The life of an airline pilot! Is it worth it?
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The life of an airline pilot! Is it worth it?
I made this thread to get the “real deal” on the life of an airline pilot. I want honest answers.
I know for a fact becoming an airline pilot can have many, many benefits. Let’s see, well you get a high salary, you could find yourself spending the night in Paris, you can go places and see places that people have to pay for and sometimes don’t have enough time to see. I know the benefits but I also know some downfalls.
First off I know it’s very expensive to become a pilot….anywhere! Lots of other things like actually getting the job, seeing your family rarely, etc.
Here are some questions I have….
- Is it really a dangerous career?
I know the statistics but what if something goes wrong? What are the chances of an engine failing, because on an airplane if something goes wrong that takes time to fix, you may not have all that time. It’s also hard convincing my parents that I want to become a pilot when it’s usually rated one of the top 10 dangerous careers almost everywhere? How can I convince them it isn’t (if possible)?
- What are the chances of being hired by an airplane and getting that paycheck to live on?
One thing I read almost everywhere is the “getting in” part. What if you don’t get in? Then what? Airlines can’t hire millions of people and I’m guessing tons and tons of qualified people are applying every year, which makes it that much more difficult. I don’t want to be a 38 year old just getting into a company like Delta and wait 12 more years on top of that become a captain at 50. Then I have only a couple years before retirement. Do you really have to have grey hairs before you get to become a captian? If ever?
- The schedule?
It’s always nice to explore the world but without your family it can take a toll. How long do you spend living in the air? How often do you get to see your family.
- Relocation relocation relocation?
Say I live in Toronto and my dream job lives in Orlando, do I have to move. Do airlines really have people relocate everywhere or else they don’t get the job?
These are questions I’m itching to have answered and I want the real deal as I want to make my decision soon. I love flying but I also love a lot of other things, like seeing my family often and not having to live in an unknown city just to put food on the table. Thanks once again……..
I know for a fact becoming an airline pilot can have many, many benefits. Let’s see, well you get a high salary, you could find yourself spending the night in Paris, you can go places and see places that people have to pay for and sometimes don’t have enough time to see. I know the benefits but I also know some downfalls.
First off I know it’s very expensive to become a pilot….anywhere! Lots of other things like actually getting the job, seeing your family rarely, etc.
Here are some questions I have….
- Is it really a dangerous career?
I know the statistics but what if something goes wrong? What are the chances of an engine failing, because on an airplane if something goes wrong that takes time to fix, you may not have all that time. It’s also hard convincing my parents that I want to become a pilot when it’s usually rated one of the top 10 dangerous careers almost everywhere? How can I convince them it isn’t (if possible)?
- What are the chances of being hired by an airplane and getting that paycheck to live on?
One thing I read almost everywhere is the “getting in” part. What if you don’t get in? Then what? Airlines can’t hire millions of people and I’m guessing tons and tons of qualified people are applying every year, which makes it that much more difficult. I don’t want to be a 38 year old just getting into a company like Delta and wait 12 more years on top of that become a captain at 50. Then I have only a couple years before retirement. Do you really have to have grey hairs before you get to become a captian? If ever?
- The schedule?
It’s always nice to explore the world but without your family it can take a toll. How long do you spend living in the air? How often do you get to see your family.
- Relocation relocation relocation?
Say I live in Toronto and my dream job lives in Orlando, do I have to move. Do airlines really have people relocate everywhere or else they don’t get the job?
These are questions I’m itching to have answered and I want the real deal as I want to make my decision soon. I love flying but I also love a lot of other things, like seeing my family often and not having to live in an unknown city just to put food on the table. Thanks once again……..
Mushrooms: If being an airline pilot were one of the ten most dangerous jobs, then why does our life insurance cost no more than that for a college professor?
Many laymen confuse airline flying with military combat aviation, or even bush flying. They often get the impression that a pilot is a pilot. The general media somtimes lumps accidents among the general aviation population, with that of professional pilots, in order to mislead laymen into jumping to false conclusions.
When an engine fails, you do what you are trained to do in simulators. This training takes place at least once a year. In over 14,000 hours of flying, I've been in c0ckp1ts only twice when we shut down an Allison engine do to oil quantity lights in a military transport. The one actual engine failure happened before the jet had rolled more than thirty feet: the high-pressure fuel pump had failed. This was my first in at least 11,000 civilian flying hours. At a higher speed on the runway we abort the takeoff, and if in the air (after V1 speed), we fly the plane and methodically bring it back to a landing, maybe at a nearby different airport which has a longer runway.
To explain everything in a few words can be misleading. Many pilots who have European layovers are very tired the whole time they are there-they stay up most of the night, ride quite a distance to a hotel (i.e. London to Brighton, or Frankfurt to Mainz) and take just a nap before they stumble around canals and bateau mouches, with only 24 hours there. This is a complex subject, as you might realize. If in Asia for a while, it can take three days for the body to feel normal when back home. These reasons are primarily why I chose to never fly international-often working my tail off on short domestic flights (legs). Many questions can be answered, but will be out of context regarding various situations. The worst place to learn about aviation is through the mass media-only one newspaper aviation writer, among all of those whose articles I've ever read, had a private pilot license. The internet can also be misleading or contain garbage.
Many laymen confuse airline flying with military combat aviation, or even bush flying. They often get the impression that a pilot is a pilot. The general media somtimes lumps accidents among the general aviation population, with that of professional pilots, in order to mislead laymen into jumping to false conclusions.
When an engine fails, you do what you are trained to do in simulators. This training takes place at least once a year. In over 14,000 hours of flying, I've been in c0ckp1ts only twice when we shut down an Allison engine do to oil quantity lights in a military transport. The one actual engine failure happened before the jet had rolled more than thirty feet: the high-pressure fuel pump had failed. This was my first in at least 11,000 civilian flying hours. At a higher speed on the runway we abort the takeoff, and if in the air (after V1 speed), we fly the plane and methodically bring it back to a landing, maybe at a nearby different airport which has a longer runway.
To explain everything in a few words can be misleading. Many pilots who have European layovers are very tired the whole time they are there-they stay up most of the night, ride quite a distance to a hotel (i.e. London to Brighton, or Frankfurt to Mainz) and take just a nap before they stumble around canals and bateau mouches, with only 24 hours there. This is a complex subject, as you might realize. If in Asia for a while, it can take three days for the body to feel normal when back home. These reasons are primarily why I chose to never fly international-often working my tail off on short domestic flights (legs). Many questions can be answered, but will be out of context regarding various situations. The worst place to learn about aviation is through the mass media-only one newspaper aviation writer, among all of those whose articles I've ever read, had a private pilot license. The internet can also be misleading or contain garbage.
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Dangerous, not really
Night stops, cool, not many earlies, lots of sightseeing, spending time with lovely girls
Money, awesome
Roster, 60 hours in 5 weeks, work 3-4 days per week
Holiday, 42 days per year annual leave
Staff travel, awesome, Dubai return 115 euro's, Singapore 124 Euro's, business class normally
re location, yes to NL, moving back to UK when Long Haul, 6 years or so
26 years old, I like it, wouldn't go back to my old job!
Depends on what you want, hope you can make a good decision!
Night stops, cool, not many earlies, lots of sightseeing, spending time with lovely girls
Money, awesome
Roster, 60 hours in 5 weeks, work 3-4 days per week
Holiday, 42 days per year annual leave
Staff travel, awesome, Dubai return 115 euro's, Singapore 124 Euro's, business class normally
re location, yes to NL, moving back to UK when Long Haul, 6 years or so
26 years old, I like it, wouldn't go back to my old job!
Depends on what you want, hope you can make a good decision!
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Don't do it for the money! For every millionaire with a great job, there are 1000 guys out there either struggling, underpaid or unemployed. To make a small fortune in aviation you have to spend a big one.
It is a passion more than anything else. It takes many sacrifices.
Being on the road all the time gets very old. Sometimes a 9 to 5 job with weekends and holidays off does not sound so bad. I did not have Christmas or NewYears off for 4 years! (that gets old!)
Timing is everything! I thought i would be in a major 5 years ago too. I did everything right, graduated from college when i turned 21, no accidents, no violations, was a flight instructor then flew for a regional airline. I have been broke my whole life. I am now 29, finally a RJ Captain, for the first time in my life I am getting a new hire engineer paycheck. All my engineers friends have had a house, a few new cars and lots of money in the bank for years. I have none of that yet.
Would I get into another field tomorrow: Hell NO!
Would any of my engineer friends do my job: Hell NO!
Would they like to have my flexible schedule sometimes: Yes!
Would they want my pay for the past 7 years: hell NO!
Would they work New Years eve: hell NO!
Assuming you have skills and are educated, after that it is all about luck and timing. Guys who finished college 3 years before me all went to major airlines. Most are still flying even after 0911. Me, I graduated almost 8 years ago and I just got my 1000hr PIC! The majors are still not hiring. Except some of the smaller ones. It is also almost impossible to predit how an airline is going to perform 5 years or 10 years from now.
Ask a lot of pilots how they got to where they are now. For some it was almost a fairytale. They got in a major, or a good corporate very young. Have had great schedules and great money from the start. Others struggled for many years....
Do not get me wrong : I still love my job!
I am lucky because I still love it after all those sacrifices. When I got in this industry I was misinformed and did not know anything about the airline business. I do not want to discourage you. I just want you to inform yourself, so you won't make the mistakes most of us made. It is not all gravy...
I hope this helps.
Good luck
P.S: No it is not dangerous! Pleaaaaase!
It is a passion more than anything else. It takes many sacrifices.
Being on the road all the time gets very old. Sometimes a 9 to 5 job with weekends and holidays off does not sound so bad. I did not have Christmas or NewYears off for 4 years! (that gets old!)
Timing is everything! I thought i would be in a major 5 years ago too. I did everything right, graduated from college when i turned 21, no accidents, no violations, was a flight instructor then flew for a regional airline. I have been broke my whole life. I am now 29, finally a RJ Captain, for the first time in my life I am getting a new hire engineer paycheck. All my engineers friends have had a house, a few new cars and lots of money in the bank for years. I have none of that yet.
Would I get into another field tomorrow: Hell NO!
Would any of my engineer friends do my job: Hell NO!
Would they like to have my flexible schedule sometimes: Yes!
Would they want my pay for the past 7 years: hell NO!
Would they work New Years eve: hell NO!
Assuming you have skills and are educated, after that it is all about luck and timing. Guys who finished college 3 years before me all went to major airlines. Most are still flying even after 0911. Me, I graduated almost 8 years ago and I just got my 1000hr PIC! The majors are still not hiring. Except some of the smaller ones. It is also almost impossible to predit how an airline is going to perform 5 years or 10 years from now.
Ask a lot of pilots how they got to where they are now. For some it was almost a fairytale. They got in a major, or a good corporate very young. Have had great schedules and great money from the start. Others struggled for many years....
Do not get me wrong : I still love my job!
I am lucky because I still love it after all those sacrifices. When I got in this industry I was misinformed and did not know anything about the airline business. I do not want to discourage you. I just want you to inform yourself, so you won't make the mistakes most of us made. It is not all gravy...
I hope this helps.
Good luck
P.S: No it is not dangerous! Pleaaaaase!
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Not what it used to be.
Depends on the company you work for.
Theres been quite a few threads here with differing points of view.
One recent thread which sums up my thoughts was 'The demise of the professional pilot', do a search. Many pilots not as happy as they used to be.
Theres been quite a few threads here with differing points of view.
One recent thread which sums up my thoughts was 'The demise of the professional pilot', do a search. Many pilots not as happy as they used to be.
The life of an airline pilot! Is it worth it?
From what I've learned:
20 years ago - most definitely
10 years ago - definitely
Now - definitely not. Spend your life locked in a broom cupboard with a stranger for 2 hours 3 or 4 times per day - that's short haul. Over the top security rules, 'yellow jacket mentality', excessive fatigue, reduced quality of life, reduced income expectations, reduced respect in the public eye......
You rarely meet passengers any more and everything which made the life of an airline captain special have now gone. You're viewed as little more than a train driver. And a F/O probably isn't even paid as well as a London Underground driver.
A colleague who was a well-paid Virgin Atlantic captain told me that all the paranoid post- Sept 11th security nonsense for bona fide crews was the last straw - and he resigned due to the miserable lifestyle which he was suffering in consequence.
From what I've learned:
20 years ago - most definitely
10 years ago - definitely
Now - definitely not. Spend your life locked in a broom cupboard with a stranger for 2 hours 3 or 4 times per day - that's short haul. Over the top security rules, 'yellow jacket mentality', excessive fatigue, reduced quality of life, reduced income expectations, reduced respect in the public eye......
You rarely meet passengers any more and everything which made the life of an airline captain special have now gone. You're viewed as little more than a train driver. And a F/O probably isn't even paid as well as a London Underground driver.
A colleague who was a well-paid Virgin Atlantic captain told me that all the paranoid post- Sept 11th security nonsense for bona fide crews was the last straw - and he resigned due to the miserable lifestyle which he was suffering in consequence.
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Whilst I don't doubt that this job isn't all what it was in the good ol' days,
I can't think of anything I'd rather do,
0ver the top security - true, but that's creeping in to all walks of life (rightly so, you have to go through security at the passport office!)
yellow jacket mentality - you get officious h&S types everywhere (have you had the display screen equipment facists round yet?)
increased fatique and reduced quality of life, hmm, well I do a few deep nights (but rather that than a nine to five sitting in the car park that is this nation's roads for three hours a day), I have more free time that anyone in any other walk of life I know (perhaps teachers?
)
income, the pay for a jet driver seems quite comfortable whatever seat you are in ( there seems to be a myth amongst pilots that everyone else out there is earning at least 50k, in my experience this is not the case, and where you are you will be working very hard and long hours to do so),
lack of REE-spect from the publicwell, join every other professional in the UK! (GPs, police, teachers, etc.) if you want respect become a football player or a pop star,
not sure what a London underground driver earns, but would you rather act like a mole or an eagle to earn it?
I'm sure the job is not as good as it used to be, but that's probably in common with every other profession in this country.
It's still one of the best jobs I can think of, we just need to work hard to protect our lot, it looks like there is a worldwide lack of experienced pilots around the corner and the time to claw back our T's & C's is ripe.
Edited after 07/07/05
I can't think of anything I'd rather do,
0ver the top security - true, but that's creeping in to all walks of life (rightly so, you have to go through security at the passport office!)
yellow jacket mentality - you get officious h&S types everywhere (have you had the display screen equipment facists round yet?)
increased fatique and reduced quality of life, hmm, well I do a few deep nights (but rather that than a nine to five sitting in the car park that is this nation's roads for three hours a day), I have more free time that anyone in any other walk of life I know (perhaps teachers?
)income, the pay for a jet driver seems quite comfortable whatever seat you are in ( there seems to be a myth amongst pilots that everyone else out there is earning at least 50k, in my experience this is not the case, and where you are you will be working very hard and long hours to do so),
lack of REE-spect from the publicwell, join every other professional in the UK! (GPs, police, teachers, etc.) if you want respect become a football player or a pop star,
not sure what a London underground driver earns, but would you rather act like a mole or an eagle to earn it?
I'm sure the job is not as good as it used to be, but that's probably in common with every other profession in this country.
It's still one of the best jobs I can think of, we just need to work hard to protect our lot, it looks like there is a worldwide lack of experienced pilots around the corner and the time to claw back our T's & C's is ripe.
Edited after 07/07/05
Last edited by Gazeem; 8th Jul 2005 at 19:20.
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most pilots die of skin cancer.
for a 2 hours flight, you get like 40 X-ray.
after 1 year, you have caught 2000 time UV than an average traveler.
now, what do you say about that?
you will probably die at 60(if you are lucky)
come spend your money, and if you are lucky to get a job, the job will kill you. Skin cancer is very painful.
have fun with that!
for a 2 hours flight, you get like 40 X-ray.
after 1 year, you have caught 2000 time UV than an average traveler.
now, what do you say about that?
you will probably die at 60(if you are lucky)
come spend your money, and if you are lucky to get a job, the job will kill you. Skin cancer is very painful.
have fun with that!
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No, spaceman is quite right.
78.4% of statistics are made up on the spot to win an argument.
Reeves and Mortimer (famous UK statistic experts) (comedians actually) stated this back in 2001.
78.4% of statistics are made up on the spot to win an argument.
Reeves and Mortimer (famous UK statistic experts) (comedians actually) stated this back in 2001.
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Hahaha, so Spaceman, how come the travellers don't get that UV radiation, since they are with you, and presumably travellers average more than 2 sectors a year? Or are all Air France pilots flying over 4000 sectors a year? At 2 hours a sector as a conservative average, plus a half hour fast turnaround, they are averaging 27 hours 20 minutes a day, suggesting neither the working-time directive nor flight-time limitations are having the desired effect in France.
How come there are white pilots? Surely they would all either be black (being able to survive to pick up a years' experience), have picked up a damned good tan or be dead by now?
How come there are white pilots? Surely they would all either be black (being able to survive to pick up a years' experience), have picked up a damned good tan or be dead by now?
PPRuNe Secret Agent!
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Agree with Gazeem, the world itself is a totally different place to what it was 10, 20, even 4 years ago, especially the worlds aviation industry....
Ain't nothin wrong with this job - can't get enough of it!
Ain't nothin wrong with this job - can't get enough of it!
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Thanks for the replies, it'll definetly make me think.
I love flying, but I love so many other things as well. I'm 16 so I still have some time before I finally decide, maybe i won't like piloting as much as I do now.
I just feel that becoming an airline pilot (something for Air Canada, Delta, etc) requires timing and luck, and I don't want to set my future and my family's future on luck. Why struggle half my life to accomplish a dream, a dream which ill only get to experience just a couple years before I retire.
As I read some of these posts I can see the majority of these posts and the ones on other forums (Jetcareers, Surclaro, etc) I've realized that the people who tell me to keep flying are the ones who have a deep, deep passion for flying and would fly crop dusters so long as they can fly. Is it impossible? Of coarse not. But I'd rather do something I feel I have more control over rather than something that has to be over luck.
I love flying, but I love so many other things as well. I'm 16 so I still have some time before I finally decide, maybe i won't like piloting as much as I do now.
I just feel that becoming an airline pilot (something for Air Canada, Delta, etc) requires timing and luck, and I don't want to set my future and my family's future on luck. Why struggle half my life to accomplish a dream, a dream which ill only get to experience just a couple years before I retire.
As I read some of these posts I can see the majority of these posts and the ones on other forums (Jetcareers, Surclaro, etc) I've realized that the people who tell me to keep flying are the ones who have a deep, deep passion for flying and would fly crop dusters so long as they can fly. Is it impossible? Of coarse not. But I'd rather do something I feel I have more control over rather than something that has to be over luck.
rgds, Sid
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considering a traveller uses plane 6-7 times a year, it is far less than a pilot who flies everyday, and who is roasted like a slice of beef in a microwave.
as for the statistic numbers, it is hard to say, as airline have hidden the fact that cancer "may come" from UV.
but the question still remain:" why airline pilots have more cancer than in other profession"
why airline pilots found themself suddenly retired with some minor back pain, legs problems,chronicle depressions, airloss, lack of Viagra in the reserve...,
Airlines should now take their responsabilities.Not only airfrance, but all airlines!
as for the statistic numbers, it is hard to say, as airline have hidden the fact that cancer "may come" from UV.
but the question still remain:" why airline pilots have more cancer than in other profession"
why airline pilots found themself suddenly retired with some minor back pain, legs problems,chronicle depressions, airloss, lack of Viagra in the reserve...,
Airlines should now take their responsabilities.Not only airfrance, but all airlines!