Whats It Like Now That Your In The Airlines?
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Whats It Like Now That Your In The Airlines?
As a CPL holder who has done some flying work on the east coast of Australia, I'm wonder and ponder sometimes if its all worth it 
My dream from the outset was to become an airline pilot so I got my CPL but decided to hold of on the ATPL and MECIR and just get a basic VFR job to see whether it was really me and push ahead.
I loved doing the odd flying job here and there when I get it but with the conditions apparently going down and pilots from the upper level whinging and whining, I sometimes wonder whether its all worth it in the end to continue to spend money and pursue qualifications, endorsements and ratings or look into doing something else.
I am approaching 30 years of age now and would like to know from the current airline pilots out there how your travelling in your current jet job and whether your dream that has been realized has lived up to what you expected and thought it was meant to be or is it just a job. Is it all beer and skittles like a lot people think it is?
How has transitioning into being an airline pilot affected your social and family life? Is sitting in a metal tube that practically flies interesting and exciting like flying a smaller aircraft - what about the people you work with?
And quite importantly for those of you in a relationship - how does now serving as an airline pilot affect you? Have you been able to maintain your relationship or is it a constant struggle?
Interested to hear people stories and if any advice you wanna mention as well.
Thanks a lot.....
Kev
My dream from the outset was to become an airline pilot so I got my CPL but decided to hold of on the ATPL and MECIR and just get a basic VFR job to see whether it was really me and push ahead.
I loved doing the odd flying job here and there when I get it but with the conditions apparently going down and pilots from the upper level whinging and whining, I sometimes wonder whether its all worth it in the end to continue to spend money and pursue qualifications, endorsements and ratings or look into doing something else.
I am approaching 30 years of age now and would like to know from the current airline pilots out there how your travelling in your current jet job and whether your dream that has been realized has lived up to what you expected and thought it was meant to be or is it just a job. Is it all beer and skittles like a lot people think it is?
How has transitioning into being an airline pilot affected your social and family life? Is sitting in a metal tube that practically flies interesting and exciting like flying a smaller aircraft - what about the people you work with?
And quite importantly for those of you in a relationship - how does now serving as an airline pilot affect you? Have you been able to maintain your relationship or is it a constant struggle?
Interested to hear people stories and if any advice you wanna mention as well.
Thanks a lot.....
Kev
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Kev don't take this the wrong way but for you to be asking those questions it suggests to me that you're not really an " aeroplane head ".
Yes conditions are not what they used to be, but I still get bloody good money for doing something I ( most of the time ) enjoy.
Can't think of anything else I'd rather be doing, except sitting home watching the footy and getting 5hitfaced, but have yet to find someone who will pay me 6 figures to do that.
I have been flying for 20 years and through the highs and lows I still would'nt have changed my career path with hindsight.
To anyone starting out I have always said, if you want it bad enough you'll get it, if you don't want it that bad then the airlines probably wont want you.
As for relationships surviving etc...............dont get me started
Yes conditions are not what they used to be, but I still get bloody good money for doing something I ( most of the time ) enjoy.
Can't think of anything else I'd rather be doing, except sitting home watching the footy and getting 5hitfaced, but have yet to find someone who will pay me 6 figures to do that.
I have been flying for 20 years and through the highs and lows I still would'nt have changed my career path with hindsight.
To anyone starting out I have always said, if you want it bad enough you'll get it, if you don't want it that bad then the airlines probably wont want you.
As for relationships surviving etc...............dont get me started
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To anyone starting out I have always said, if you want it bad enough you'll get it, if you don't want it that bad then the airlines probably wont want you.
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Kev,
It's a good question actually and one you should pay some thought to before you go down that road. If you have a sniff through the threads on pprune you will hear lots from guys who have what some would consider a "dream job" but it's all very negative.... and for good reason. Harsh IR, crap unions, harsh management, bad food, disjointed sleep patterns, divorces, hotels every other night, constant medicals and sim rides that everything in life hinges on. Other guys seem to love that lifestyle and would do it forever.
Personally, I reckon that flying is a career that is best done early in life, or later on in life but not for the whole career. I certainly wouldn't want to do it forever as my sole job. No way. I like flying but not that much, I certainly don't want to go theough life and just be a pilot the whole time. Boring as all sh*t. The problem is that lots of pilots only know how to be pilots and that makes a career hard to change later on so you get sort of trapped in flying and then the bitterness starts when you get sick of it but can't afford to do anything else. That's my theory.
As for relationships, depends on the couple but my brother works with the wife of a jetstar pilot in Brisbane and he tells me that she isn't short on for male company for sleep overs when hubby's on the other side of the country for the night. Poor bugger.
Good luck either way dude.
Vic.
It's a good question actually and one you should pay some thought to before you go down that road. If you have a sniff through the threads on pprune you will hear lots from guys who have what some would consider a "dream job" but it's all very negative.... and for good reason. Harsh IR, crap unions, harsh management, bad food, disjointed sleep patterns, divorces, hotels every other night, constant medicals and sim rides that everything in life hinges on. Other guys seem to love that lifestyle and would do it forever.
Personally, I reckon that flying is a career that is best done early in life, or later on in life but not for the whole career. I certainly wouldn't want to do it forever as my sole job. No way. I like flying but not that much, I certainly don't want to go theough life and just be a pilot the whole time. Boring as all sh*t. The problem is that lots of pilots only know how to be pilots and that makes a career hard to change later on so you get sort of trapped in flying and then the bitterness starts when you get sick of it but can't afford to do anything else. That's my theory.
As for relationships, depends on the couple but my brother works with the wife of a jetstar pilot in Brisbane and he tells me that she isn't short on for male company for sleep overs when hubby's on the other side of the country for the night. Poor bugger.
Good luck either way dude.
Vic.
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i wish i had asked myself this question before i started a long time ago. (20 yrs) 5 moves cross continent and 2 marriages and still with a mortgage I can't jump over due chasing a real estate market my whole life. Still enjoy flying aeroplanes though!
I'm at the same stage of the ladder as you big Kev- doing probably 10-25hrs a month doing odd flights and really loving every one of them. Trying now to nail down the full time position.
Anyway, I can't be of much help with the airline question, but I read a good statement in another part of pprune which might help you a bit.
It went something along the lines of "If you won the lottery then what would you spend your time doing? The answer is your dream job."
If the answer isn't flying aircraft, then perhaps a re-think is in order.
Anyway, I can't be of much help with the airline question, but I read a good statement in another part of pprune which might help you a bit.
It went something along the lines of "If you won the lottery then what would you spend your time doing? The answer is your dream job."
If the answer isn't flying aircraft, then perhaps a re-think is in order.
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I'm at the same stage of the ladder as you big Kev- doing probably 10-25hrs a month doing odd flights and really loving every one of them. Trying now to nail down the full time position.
Anyway, I can't be of much help with the airline question, but I read a good statement in another part of pprune which might help you a bit.
It went something along the lines of "If you won the lottery then what would you spend your time doing? The answer is your dream job."
If the answer isn't flying aircraft, then perhaps a re-think is in order.
Anyway, I can't be of much help with the airline question, but I read a good statement in another part of pprune which might help you a bit.
It went something along the lines of "If you won the lottery then what would you spend your time doing? The answer is your dream job."
If the answer isn't flying aircraft, then perhaps a re-think is in order.
Perhaps it is true that if your heart isn't in it, then it probably isn't for you. I'm 23 next month, plenty of time to get serious about an Inst. Rating etc, if that is what I really want down the track.
Last edited by M14_P; 27th Oct 2006 at 12:44. Reason: Couple of typos!
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On loss of conditions, well that should not be something that puts you off. The problem we have at the moment with wages and conditions is one of industry structure and pilot attitudes. The aussie airline pilots of the sixties and seventies had the same problem, and they turned their situation around by discipline, working together, and leadership. Times now are not so different as they were then, the beancounters always want more done for less money.
On enjoying the job when flying an automated metal tube, you bet your ass it is still enjoyable! The best job for fun and satisfaction that i had was flying a C402 on the RPT from Darwin to the Tiwi, South Goulbourn and Croker islands. Two engines, one pilot, turning final over pristine beaches and kissing it on to the gravel runway, taxiing in with the crew door open to get some warm dry season breeze... great stuff. Now? Opening the taps on two big BR715s, accelerating on the runway to a speed faster than my C210 used to cruise at, rotating to 20 degrees nose up and blasting off out of ASP to CNS on a clear central australian day where you can see for miles, crossing the MacDonnell Ranges with blue tint that Albert Namatjira captured, knowing that I will only be putting up with the convective turbulence for only a few minutes on my way up to FL330? Still brings a smile when I remember to think about it!
Relationships? Well I'll throw a dead cat into the room here. Regardless of whether you are Chuck Yeager or Kenny the ****house man, when it comes to relationships, its not your job that determines happiness or divorce. It is you and what you are prepared to make of it. It can be tough, very tough on wives, family etc. The pressures of this job are not all that different from the pressures of setting up and running a small business, being a successful civil engineer, a solicitor, or working the night shift at Woolies. Recognise that the job you are in is your choice, it was you that filled in the application form to work for this company, nobody held a gun to your head.
Have a go mate. Wait until you see the sunset from FL350 before you make your decision.
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Possible Wind Up snuck in there!
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Kev,
Its everything and more than I expected. I could never step foot into an office job again, certainly not one that requires me to work 5 days a week! Can't understand the managment pilots, each to their own I suppose. If I got paid half as much i'd still be here.
Don't fall into the trap of always looking forward to the 'airline job', enjoy the now, some of the best times i've ever had were along the way.
Family life...
Its everything and more than I expected. I could never step foot into an office job again, certainly not one that requires me to work 5 days a week! Can't understand the managment pilots, each to their own I suppose. If I got paid half as much i'd still be here.
Don't fall into the trap of always looking forward to the 'airline job', enjoy the now, some of the best times i've ever had were along the way.
Family life...
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Kev don't take this the wrong way but for you to be asking those questions it suggests to me that you're not really an " aeroplane head ".
Hmmm, I would take the opposing view. Anyone who actually likes flying (stick and rudder) as opposed to monitoring automated systems is bound to ask is it worth climbing the career ladder only to climb out of what they find as the fun aspects of aviation.
Everyone enjoys a different thing…would you enjoy:
Chasing cows around the Australian outback in a piper cub, doing loops and rolls in pits, landing a seaplane by a remote Alaskan fishing lodge, setting down a ski plane on a glacier,
OR
Twiddling your thumbs for hours on end in a tin tub at 30,000ft, with the attitude indicator locked in place, and not much more to do other than watching the fuel gage go down and the miles go up.
Would you prefer:
- 10 years as a second officer in a 747, with your most important duty being operating the passenger seatbelt light,
Or 10 years of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwkxo...tic%20aviation
- of course only you can decide what it is that attracts you to aviation. Remember it is a diverse industry – flying an Airtractor under power lines is as different to punching an intercept radial into an FMS as doing Shakespeare is to making a porn movie.
They require different skills, attitudes and personalities.
Working for an airline certainly has massive advantages over most of GA. Most people get into aviation because they like flying, but most find it almost impossible to get a well paid, secure job with a professional operator outside of the airlines. So they gravitate towards the big jets and away from what drew many into aviation in the first place.
I always remember an Ag pilot telling me long ago, “Airlines are for people who don’t actually like flying. Airline flying is meant to be boring. If it is not boring, then you have a problem. If my job required me to wear a suit and tie in the cockpit, or I you only flew to airports, then I’d give the game away.”
(no offence to jet jockeys – just demonstrating how one persons dream job is another persons yawn)
but with the conditions apparently going down and pilots from the upper level whinging and whining, I sometimes wonder whether its all worth it in the end to continue to spend money and pursue qualifications, endorsements and ratings or look into doing something else.
To me, money and job security would be the main advantage of working for an airline ( compensation for giving up the sort of flying I enjoy ) but with conditions in decline, and an increasing necessity to purchase a job, the motivation is simply not there to pursue an airline job…I suppose I too am not really an ‘aeroplane head’ ?
Hmmm, I would take the opposing view. Anyone who actually likes flying (stick and rudder) as opposed to monitoring automated systems is bound to ask is it worth climbing the career ladder only to climb out of what they find as the fun aspects of aviation.
Everyone enjoys a different thing…would you enjoy:
Chasing cows around the Australian outback in a piper cub, doing loops and rolls in pits, landing a seaplane by a remote Alaskan fishing lodge, setting down a ski plane on a glacier,
OR
Twiddling your thumbs for hours on end in a tin tub at 30,000ft, with the attitude indicator locked in place, and not much more to do other than watching the fuel gage go down and the miles go up.
Would you prefer:
- 10 years as a second officer in a 747, with your most important duty being operating the passenger seatbelt light,
Or 10 years of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwkxo...tic%20aviation
- of course only you can decide what it is that attracts you to aviation. Remember it is a diverse industry – flying an Airtractor under power lines is as different to punching an intercept radial into an FMS as doing Shakespeare is to making a porn movie.
They require different skills, attitudes and personalities.
Working for an airline certainly has massive advantages over most of GA. Most people get into aviation because they like flying, but most find it almost impossible to get a well paid, secure job with a professional operator outside of the airlines. So they gravitate towards the big jets and away from what drew many into aviation in the first place.
I always remember an Ag pilot telling me long ago, “Airlines are for people who don’t actually like flying. Airline flying is meant to be boring. If it is not boring, then you have a problem. If my job required me to wear a suit and tie in the cockpit, or I you only flew to airports, then I’d give the game away.”
(no offence to jet jockeys – just demonstrating how one persons dream job is another persons yawn)
but with the conditions apparently going down and pilots from the upper level whinging and whining, I sometimes wonder whether its all worth it in the end to continue to spend money and pursue qualifications, endorsements and ratings or look into doing something else.
To me, money and job security would be the main advantage of working for an airline ( compensation for giving up the sort of flying I enjoy ) but with conditions in decline, and an increasing necessity to purchase a job, the motivation is simply not there to pursue an airline job…I suppose I too am not really an ‘aeroplane head’ ?
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This subject comes up constantly, so I shall give Kev my regular reply, which I also give constantly.
If you wanna fly airplanes Kev, you do it!
If you don't wanna fly airplanes Kev, don't do it!
It's as simple as that!
If you wanna fly airplanes Kev, you do it!
If you don't wanna fly airplanes Kev, don't do it!
It's as simple as that!
PPRuNe Handmaiden
Dux,
You're not wrong there.
You're not wrong there.