life. If this isn't of paramount importance and your dead set on on being a pilot, go for it!

[abgd]

Also ask yourself what you would do otherwise.

I'm a medical doctor (a miserable profession in the UK with huge rates of dissatisfaction and emigration at the moment) so meet lots of people every day.

A disturbing trend at the moment is that almost everybody hates their jobs. 'I used to love being a postmistress, but these last few years I couldn't wait to retire'; 'The university is utterly toxic'... and so on.

I'm not sure what's behind all this? Perhaps globalisation leading to hypercompetitive 'winner takes all' markets. Perhaps automation meaning that those who have jobs have to work harder to keep them. Perhaps managerialism stifling initiative and autonomy.

It's very hard, given one's inevitably limited experience, to judge where the grass lies greener.

[Luke SkyToddler]

Do I know you parkfell, what did I ever do to you? Did I say something particularly upsetting to you just there? Did I make you go around in Sumburgh one day or something?

FWIW I agree with the other posters, the most fun flying I ever did was in the Navajo doing single crew air ambulance ops into remote strips in New Zealand, and flying turboprops around the Scottish islands.

Now I'm long haul with an Asian major and yeah it's boring as bat**** by comparison, but your priorities change when you've got a family etc, so you just kind of suck it up and do it and take the money and post on pprune about how much fun you had in the good old days